We always try to help if we have some change but a couple of days ago, D and I saw a guy with his sign asking for money, and we were a little taken aback.
We didn’t mind the lawn chairs (wife and 2 kids sitting in the grass nearby) and ice chest, but the cigarette in the mouth kinda amused us a bit. We still dropped the change in his little bucket though.
As we drove off, D and I, in unsion, said, “What’s wrong with this picture?”
Thanks
Q
It’s possible the cigarette is the very reason he’s out there. Drug addiction - even when it’s nicotine - can drive you into heavy debt and cost you the lifestyle you’re used to.
What’s wrong with this picture is the fools giving money (& encouragement) to these scammers! Don’t do that. Just stop.
There’s a stretch of road that I pass by every afternoon that has a sign-holder literally (no, LITERALLY!) on every corner. Every race and gender is represented, and they all have the same sunburnt, tired expressions. I feel sorry for them as I walk by, and I have given a couple of dollars to the guy who “works” close to where I live. A couple of times I have bought another guy some groceries (cheap things like orange juice, crackers, and bananas). But I do find myself very torn.
There are missions in town that provide meals, so if they need food they could avail themselves of those services. But I suppose a dollar could help them out in case the line is too long or they want something during the day (like a Coke, since it’s been so hot outside). And maybe if I gave them a dollar, that would be enough to secure them lodging at a shelter, or help them buy some clothes at the Salvation Army, or any number of trivial things that I take for granted.
But if I give them money, then I’m supporting them standing there. I’m making their begging productive and lucrative. I might be supporting a drug habit.
So I don’t know. I’m probably not as generous as the OP, but I do have the same thoughts sometimes.
I would ask him where he got the money to get it. Cigarettes are very expensive. It always rubs me the wrong way when someone is saying they don’t have money, but they smoke.
There are two or three guys who have been standing at the exit, under a bridge, holding signs, for as long as I can remember. They take turns and all their stuff in trash bags is stored there under the bridge, with the overflow in a shopping cart. I simply don’t understand why the police don’t put a stop to this (they do everywhere else). Our city has excellent resources for the homeless, so I guess they want to be free to get what they can.
According to my homeless friends, the ones that stand on corners like that often make reasonable money. I don’t feel bad for not giving them more. I realized long ago that I can’t save everyone - I take the money that I could give to them, and use it for other feeding programs that have a little more structure.
I do carry non-perishable food…it’s based on a local charity called Lovebags. We take a ziplock bag, and put in a bottle of water, an entree (tuna salad/cracker combo usually), a snack bar, and a pair of clean socks. I offer this to the ones at the corner - some take it, others don’t. I’m no longer active with Lovebags directly, but I still like the idea and do this part of it.
-D/a
Around here, many are placed at specific corners by their gang, pimp, whatever and most of what they are able to get the suckers to hand over, goes back to before mentioned gang, pimp, whatever.
Sometimes they are alone, sometimes with a group with signs and/or tee shirts to make people think they are with schools, church organizations, etc. But if you look closely at the sign, they never specify the group name.
People, quit being taken for suckers
He might have bummed a smoke from someone in a car. It’s tough times folks, be not so fast to judge. Surely if he had options bumming money from passing cars is probably be at the end of his list. Just sayin…
You’d be amazed at the $$ most of the professional beggars can rake in - this is their job…
I would suggest that when you see a homeless person who touches your heart, instead of giving them money directly, use that experience to motivate yourself to make a donation to a homeless shelter, a free clinic that provides healthcare for the homeless, or a food bank. Then you know your money will actually be used to provide an essential service rather than used to buy drugs or alcohol. I’m not saying that everyone who is homeless is a drug addict, but a substantial number of chronically homeless people are. The last thing an addict needs is for someone to enable their addiction.
I understand this, but I’m also aware that 1) someone who is abusing also has to eat. They can’t be using ALL their money on drugs and 2) not donating to their “cause” isn’t going to motivate them to get off drugs. It may motivate them to steal, if they aren’t already doing that. But simply being broke will not force someone to get clean.
I ignore those guys 99% of the time, so my heart isn’t breaking up all that much for them. But I’ve never really understood the argument “Don’t give! You’re just enabling them!” I guess I’d rather enable their habit than be a victim of their criminality or utter despair.
This exactly. They’re lazy and able bodied, yet want something for nothing.
No, I don’t think so, having been there. And I don’t appreciate being called a fool, even indirectly.
As someone who was very nearly the victim of a violent crackhead, please consider that possibly enabling a junkie to score may still lead to criminality and lead to an innocent bystander’s despair.
Absolutely. Because certain members of society have assured me that despite eliminating all long-term welfare (regardless of need), putting hard limits on unemployment (regardless of job availability), and the fact that there are something like four and a half applicants for every job available in the United States right now (even using the grossly under-represented government numbers for unemployment), and the fact that there are a number of folks in the world who are just plain unemployable in any circumstances, it is impossible for one to be unemployed and homeless for any reason besides laziness.
I’ve been the victim of a (probable) drug addict/crazy eyed nutjob at night who robbed my son & I.
While it made me a little more freaked around the homeless on the street, it didn’t stop me from giving if I felt compelled to. When I lived downtown, I’d see ‘regulars’ and they were kind of ‘my’ guys.
When people APPROACH me I fucking hate it and I don’t give. There was one guy who downright harassed people. Everyone hated him. He’d rap on your car window and yell about how terrible you were if you didn’t offer. But…that’s one out of hundreds in the neighborhood.
I figure if you must stand outside in the heat (or dear god, the 10 degree cold) with a sign asking for change, your life sucks. It really sucks. And if I have a few bucks, it’s yours, dude. Good luck, cause you’re gonna need it.
eta: for me, it’s easy to pick out the mentally and cognitively ill. there have been times where i’ve actually stopped in a coffee shop, bought goodies, and brought it out to someone (with caution, as one does not approach a schizophrenic casually). the look of hunger is easy to spot. the look of hunger and cognitive disability just wrecks me. 
Oh and re: homeless & laziness: since the majority have mental illness, I don’t buy it. When we de-institutionalize people, they have little place to go but the streets.
Yes, but on the whole, aren’t most of the deinsistutionalized people dead or dying off? It has been decades since wholesale deinsittionalziation.If I recall, most chronically homeless people have a shorter lifespan then someone not living on the streets. A lot of them DO have mental illness, but its hard to say whether it’s organic or from drugs. (and drugs do induce mental illness sadly)
My boyfriends family owns some commercial buildings in a somewhat shady part of town and there’s a woman who stands at the corner begging next to his building for hours everyday. We slowly got to know her throughout the years and finally she admitted she brings in about $500 to $800 per week.
One day she lifted up her pant leg and showd us a bad abcess she had on her leg from shooting up. This money mainly goes for her and her boyfriends drug habit. he makes her go out and beg all day while he sits at home. They also get govt money for food and a place to live so they are living pretty well. Actually, better than most people who work full time job.
I have never given her money (she’s never asked). I work too hard and have a family to support and a house to pay for, but my boyfriend has given her a cigarette every now and then.