To the skinny knacker that asked me for my "Spare Change"

The BBQ Pit
1

Where the fuck do these losers get off asking me for my money ???

Lazy-ass cunts sitting on their skinny knacker arses drinking at midday on a Tuesday, and then they have the fucking gall to ask me for my change ! WTF !! Fuck them ! I’d like to be lying on the grass drinking too - but I can’t ** BECAUSE I HAVE A FUCKING JOB**

They have two arms and two legs and they can get off their lazy holes and work for their fucking booze. Do they think that I like getting up at 6.45am and going to work?? And then I’ll give them any change I may have ??? Even when I have change in my pocket, I’d rather throw it down the drain than give it to those free-loading lazy fuckers. Makes me want to puke.

::radiohead:: “When I am king…”

Glad to get that out of my system…

2

You give a new level to loser.

3

It doesn’t tick you off, just a bit???

Why not ? Fine, I don’t have to give them anything, and I don’t, but the Govt. gives them cash to live - why do they beg ? It’s just skanky - these guys are younger than me - go sweep the streets. Maybe in America it’s different, since there are no jobs, but in Ireland, people are crying out for able-bodied labourers - it’s just fucking laziness.

4

Tarantula, although I know nearly everyone in this city uses it, the word “knacker” is an insulting racial epithet, and should probably not be used on a board where hate speech is against the rules.

5

I can remember one time while I was working two jobs, a woman came up to me asking me to give her a dollar for her change, the local custom of begging for money. I informed her that I had no dollars, in fact I was down to my last $0.32. She then told me to give her that money.

Fuck them, indeed!

6

Apologies to all. Withdrawn. I was unaware of the status of this word. jjimm - as a Dubliner, I’m sure you understand the the use.

I apologise to anyone else, who may have been insulted by the use of this word.

7

Instead of posting drive-by bullshit, why not stay and explain your odd fascination with giving away your hard-earned $$$? Unless of course you are one of the midday-drinkers, which I doubt from reading your posts…

8

I disagree, Mockingbird.

It is well-placed indignation that you see. I used to give generously to panhandlers, because I was well-paid and vaguely aware that some people were poor.

A long spell of extreme poverty changed that view. Now when I see panners, I ask myself how likely it is that they’ve adopted diets that have “eating days” and “fasting days” so that their pogey allows enough for a bus-fare to job interviews/haircuts/what not. And then, when my pogey ran out, I realized this amazing thing-- in my city, even if you are friendless, you don’t have to starve just because you have no money.

So, what do these spare-changers need from me? Money to have the things that I took it as given that I need to work to get.

Fuck 'em. " I’d rather throw it down the drain than give it to those free-loading lazy fuckers," is not just an attitude held by heartless ivory-tower conservatives. It’s also an attitude that’s natural to any honest person who’s been genuinely poor.

Fuck, even when I was eating a cup of rice or lentils every other day for two months, and then nothing for a week, it never entered my head for a fucking second to park my ass on the sidewalk and hassle strangers for coins. I’d have a little lie-down on the train-tracks before I lowered myself to that, and I’d appreciate it a great deal if the surly punks with their hands out came around to seeing things this way, as well.

Parasites like that are a very poor representation of impoverished people. Especially the fuckwits wearing Two-hundred-dollar sneakers.

9

Ever been homeless? Ever been down and out? Ever been a junkie?

Hey, if you don’t want to give to panhandlers, then by all means don’t. But some of these folks have had some tragedy, some bad luck, some bad mental health, some bad physical health, etc… They aren’t all just lazy freeloaders. I think some of these folks would like to trade places with you.

Sometimes I feel the way you do. But most of the time I think “There, but for the grace of God, go I”.

10

From your link:

:dubious:

In my corner, a ‘tinker’ is a poor fellow who mends collects, mends, and resells old metals. (“Any old iron!”) A ‘knacker’, similarly, is someone who collects ol’ dogs and horses for delivery and sale to a rendering plant. Both words refer to folks who occupy the lower economic strata, and might be considered “classist” but I can’t see how they could be seen as ethnic slurs, although I must admit I’m unfamiliar with anything outside of the literal definition of the words, with one notable exception.* Is there really a strong non-occupational association between these terms and Romany people in Ireland?

*That being the figurative use of “knackered”, as in “I didn’t see any of the posts after Mockingbird’s until I submitted my last post, and the board went down for back-up right after that, although I felt a need to address the racial-slur aspect of things, and now I’m far too knackered to construct a reasonably coherant sentence.”

G’night.

11

They can trade places with me if they want. All they have to do is put down the beer, put on their shoes and get a fucking job ! These are not the 40 year old smack-heads we’re talking about. These bastards are 25 years old and are wearing Nike Air. They’re just lazy…

12

You know, if all the Irish people complaining about panhandlers would instead direct their anger at the Government which has allowed Ireland to attain the second highest poverty level in the Western World (as per UN Human Development Report 2003), maybe there wouldn’t be so many panhandlers.

13

Irish Travellers aren’t Romany, they’re an indigenous ethnic group. And yes, “knacker” is a slur usually associated with them.

14

Homeless? Yes. Down and out? Down-- nobody’s ever really out until they give up the ghost. Junky? Addicted, not to heroin. As I’ve said, it’s the experience of extreme poverty that opened my eyes to the unworthiness of panhandlers. Before that, I used to give folding money to panners. Sucker.

15

Yeah you’re right !:rolleyes: Blame everyone except the fuckers with their hands out…

16

:smack: My reading comprehension has suffered a little in the last few hours. I really am off to bed now, I promise.

17

No, blame the people who aren’t doing anything about the problem. It’s very easy not to give anything to panhandlers, I try not to myself, I usually buy them a cup of tea, or I would give them money if I think that they’re not going to go spend it on smack.

So rather than get angry at the panhandlers, just don’t give them anything. It’ll work wonders for your blood pressure.

Meanwhile, harass your TD into doing something about the sources of the problems. That’s what they are there for.

18

I used the term “knackered” earlier today to describe a wooden trunk I found on the street, dog-chewed, which had been further dog-chewed by my own precious…I certainly had no idea of its offensive origins. G’damn exchange students with their g’damn cool sounding slang. I really just thought it meant tired/worn out.

On topic: In Berkeley, California, USA, there is a particular section by the university which I have only walked but once because of all the panhandlers. And because they are all super-cool individuals (funded [initially at least] by Mummy and Daddy) they must find their own super-cool approaches which are oh-so-clever, ranging from: “Need money for pot” to in your face “uptight cunt” sort of “shaming” approach. Pretty much like the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco. Charming.
Actually, it could be a fun, “romantic” lifestyle if one had no dignity. My favourite term is “spangers” [spayn-jers], a contraction of “spare changers.”

19

Let me give you my reasoning why this word is an ethnic slur in Ireland.

The verb to knacker, the noun knacker’s yard, the adjective knackered all refer specifically, or obliquely, to the act of slaughtering horses. The noun knacker (as used in the UK) referring to one who slaughters words, and the noun knackers to refer to one’s balls (I have no idea why) - none of these words are insulting.

In Ireland, the noun knackers was also used to describe people who picked up old horses for slaughter. Presumably, this was a common trade of the Travellers, and eventually the word came to describe all members of the travelling community.

However now in Ireland, the word knacker is completely interchangeable with Travellers, criminals, drug addicts, vandals, beggars, violent people, and various other reprobates. Thus someone might say “some knacker broke into my house”, or someone might say “some knackers have parked their caravans in that field”. There is the same implication, and no differentiation. This is a common term, and is used by nearly everyone in the entire country in the same way. But it is still a slur by association.

Are Irish Travellers a separate ethnicity? Well, yes they are. By dictionary.com: “Ethnic: Of or relating to a sizable group of people sharing a common and distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic, or cultural heritage.”

Thus, I think I’m justified in calling it an ethnic slur.

This might seem a petty issue, but the anti-Traveller prejudice over here must be seen to be believed. Any little that one can do to alleviate this surely helps. The word, which I hear daily from almost everyone I know, makes me feel very uncomfortable. Personally, I use the word “scumbags” for the criminals and vandals, and “Travellers” for the Travellers.

20

“one who slaughters words”

How ironic. :smack:

I meant, of course, “one who slaughters horses”.