# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 226
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4800 "2025-04-21T17:25:38Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I knew a guy who would prepare for his morning (20+ years ago) by putting a few nickels and pennies in his pocket, that way if a beggar got aggressive, he could throw some change in his cup that sounded significant and be a fair distance away before they could ever figure out that they were just given 13 cents. The point was to get as far away as possible from the person who may just get angry for no particular reason. You’re not helping your point by providing an example of someone being an asshole to homeless people. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4801 "2025-04-21T17:28:13Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > That is not at all what he said. He said that a homeless person is unlikely to be able to be carrying anything to add to the bread to improve its nutritive value. That makes _even less_ sense. You can carry the pita package and pull out a pita whenever you find some other source of food to eat with it. In fact, I found Czarcasm’s insistence that bread is useless to a homeless people funny, because about a year ago, when I was visiting another office for my company that I usually don’t work out of, when I was pulling past a parking lot I saw a homeless guy on a divider between two roads, with a bag of pita and a bag of chips. While I was waiting for the light to change, someone handed him a box of leftover salad, which he dumped into a pita, added some chips, and ate. The idea that you’re somehow worse off with only pita to eat than you are with nothing to eat is laughable. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4802 "2025-04-21T17:33:27Z")
Bread is useless to a homeless person that can get free food any of number of places. You know what homeless people can’t get for free that is really useful to them? The chemical that keeps them from having the DTs or enduring withdrawal. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4803 "2025-04-21T17:35:59Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Want to know why people look away or cross the street to avoid beggars? That’s why. I have a few stories from my many experiences with panhandlers when I worked for years in the Pioneer Square area of Seattle a couple of decades ago. One somewhat funny story was when a guy said that he needed money to catch a ferry ride back across the Puget Sound. See, the way the ferry system worked back then (and maybe it still does, but I haven’t ridden in many years) is that it was free to travel to Seattle, but leaving Seattle cost you money. (Which is kind of weird but whatever; we have a similar situation with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, where there is a toll to cross in one direction but not the other.) Anyway, I was a daily commuter on the ferry and I would buy ticket books. You buy a book of tickets and you can rip one out and give it at the ferry terminal in lieu of cash to ride. Buying a bunch of tickets in a book was much cheaper per ride than buying a single trip. It was a good deal for people who regularly commute on it. So I gave the guy a ticket, he was gracious and thanked me. Nice guy and I felt pretty good about helping someone out. Then I saw the same guy the very next day, with the exact same story. I walked up to him and asked, what’s going on, why didn’t you ride the ferry yesterday with the ticket I gave you? He got a shifty look on his face and walked away quickly from me (not running, just wanting to get away because I was exposing his scam). Oh well, at least he wasn’t confrontational, and it wasn’t like I was yelling at him, I was casually asking him what happened as if I didn’t know he was just a scammer with a fake story. I guess it was a popular story because in another situation, a woman had the same story, asking people for money to ride a ferry back. Except this time, she said she was a mom, had lost her purse, and was desperate to get home to her kids. I pulled out my ticket book and said I could give her a ticket, and she got an angry look on her face and said, “FUCK YOU!” So again, the previous guy, give him credit, he was polite. In another situation, I met a guy who was right outside of the ferry dock who was begging for money to get something to eat. I told him that if he was hungry, he could join me for dinner, because I was waiting on a ferry to get home and had time to kill and hadn’t eaten yet. He said, sure thing! And we went into the McDonald’s which was right there at the dock. I went in, ordered some meal, and told him to get whatever he wanted. I paid for us both. We got our food and sat down. He was a nice guy, and it turned out that we both had tabletop gaming in common, in particular Dungeons and Dragons. We shared some stories from different games, and opinions on the game, and so on. A really nice chat over food. When it was over, I bought him a gift certificate so he could come back and get food later. He was a nice, friendly guy, and we both parted happy. It was a good experience. Everybody is different. Some folks are predators and some are nice people down on their luck. I’ve had very different experiences with different people. I’ve always tried to treat everyone with dignity though, because no matter what they’re still people. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4804 "2025-04-21T17:37:17Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Bread is useless to a homeless person that can get free food any of number of places. Many homeless people who beg avoid those places, often because of mental illness, drug addiction, or paranoia. So food that doesn’t require them to go to those places can certainly help. > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > You know what homeless people can’t get for free that is really useful to them? The chemical that keeps them from having the DTs or enduring withdrawal. The chemicals that keep them addicted and slowly kill them, you mean? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4805 "2025-04-21T17:41:07Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > The chemicals that keep them addicted and slowly kill them, you mean? Careful, we don’t want any one to conclude that giving the homeless bread isn’t an act of kindness and is instead a moral judgement on how they live their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4806 "2025-04-21T17:43:16Z")
What? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4807 "2025-04-21T17:46:17Z")
Well then > **[Beer from bread](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_from_bread)** > > Although most beer is brewed using cereal grains—most commonly malted barley—as a source of starch sugars, it can also be made from bread. > Beers made from bread include Sahti in Finland, Kvass in Russia and Ukraine, and Bouza in Egypt and Sudan. > In several countries, 'Toast Ale' is made—in a range of styles—from surplus bread from the catering trade, as part of a campaign to reduce food waste. The recipe is open source. Inspired by this, Adnams brewed a range of three beers exclusively for Mark... ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4808 "2025-04-21T17:52:41Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > If you disrespect bread, which is central to my ancestral culture, I consider you lower than a snake’s belly. Jagoff. Czarcasm definitely comes off worse in this exchange, but I’m surprised more people aren’t commenting on this deeply weird statement from Johanna’s entrance into this thread, defending the honor of bread from being impugned by ethnic chauvinism. Or something? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4809 "2025-04-21T17:53:52Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Bread is useless to a homeless person that can get free food any of number of places. > You know what homeless people can’t get for free that is really useful to them? The chemical that keeps them from having the DTs or enduring withdrawal. Obviously it’s true that many homeless people are addicts, but it’s not OK to use the terms as though they were literally interchangable. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4810 "2025-04-21T17:54:17Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Czarcasm definitely comes off worse in this exchange, but I’m surprised more people aren’t commenting on this deeply weird statement from Johanna’s entrance into this thread, defending the honor of bread from being impugned by ethnic chauvinism. What if we disrespect bread, but respect circuses? Do we get partial credit? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4811 "2025-04-21T18:30:19Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > See, the way the ferry system worked back then (and maybe it still does, but I haven’t ridden in many years) is that it was free to travel to Seattle, but leaving Seattle cost you money. (Which is kind of weird but whatever; we have a similar situation with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, where there is a toll to cross in one direction but not the other.) It’s pretty common around the country. Darn near everybody who uses a tolled bridge or tunnel does so in both directions. They can collect $1 each way, creating traffic congestion at each of the two toll plazas, or they can collect $2 going one way with one set of congestion but no delays (or expensive tolltakers) going the other way. Nowadays with the advent of transponders and plate readers so cars don’t need to slow down to be tolled, and so toll-taking doesn’t need any employees in any booths, that one-way tolling technique is going away. I’ve also done the book of tickets thing on public transit. Some folks panhandling at stations asking for money towards a fare are happy to be given a ticket. Others are annoyed; they want cash, and only cash. The ticket ask is just a ploy. Being homeless / indigent sucks. Being accosted by them and their varying states of mind sucks too. There is only one of those things I can control and that’s whether or not I interact or avoid. Like so much in our world, the WAG 10% of homeless who are bad actors wreck it for the 90% who are just decent people in very bad situations. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4812 "2025-04-21T18:42:52Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > You’re not helping your point by providing an example of someone being an asshole to homeless people. Offering a begging homeless person food might make them angry, and offering them nothing might make them angry, and this guy just wanted to be able to walk from the train to his office without having a desperate person get angry at him. He didn’t hurt them, or trick them, or humiliate them, he ostentatiously gave them a small amount of what they were begging for so that they would leave him be. Johanna’s story illustrates why, she’s just sitting in a car and winds up with someone angry at her for doing nothing wrong. If I’m sitting in my car, window down talking to someone, the last thing I want is for that person to be angry. I’m seated with my head a foot away from their fist, I’m not looking for a fight, or to be punched in the head while they run away, I want to be left alone. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4813 "2025-04-21T18:59:26Z")
I wasn’t talking about Johanna, I was talking about your friend. Throwing pennies in a homeless person’s cup is an asshole move. Your friend doesn’t want to feel uncomfortable if someone lashes out, so he pisses off 10 people to avoid one person saying something rude to him. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4814 "2025-04-21T19:01:25Z")
I will give Czarcasm a pass on this. I feel his previous experiences made him have a knee jerk response. That was a bit biting. I also think Johanna can handle it. She seems strong and capable. We cannot know everyones past or deep seated feelings on these things unless we’re told. So mistakes happen. Bad day. Tummy ache. Bread is stale. Car needs gas. Crap happens. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4815 "2025-04-21T19:20:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s pretty common around the country. Darn near everybody who uses a tolled bridge or tunnel does so in both directions. They can collect $1 each way, creating traffic congestion at each of the two toll plazas, or they can collect $2 going one way with one set of congestion but no delays (or expensive tolltakers) going the other way. Okay, this makes a lot of sense. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Nowadays with the advent of transponders and plate readers so cars don’t need to slow down to be tolled, and so toll-taking doesn’t need any employees in any booths, that one-way tolling technique is going away. At least with the bridge, they have this. I have a transponder in my car (that I ordered through the state) and I can drive right over the bridge and it gets charged to my account (at a discount from paying at the toll booth). But there are still booths for people who don’t have this. You can also just drive right over the bridge and they will get your plate info and send you the bill, but with a huge markup. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4816 "2025-04-21T19:22:50Z")
Here in FL everything is now transponderized. Not a toll both anywhere in the state. There is no cash or card option. If you have a transponder and an account it’s cheap. If they get you via plate reader, it’s expensive Your choice. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4817 "2025-04-21T19:23:16Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Your friend doesn’t want to feel uncomfortable if someone lashes out My friend didn’t want to be anywhere in the neighborhood when someone lashed out. He didn’t want to be the target of lashing out. What he wanted was an uneventful walk on the streets of Manhattan, but there were often homeless folks on his route who would not let that happen. He didn’t seek them out, he was just ready if someone asked him for some spare change. Reach in the pocket, drop a substantial sounding amount of real currency in their cup (since cups and change were common back then) and keep walking. He did it because he had enough (or heard about enough) unpleasant encounters to make him think he needed a plan. You don’t need to get punched or pushed or threatened too many times to decide such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4818 "2025-04-21T19:25:32Z")
Truly aggressive panhandling bordering on assault was a thing for a time in Manhattan IIRC. Such that if one looked the part of a plausible victim, getting hassled by somebody might well be a daily occurrence. Not so much nowadays, but it was for real in the bad old days. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4819 "2025-04-21T19:26:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Here in FL everything is now transponderized. Not a toll both anywhere in the state. COVID killed the remaining booths in the Houston area. Not enough traffic and too much contact with physical objects. They’re all electronic tags and/or plate reader now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=225) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=227)