My guess is that most of them are mentally ill. I mean, WHY on EARTH would someone CHOOSE to be homeless? I don’t care how lazy one is-I mean, sleeping on the streets? I don’t get it.
It’s sad. I wish I had the answers…I don’t.
From what I’ve read (no cite, sorry), those who say that they like living on the streets cite the freedom that they have to go wherever they want and not be bound to any one place. I’ve noticed that the homeless population in my neighborhood goes up dramatically after the first warm day or two, which implies to me that these people can find shelter in the winter, but choose to leave once it gets warm enough to sleep outside.
Hey I go out in a shabby jacket, worn jeans, and rejects sneakers. Then a beggar comes to me wearing his Air Jordans and his Armani suit asking me for change. I can say “What you’re wearing is worth more than my wardrobe” and slink away.
I agree w/ the “food instead of $” idea. I’m afraid that they’d spend it on booze. I would, on my lunch hour, bring one to Burger King. Get him a meal and talk to him. Find out his interests and suggest a job, make him your friend.
When I lived in downtown Salt Lake City about 10-12 years ago, I used to give lots of spare change to the bums, buy them coffee, food, cigarettes. I had one friend named Tommy the Leprechaun, he wore a goofy hat and played guitar, did a Leprechaun act. I asked him why he lived on the streets when he seemed sane and intelligent. He said he enjoyed being his own boss, entertaining people. Said he didn’t mind sleeping outside when the weather was good. I don’t know what happenned to Tommy.
I moved to a house about 2 blocks from the homeless shelter a few years later and saw lots of bums selling & using hard drugs, whores walking the streets, general unsavory criminal-types. accross the street from my house there was a large homeless camp with lots of clothes, blankets, liquor bottles and used syringes left on the ground, rained and snowed on.
I don’t give beggars money, food or blankets or clothing anymore unless I feel good about the person.
Re: the OP: Have not a clue.
Ok, but if they get in your personal space, you should forget about politeness and keep walking. Also, I’m somewhat skeptical about implementing kimstu’s strategy when there are, oh say, 2-3 panhandlers per block.
Let me emphasize that Chas E. is referring to the SF Bay Area homeless, a group living in a region with fairly mild climate. Having lived in the SF Bay Area and New York City, it was my impression that the homeless in the latter metropolitan area appeared far more miserable.
Some people live on the street because they don’t mind, some because they like being their own boss.
Here’s the reasons that ive heard in person: They were veterans who got screwed by the government. They were fine people who made a mistake, got fired from their job, lost everything, and haven’t gotten to their feet yet. They are insane and think they are on the moon, mars, France, etc.
So, there are lots of reasons for being a bum. I think, like most people, giving them things they will use for good purposes is better than giving them money which they will use to feul their addictions. But i guess you should do what you wish.
Oh, and i have been here for a few months. And yes, thesee boards have changed the way i think and act, so don’t say that they usually don’t.
I have a thing about giving money to people on the street.
I just don’t do it.
i don’t care if that person is collecting for Greenpeace, kids with cancer, or for their own personal use. Its just a policy of mine. If a person approaches me and they want money for a charity I tell them about my policy and ask them for information about their organization and where I could send a donation.
As for beggars. I have given food, blankets, gloves, coats, etc to homeless people in the past. I just don’t feel right giving cash. It puts us both in a bad situation.
But that’s just me.
Over here in the UK some guy in the army started up a recruitment thing where they took young homeless men and gave them a taste of army life for a few weeks and gave them the option to join.
An interesting point is that the program showed one guy who said ‘well, i don’t really want to join the army, want to go to college blah blah blah’ and another one who said ‘this is great, it will give me a home and a job, of course i am going to join !’.
I think the moral of this is… you can help some people but others can not be helped.
re: people who say they like being homeless, i think they are just living in a dream world.
I used to give spare change (being from a small town and moving to the big city, I was rather green about the whole bumming process) until I saw a person I’d just given $2 to buying a bottle of rum. I know, I know, I should have at least known it was a possibility, but he’d said he wanted coffee.
From then on, I bought coffee for people begging if they said they wanted coffee. And once gave a woman the 4 rides left on my 10 ride bus pass.
Then one day a guy asked me for change and when I said no (he didn’t say he was hungry) he flipped and I was totally intimidated and ran. And that was the end of my giving ANYTHING to those on the street in that way. Now I donate articles and money to the Salvation Army.
Isn’t it possible that the people who say they like to be homeless are embarassed about their situation, and are justifying it by pretending it was a choice? (Those who don’t believe they’re on the moon, that is.)
Here in the UK, there’s a magazine called ‘The Big Issue’ - it’s sold only by homeless people, they buy it at trade price on a sale-or-return basis, so there’s no risk of loss for them and it gives them a chance to earn a bit of cash to perhaps get them out of the can’t get a job because I have no home/can’t get a home because I have no job cycle.
Apart from salve for the conscience of the buyer, it’s actually a good read - I buy it whenever I get the chance; I’d subscribe if that was possible and didn’t completely defy the point - they have excellent articles written by celebrities (presumably donated).
Anyway, if you’re really against giving cash on the grounds that it will be used to buy drugs/booze, how hard is it to buy these people lunch? I really believe it can make a difference; a tiny act of genuine kindness can be the turning point in someone’s life. I’ts not caring that doesn’t make the difference.
And certainly in the UK, to say that the people on the street generally like living that way would be complete and utter bollocks, sure, it may have started with them running away from home intending to live the life of the wild rogue, but the reality is that homeless people are miserable and die on the UK streets.
I used to work in Ft. Lauderdale. Every day I’d get off the southbound I-95 at Sunrise. There would be a line of panhandlers who seemed to take turns walking up and down the lines of exiting cars. One day it dawned on me. At that moment in time, the bum had a positive financial situation, while I owed $20,000 or more to credit card companies. He should be giving money to ME!
In Belgium I think there is also such a magazine that can only be sold by homeless people, the same principle as Mangetout describes in the UK.
As for giving or not… For me that is not a question since my religion commands me to give almons to thosein need. And that I thank the beggar for the opportunity he gives me to be a good person/Muslim. (I don’t even know if that was teached to me by my religious teachers or by other ones when I was little).
Salaam. A
In Belgium I think there is also such a magazine that can only be sold by homeless people, the same principle as Mangetout describes in the UK.
As for giving or not… For me that is not a question since my religion commands me to give almons to thosein need. And that I thank the beggar for the opportunity he gives me to be a good person/Muslim.
Salaam. A
I don’t give money if I’m solicited in person. This means door-to-door (either by beggars themselves or charity), phone, or as I’m walking or driving on the street. Any charity that solicits me by phone also gets put on my do-not-donate list. I don’t give money to charities that send me “guilt gifts” of return address labels or prayer cards or such.
I used to give to beggars on the street every now and then, when I could. However, this is apparently a fairly big scam in this area. We’ve got a couple of reporters who keep tabs on such things, and they write about this person or that one who uses the “I need $1.25 (or whatever it is now) for bus fare to get to my job” line every day, on multiple people. Or “I need (x sum of money) for car repairs” is another one that’s used. I used to give money every now and then to the guys who’d stand on the street corner with signs saying “Will work for food” until we actually had some work to be done (we had a load of dirt that we wanted spread around the yard) and we offered rides to and from our house, $30, and a homecooked meal to quite a few of these guys. No takers, and WE were on the other end of the “I don’t see you” stare for a change!
Probably I am snubbing some people in real need. However, I just don’t feel personally safe when accosted on the street. These days, I mostly give to the Humane Society. I’m pretty sure that the animals are NOT running scams.
Note that unemployment below 4% is often considered “too low”, resulting in interest rate raises to prevent labour shortages.
If unemployment is deliberately kept higher than it might otherwise be, surely one must accept begging as a legitimate pursuit in the absence of universal provision of housing and essential benefits?
I guess everyone has their own opinion, and I don’t think there’s really a rule that society should adopt.
Here in Cambridge MA, the panhandlers are very concentrated in the extremely high-travelled areas. It’s a different dynamic than some places, I guess, because nobody could feel unsafe. You see the same ones day after day in the same place. Some of them could be mentally unhealthy, but some of them aren’t. I’ve learned that there are plenty of scams, though, so I don’t give out money to people asking for a charity. If they seem like they might be legit, I’ll ask for a website or phone number.
I give a little bit of money (I am still a student) to genuine beggars every now and then, but only when I feel comfortable not doing it. It’s just a personal thing, but I don’t want to be guilted into it; I want to do it because I think it’s good.
As for giving food, I thought about that, and did it once or twice. One of my friends works at a shelter, though, and she says that they can get all the donated baked goods and canned goods they need, but what’s hard is meat, vegetables, and hot dishes. That’s why they prefer money donations. So giving out candy bars and things like that isn’t as helpful as I thought at first.
But I always give subway tokens to anyone who asks. I figure that can’t cause much harm.
I don’t know that I agree that if someone says they like living a homeless life they are mentally ill. A while ago I read Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. Orwell gave up money for a while to experience homelessness, so it is an autobiographical account of how he spent his time and people he met.
Looking for reviews, to refresh my memory of some of the details of the book, I found someone else quoted from the book:
Maybe after dealing with all the problems that come with financial difficulties- being in debt, family problems, etc., it does come as a relief to finally consider yourself homeless.
As for the amount of money I give when asked, I’d say it’s about 50% of the time for me. If the person ends up taking the money and uses it for alcohol, or shoes, or cigarettes, or a sandwich, that is their business. If I want to comment on how they spend money, then that allows them to comment on how much I spend on alcohol, or anything else, and that is none of their business. If it is a scam, then I’ll play the fool, but I won’t feel guilty for not giving.
parka
Giving directly to a beggar is harmful for 2 reasons: it encourages the behavior, and you have no control over whether the money is used for drugs or alchohol. Take the money you would like to give, find a well run charity that helps the poor, and give them 4 times the amount. Your heartfelt responsibility to the poor carries with it a responsibility to do no harm. Your feelings of guilt are misplaced and are self-serving if you feel the need to let the person know you are helping them.
Jesus once said…(paraphrased)…As you treat the least of us so do you treat me.
What this has to do with the op well…
I have no idea.