# "I'm not asking for money - just some gas..." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618 "2018-05-22T13:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/81 "2018-05-23T18:48:10Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > But the guy\girl with a sign on the off-ramp? Yeah, I got a buck for them. Please dont. Dont give cash. It encourages them to live outside aid in homeless camp, which are dangerous for them, a high fire risk, and hazardous to the environment. If you must give, give socks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/82 "2018-05-23T18:49:27Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > You know whom it is fun to give money to on the street though? Buskers. I have seen some pretty amazing street musicians that really earned their rumpled 1’s and quarters by playing like a mother. I always give to buskers, they are doing a job, and should be paid. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/83 "2018-05-23T18:54:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I always give to buskers, they are doing a job, and should be paid. Exactly, there was a lucky busker at Leicester Square tube station playing an excellent guitar. He got a lot of my UK coins as I was heading to the airport a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/84 "2018-05-23T19:34:35Z")
For $1.99 I can buy pretty much any song available on iTunes, and I will be entertained. Buskers, anyone doing some kind of performance–even if it’s just good interactive storytelling, gets a buck or five if I have it. No biggie for me, plus I’ve been entertained. If all you have is, “Gimme a dollar.” then I’m broke too pal and things are tough all over. I put forth an effort to put money in my pocket, I expect you to do the same. I’ve been broke. My situation has included owning a nice, relatively new vehicle (acquired when I had a good job, which was subsequently gone) and no way to feed it, and a new gig that required my vehicle to have gas. So I can’t say I’d be willing to call someone a liar or even irresponsible who says they’re broke despite having some decent stuff. I’d have had them pull their SUV up to my pump and filled them up just for the laugh. I’ll blow $50 on a bottle of absinthe and get hangovers for my trouble; $50 in gas for a stranger, just to see what happens next, would totally be a thrill and worth every cent. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/85 "2018-05-23T19:41:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Please dont. Dont give cash. It encourages them to live outside aid in homeless camp, which are dangerous for them, a high fire risk, and hazardous to the environment. > > If you must give, give socks. I guess you _could_ eat socks. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/86 "2018-05-23T19:42:53Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I would have had him pull his SUV over to the pump I was at, and would have put a couple of gallons into his car. I fail to see the scam here unless, he wasn’t amenable to that. I did this. The man was driving an older car and he had an elderly woman in the front seat. I pumped him about $5 worth of gas into his car, which should have been enough for him to drive home (he said he was local, it was hot, and I didn’t want that poor woman sitting in a car without AC.) I didn’t see him drive off, so I don’t know what he was trying to pull, unless it was to steal gas in some fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/87 "2018-05-23T19:55:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I always give to buskers, they are doing a job, and should be paid. There is frequently a trumpet player outside my office building who begs for money while blowing his horn for hours at a time. I am fortunate not to be on that side of the building, but as far as I can tell, he is uniformly hated by those whose office placement means they have to listen to the theme from the Flintstones over and over again while they’re trying to work. Apparently he scrounges enough coin from people who don’t have to listen to him all day long, but there are certainly plenty of people wishing that this particular troll was not getting fed. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/88 "2018-05-23T20:07:28Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Actually that was a smart decision. One of the things I learned from poverty as a child was that other poor people are more likely to help someone in need (because they can more easily see themselves in that position one day) than people with more money. Which is likely why I have yet to see a Wal-Mart in my area w/o a panhandler at the parking lot entrance(s). Poor people aren’t as invisible to other people of few means. As **DrDeth** suggests, I give socks. A couple years back I went through all my thick socks (one accumulates a lot of socks in 30 adult years), picked out just enough for my work days and set aside the pairs in good shape. Those I put in bundles of 2-3 pairs w/ a rubber band around them and offered a bundle to panhandlers at the exit ramps around SLC (along w/ cheese sticks and clementines or bananas when I had them). This way, I hoped, no one would get rolled for their obviously brand new socks. Everyone took them, thanked me - some overjoyed to have clean socks, others wanting cash instead. No one was rude to me. In cold weather I’d also offer a sweatshirt and within a few months my Super Large Ziploc storage bag of socks and sweatshirts was empty. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/89 "2018-05-23T20:09:03Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I am fortunate not to be on that side of the building, but as far as I can tell, he is uniformly hated by those whose office placement means they have to listen to the theme from the Flintstones over and over again while they’re trying to work. I should imagine so. I can’t think of anything worse save for bagpipes. Perhaps they could take up a collection and bribe him to go away. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/90 "2018-05-23T20:11:13Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Everyone took them, thanked me - some overjoyed to have clean socks, others wanting cash instead. That split the guys who need help from the scamers. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/91 "2018-05-23T20:39:57Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I should imagine so. I can’t think of anything worse save for bagpipes. > Perhaps they could take up a collection and bribe him to go away. We’ll offer him some socks – to stuff into his horn. ;):o ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/92 "2018-05-23T20:48:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I guess you _could_ eat socks. Food is not a problem. Really. Plenty of food is available. Housing is the main issue, and it’s critical, then healthcare. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/93 "2018-05-23T21:02:50Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I once got “You look familiar…are you a retired actor or something?” > > I was amused. But not enough to give her the five bucks she (inevitably) requested a little later on in the conversation. You should have said, “No, but you are one.” ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/94 "2018-05-23T21:06:23Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Exactly, there was a lucky busker at Leicester Square tube station playing an excellent guitar. He got a lot of my UK coins as I was heading to the airport a couple of weeks ago. AIUI, those buskers have to audition - can’t just drop in w/ an instrument or sound system. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/95 "2018-05-23T21:39:41Z")
“Busker” is a word I had never heard (or read) before today. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/96 "2018-05-23T21:50:21Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > “Busker” is a word I had never heard (or read) before today. You live a sheltered life, my friend. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/97 "2018-05-23T21:50:26Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > We’ll offer him some socks – to stuff into his horn. ;):o Good plan! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/98 "2018-05-23T21:57:34Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > AIUI, those buskers have to audition - can’t just drop in w/ an instrument or sound system. Who in the hell enforces that? Is there like a busker’s union, some group of homeless musicians using out of work pugilists as enforcers? ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/99 "2018-05-23T22:09:49Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Who in the hell enforces that? Is there like a busker’s union, some group of homeless musicians using out of work pugilists as enforcers? Some cities require a license or permit. > **[Buskers' Rights: Know the Laws of Street Performing](https://www.guitarworld.com/acoustic-nation/acoustic-nation-busker-s-rights-know-laws-street-performing)** > > A recently circulated video of Andrew Kalleen being arrested for busking in the New York City subway system has caused a lot of concern in the music/busking community. Andrew was armed with the citati ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618/100 "2018-05-23T22:17:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Please dont. Dont give cash. It encourages them to live outside aid in homeless camp, which are dangerous for them, a high fire risk, and hazardous to the environment. > > If you must give, give socks. I usually have an extra dollar on me. I am not in the happen of carrying extra socks. And he may be homeless, but he doesn’t want the socks from MY feet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-asking-for-money-just-some-gas/814618.md?page=6)