# Squeegee kids -- criminalize them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 14, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407 "2003-10-14T16:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/21 "2003-10-16T17:32:38Z")
You wax your windshield? ---
**Author:** ![Conflict\_of\_Interest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/57b2e6/32.png) [@Conflict\_of\_Interest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conflict_of_Interest)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/22 "2003-10-16T17:59:33Z")
> [@](#): > > **And again it needs to be pointed out that threatening you, stealing from you, etc, are already illegal. If you don’t want to pay them, for the love of god, don’t pay them ! I understand that you may feel threatened as you sit in your car. Guess what? I feel threatened by things quite often, and never do I have the right to say "Hey, I feel threatened ! Make that illegal !"** These are the same type of arguments that those that oppose hate crime legislation make…(Assalt and Battery is already illegal. Murder is already illegal. So why do we need hate crimes?) ---
**Author:** ![NeSBiT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NeSBiT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeSBiT)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/23 "2003-10-19T21:02:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Conflict of Interest \* > \*\*These are the same type of arguments that those that oppose hate crime legislation make…(Assalt and Battery is already illegal. Murder is already illegal. So why do we need hate crimes?) \*\* exactly. why _do_ we need hate crimes? Should I get less punishment for murdering someone if I don’t actually hate them because of their race? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/24 "2003-10-20T11:31:48Z")
Hate crime legislation is there to account for the idea that it isn’t just the victim that gets hurt. Hate crimes create a situation where many people of that race (group) are harmed via fear. They know that they are targeted for attack. Similar to how a serial killer who attacks specific types of people will make those people scared to go out alone. When you attack someone randomly, or for a non-race reason, it has a lesser effect on our society as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![NeSBiT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@NeSBiT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeSBiT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/25 "2003-10-20T11:55:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \* > \*\*Hate crime legislation is there to account for the idea that it isn’t just the victim that gets hurt. Hate crimes create a situation where many people of that race (group) are harmed via fear. They know that they are targeted for attack. Similar to how a serial killer who attacks specific types of people will make those people scared to go out alone. > > When you attack someone randomly, or for a non-race reason, it has a lesser effect on our society as a whole. \*\* So if a serial killer targets people with big ears, thus creating a fear among big-eared people, should he be punished more severely? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/26 "2003-10-20T13:45:27Z")
Reminds me of an [onion](http://www.theonion.com/onion3100/panhandler.html) article. ---
**Author:** ![spogga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/27 "2003-10-20T14:56:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*Spogga, what make of car do you drive that you can angle the wiper blade away from the windshield without it snapping back into it’s proper place the first time you hit a bump, or merely accelerate? > > I can’t see why anyone, in the US or Canada would make this criminal. But they should go after those nasty little girls who shove cookies at me when I go into K-mart. \*\* It isn’t the wiper blade that I angle it’s the small pipe thingy that sprays water onto the screen ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/28 "2003-10-20T21:35:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cowgirl \* > What makes you think you know what’s best for the kids, better than they do? No, but I know what’s best for _me_. > [@](#): > > The reasons I have heard to criminalize it are basically “they intimidate me.” Does our society now decide what’s legal based on what’s intimidating? It has traditionally done just this. The old adage, “my freedom to swing my fists stops where your nose begins” is completely misleading. If I swing my fist at your nose, and stop one inch short, I’m threatening and intimidating you, even though you have not been physically harmed. This is called _assault_, and is illegal. (If I fail to stop short of your nose, it’s _assault and battery_.) > [@](#): > > Furthermore, I know that in this society, the comfort of the rich is often deemed to be more important than the lives of the poor, but I refuse to go along with it. What **I** refuse to go along with is idiot ideas like this that will cause your average Joe or Jane to lose all sympathy for the poor, because they’re too busy fending them off. Giving the poor the ‘right’ to get in the face of average citizens increases Joe Sixpack’s sympathy for Bernie Goetz, not for the poor. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/29 "2003-10-21T04:42:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ultraviolet \* > Interestingly enough, in my local newspaper, a squeegee kid was quoted as saying that he can make $80.00 in half a day’s work. I didn’t think $80 could be possible, but maybe it is. Assume: a) A half-day is 5 hours b) The traffic light cycles every 4 minutes. c) One car per traffic light cycle. d) $1 per car. ```auto 5 hours 60 minutes 1 cycle 1 car $1 * ---------- * --------- * ----- * --- = $75 hour 4 minutes cycle car ``` ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/30 "2003-10-21T11:37:21Z")
I don’t like ANYONE trying to get money at intersections. It’s damned dangerous, both for the one trying to get money and everyone who’s driving in that intersection. This includes all of the “Fill the Boot” campaigns and other charitable causes. The busy intersections are already hard enough to negotiate, and the panhandlers/SKs/street vendors seem to congregate only at the busiest intersections. At the very least, allowing this activity at street corners forces drivers to make sudden unplanned stops to avoid the person trying to collect money. That’s just an accident waiting to happen. There’s also the intimidation factor. People can dismiss this, but I know several timid people who don’t do well when confronted with a large, dishevelled person demanding money, even in the supposed safety of a car. I know that my daughter has come home very shaken when she first started to drive. She has learned just WHY I always keep my doors locked and windows completely rolled up. I don’t think that squeegeeing is “easy money”, but I don’t think that it is a real job, either. From what I see, people are using dirty water, squeegees, and newspaper to smear dirt around windshields, and then try to guilt the driver into coughing up some money. The driver usually did not ask for this. No true service was rendered. I don’t like panhandling on the streets, either. I’ve seen too many VERY aggressive panhandlers. Sometimes the only difference between a panhandler and a mugger is whether or not a cop or other authority figure is in sight. In the DFW area, we have several noted scammers who panhandle and always have a sob story (my car has a flat/I need bus fare to see a sick relative). They’ve been written up in the newspapers a few times. It’s amazing how often a tire can go flat. I’m OK with busking. In fact, I’ll give money to buskers if I enjoyed the show, but I don’t think that they should be allowed to block traffic (car or foot). ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/31 "2003-10-21T15:34:45Z")
Exactly how is what those “kids” is doing not vandalism? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/32 "2003-10-22T03:31:58Z")
RTFirefly nailed it. It’s not about the “kids”, it’s about the individual’s right NOT to be harassed with unsolicited work. You only have to extend the event further to understand it. If one squeegee job on your car is OK than so is 20. And so is a squeegee job on your house. I don’t understand the liberal mindset that says I have to put up with harassment and intimidation. ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/33 "2003-10-22T20:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cowgirl \* > And finally, although I risk being dismissed as a smug leftie, I need to point out that I have never once been bothered by a squeegee kid, although I live by the lakeshore in Toronto. It’s quite simple. I don’t drive. Smug leftie high-five! 🆒 Ultraviolet, are you in Victoria? Nanaimo? Somehow I can’t picture squeegee kids in Kelowna… maybe Prince George. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407/34 "2003-10-22T21:10:09Z")
I’m in Kamloops, actually. I also find it quite funny that this issue was even raised in the newspapers, since no one I have talked to has ever even seen a squeegee kid working in this town (including a woman who drives through the publicized intersection at least twice a day). IMO, the local press tends to hugely over-publicize and exaggerate any issue that might be considered a “big-city problem”. We do tend to get more transients and panhandlers here than other cities our size because of our location. We are at the crossroads of several major highways (Trans Canada, Coquihalla, Yellowhead) in the province, and anyone doing any travelling in or through BC is likely to pass through here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squeegee-kids-criminalize-them/207407.md?page=1)