Beggars who are honest always get a positive reaction from me.
A Scottish guy many years ago at Cardiff bus station (adopt the accent): Hey mate, I’m pished! But see mah mate over there? He’s no’ pished! If ye gi’ me a couple o’ quid, I can buy a bottle of cider fer mah mate and then mah mate can be pished too. Wha’aboot it?
Of course I gave him the money. If he’d have asked for “the price of a cup of tea” I’d have ignored him.
I’d be disgusted with humanity too if I was drinking Icehouse. That stuff is vile!
Excuse the highjack, but have you ever had homeless people get snarkey when you tried to share food with them?
I’ve been approached a number of times while walking out of a restaurant with a container of leftovers.
Approaching Individual: “Hey, do you have any change?”
Wyg: “No, sorry (probably not a lie, we tip really well), but I’ve got some leftovers here if you’re interested.”
Now sometimes I get “yeah, thanks a lot.” But more often then I’d expect I get, “well what is it?”
Wyg: “A _______ (taco, steak, etc)”
AI: “well in that case, no thanks” Like I’ve offended them, but only ofter they learn what I’ve been noshing on.
I even talked to one lady in San Francisco who came out of a whole foods store and offered a panhandler organic cherries. He reportedly said, “No way, I don’t eat stone fruit”
Point is, your probably lucky this guy didn’t toss your piss water back at you and keep working to raise the bank for a Corona.
I really did have homeless or down on their luck folks offer me money once.
I took one of my kids to the big city to catch a bus for his first solo adventure. It was winter and the bus was running late because of crappy roads. Since I couldn’t smoke in the depot, we went out and sat on a bench out front.
Numerous folks noticed the holes in the knees of my bib overalls and offered me something to eat or a little change, much to the delight of my son who will never let me live it down.
::bare, who learned that it’s best to wear nicer bibs when you go to Spokane::
I’m notorius(amongst my friends) for offering 'down on their luck" folk a meal. I’ll say out of 50 times I’ve offered food instead of cash, 45 of them turned it down.
This has been my experence too. Some have said along the lines of ‘hey don’t do that to me man’, Others have tried to convince me that if I gave them the money instead they could get the (insert food type) cheaper, one commented that the food I was offering was ‘unhealthy’ and unfit for his consumption, which was a dunkin donuts - while not a ideal choice, I’m not walking to another place, and they do have egg& meat sandwhiches.
As for the few that do take me up on it, they eat like a king at the nearest place however.
Maybe his doctor told him to watch his cholesterol.
Hm. One time, in the drive-thru at Wendy’s, we were approached by a guy asking for money to buy a meal. We didn’t have any cash, but we had gotten an extra Frosty that we hadn’t ordered. I said that I was sorry, I didn’t have any cash, but I did have a Frosty, and I offered it to him. He took it happily. But, then again, who doesn’t like a good Frosty? 
After working a long shift in an unairconditioned warehouse one hot summer night, I stopped at a convenience store on the way home to get a bottle of water. As I was leaving a guy stopped me who was sweepingt the parking lot who told me he was not going to tell me some sob story about his baby needing diapers, medicine or whatever, he wasn’t stranded and needing money to get home… he was hot and thirsty and just wanted a beer. I said I appreciated his straitforwardness and I could certainly undertand the hot and thirsty as that was the reason I was there. So I gave him a dollar I had in my pocket.
I am routinely approched by people with hard luck stories, some them repeats some of them farfetched. I feel badly that I might be turning down someone in need but only give out my money on rare occaisions.
Look, I’ll give you money for alcohol, but I don’t want to see you blow it on food/medicine/nappies. Otherwise you can have whatever is in this bag that I have already picked at and didn’t feel like eating.
From one of my favorite short-lived TV shows, Sports Night:
That’s the quote this thread made *me * think of. Damn, Aaron Sorkin is a genius!
I’ve worked with the homeless before, and I almost always give something if I’m asked for it. I agree completely with the SportsNight quote above. Except, of course, that some of them are trying to turn themselves around, but if that’s the case, one beer isn’t going to stop them.
I used to offer food instead of a dollar whenever I could, just so they wouldn’t spend it on booze, but then I realized that it was a bit hypocritical of me. After all, there’s a good chance that’s what I’d be spending it on! Let’s face it–food is pretty easy to come by. There’s soup kitchens, dumpsters…and all those other people who offer food instead of money. He might have just eaten.
But a life without small pleasures is not worth living. I enjoy a beer now and then, why shouldn’t he? Whether or not he survives on the street or turns his life around–my dollar won’t realistically make any difference to those things. But whether his life is worth the struggle at all–a smile and a little pocket change might make all the difference in the world there.
Anyway–enough preachiness. Time for a story!
When I worked for PIRG in DC, there was one guy outside the Eastern Market Metro Station (He wore a bright yellow jacket–maybe you’ve seen him!) who would always ask for money. Like I said, I almost always give, but this guy was PUSHY! I gotta say…he would have made a great car salesman! He had a naturally soft voice and never came across as threatening or dangerous, but he would NOT take no for an answer. And he wouldn’t ask for a dollar or spare change–no! Twenty dollars! Every time. Like I said, this guy would have made a great salesman. He was smooth.
One day he kept trying to bargain me down, lowering the amount he was asking for, hoping I’d give in to his sheer persistence. Finally, he begged, “Come on man, gimme five bucks. I’LL PAY YOU BACK! I promise!” I refuse, but he persisted, almost following me into the Metro until I glared at him angrily.
A week later I was leaving work with a friend and we approached the Metro station, here comes this same guy. He starts running up laying into me with his usual spiel, pushy as ever. I think to myself, “He must use the same lines on everybody. He won’t remember what I’ve given him. I think I’ll turn the tables on him!” Just as he reaches us and is about to hit is for the money, I flash a big smile, look him straight in the eye and say, “Hey man! You got that five bucks you owe me?”
Without even missing a beat, he turns to my friend and cool as can be says, “Hey man, ya got five bucks so I can pay this guy back?”
Needless to say, he walked away empty handed, but my buddy was majorly impressed that I had the balls to ask a homeless guy for money!