Are they still doing the windshield washing scam in NY? I look at this as slightly elevated begging, but at least they’re doing something.
I was once waiting for a friend outside a restaurant in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. There was a panhandler there and we struck up a conversation. He told me he was actually a general contractor making about $40,000 a year, but that on the weekends, he came down to Georgetown and set up a little begging business on the street corner. He told me how he always came down with a little bit of money in his hat, to make it look like other people had been giving him money, and a few other little tricks of his trade.
Another beggar in Georgetown once asked me and friend for money. When we said no, he followed us down the street yelling that he was going to projectile vomit on us. He said it with a smile, though!
Here’s an honest bum…
I hope that works.
I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail.
And now my personal anecdote about the last time I ever gave money to a bum:
I traditionally don’t give money to the homeless, but once, when on my way to an ice cream place in Austin, TX, a bum asked me for some change so he could get something to eat. Well, I didn’t have any change, only large bills.
Well, when I left the place, though I did at that point have some change, I spotted a $5 bill on the ground, and thought “what the hell…if I see that same homeless guy, I’ll give him this and make his day!”
So I find him, he tells me his story again, and I hand him the $5 even though he was asking for just some “spare change”. His immediate response? “Man, give me another $5!” To which I told him the $5 would more than get him dinner at the McDonald’s down the road. He just kept demanding another $5. Well he got only one other thing from me, which was a “fuck you” and a promise I’d never give money to a beggar again. In fact, I felt like beating the crap out of the guy to get my original $5 back!
Once a co-worker and I stopped by a liquor store to buy a couple lotto tickets. We both saw a bum walking toward us, and the coworker quickened his pace to get back to the vehicle. I made a quick turn toward the bum and as I approached said, “Hey man, can you spare any money?” Stopped the guy in his tracks. I wished him a good day (but didn’t give him any money) and got into the coworker’s truck. The coworker was incredulous, saying things like “Are you crazy?” (Yes.) and “He could’ve had a knife!” (So?)
Another time I was at a stop light and a guy on the center divider asked me for money. I told him I was tapped. He said, “Oh. Well, do you need any?” and reached into his pocket. I declined.
I was in line at a popluar taco stand (Tito’s Tacos on Washington at Sepulveda) and I noticed an older woman begging for change. I ignored her and she never approached me. When I got to the window I ordered an extra taco. Upon receiving my meal I went to the woman and gave her the extra taco. Her face lit up as if I had just handed her a bag of gold.
Have you ever noticed that any panhandler over 40 claims to be a Vietnam vet? With all those mentally unbalance 13 year olds over there I don’t know how we lost that war.
I have panhandled before. I was young and broke, with no electricity in my house, no job (I was looking hard, my previous job laid me off because my classes made me “less available” than the other person I shared the job with, even though my classes didn’t conflict with work hours. Grr.) etc… I would go to Taco Bell and ask people for a quarter. When I had 3 quarters, I’d buy a bean burrito. I once asked a few people for money outside a grocery store, because I was going to buy some fruit (I ate a LOT of fruit–it was cheap) and a lady told me she didn’t give money to strangers, but that she’d get me some food, and to wait for her. So I waited, and about 10 minutes later she came out and we sat in her car eating bananas and pizza (the store had a little deli) and she ended up coming over to my house and buying some of my artwork!
Panhandling is humiliating and awful, but there have been times when I really had no choice–I had no food and no money and I was hungry. I was living in a town where I had NO friends and no aquaintences. It sucked. I tried applying for food stamps but I was apparently filed into some cabinet somewhere because they never got back to me.
–
“it’s all real”
“I KNEW IT!!!”
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
My New York City story–we went sight-seeing and were in Trinity Church near Wall Street. I had packed a lunch because we weren’t made of money. One guy approached me and asked for food money. I offered him an orange and he said, no, he couldn’t eat it because of his teeth. Then I offered him a carton of yoghurt. He didn’t take that either. Guess the yoghurt would be too hard on the old teeth.
I still give change sometimes–especially to old bag ladies.
I was approached by a young guy who trotted out the all-I-need-to-get-bus-fare-home-is-another-
couple-bucks. I gave him a quarter and
said I didn’t believe him but it was a good story. I thought it was kind of rude when he approached another person with the same line right in front of me.
What saddening about the whole panhandler business is that there are some needy people out there, or sometimes just some unfortunate soul that really does need just a couple of bucks to get home; it’s just that the panhandlers innundate us and desensitizes us to the truly needy.
I was accosted at a stop light in El Paso in '94 by a young man, early 20s at the oldest, asking for money. I had just come off unemployment, so I was tempted to give him some money when I thought “He’s young, healty looking; why doesn’t he get a job?”, and offered to drive him to the local Military Recruiting Station when he said “Nobody tells me what to do!”.
Not too hard to figure out why he doesn’t have a job, eh? Pretty much set my ideas towards beggars until…
I picked up a hitchhiker in Dec. '97 along I-70, just esat of K.C., Mo. He was an older guy, early '60s, and it was colder than hell outside. Now, I don’t normally pick up any hitchikers, but this fella looked fairly normal, so I said what the heck. Turns out he was a homeless veteran, lost his wife, house and job and was moving to St. Louis with the last of his wordly belongings (in a paper grocery sack) to live with his brother. I drove him most of the way to St. Louis, and we talked about Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War, politiics, religion and history, for he was a well-read man, if not highly educated. A very enjoyable 3 hours, and a welcome break to the monotony of a long distance drive.
He insisted on getting out before St. Louis, as he didn’t want to get caught in a strange city at night; he had heard that a local police station allowed the homeless to stay in unoccupied cells overnight in the winter, and was going to try that.
When I tried to give him some money, he became slightly indignant and refused, but he did accept a pair of gloves and an old Army poncho liner I had, as well as a hot cup of coffee.
When I get too cynical about humanity, I think anout that old guy, hitching his way down I-70 in the winter time, with a paper sack full of underwear and sweaters, and he wouldn’t take a dime of my money, just some winter clothing I had to spare.
The truly needy will take whatever you have to spare with gratitude and a solemn dignity that no panhandler could fake on their best day.
<FONT COLOR=“GREEN”>ExTank</FONT>
I had friends at Ohio State who would go downtown with thier bookbags and pretend to need bus fare back to campus. ALWAYS good for a few beers!
Couplea stories…
Everytime I got off the DC Metro near the Mall SOMEONE would come up and offer me a guide map in exchange for a quarter (these guide maps are free at any Smithsonian) and were invariably annoyed when I turned them down…
A friend of mine was always accosted by a “homeless” person who knew she never had change, but knew she was good for a few minutes of morning news on her car radio while stopped at a certain stoplight…
A B.C. (?) comic in which a panhandler asks for change. The “panhandlee” asks for change for $100. The panhandler says “No problem.” “I thought so!!”
The guy in 8th grade who walked around the lunchroom asking everyone if he could bum a quarter and ended up with more than $30…
Once went to a pizza joint with some people. You ALWAYS order more pizza than you need, you know, and we walked out of the joint with most of one pizza left over. Saw an old man - spitting image of what you’d expect an old railroad hobo to look like, except he didn’t have that stick with the bandanna hangin from it - outside and offered him the pizza, and you’d have though we’d told him he’d won the lottery; he couldn’t believe we were giving him food…
You can’t help but feel sorry for people who have no family/friends to go to for help or lunch or a job…but on the other hand can’t help loathing those who turn down mickey d’s coupons.
Where is the line between being humane and being a sucker?
I haven’t given anything to panhandlers since the time I opened my wallet to give a guy $1, and he reached in and snagged two fives. He was amazingly fast; I almost didn’t see his hand move. So now I refuse to let people see where I keep my money.
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
Vancouver BC has worse (simply by sheer numbers) than Seattle, IMHO. Down near Davies Street on Granville Island, all the little raver kids sit in lines in front of closed shops, hats out. Heck, they are just going to sit around and smoke and bs anyway, might as well make some money at it (especially when dumb Americans throw loonies instead of quarters…ack!)
Outside GM Place (where the Canucks play) I see the same guy every time I go for a game. He hits every car in the parking line for some cash, with the story that ‘he got a wheel lock and needs to pay the fine to the parking people so he can get his pregnant wife home’. He got me the first time around.
However, GM Place has some entertaining beggars, too. One guy would do x amount of push-ups for cash, and people started pooling their money in an attempt to see how many he would do before passing out. After a hockey tournament, I was faced with the prospect of hauling my gear up several flights of stairs to get to the SkyTrain platform. Kid asked me for some change. I told him that I would give him a loonie to take my gear to the top of the platform. He did, I paid him. Matter of fact, he performed this for the whole team, and made a coupla quick bucks. There’s free enterprise for ya!
They say the Lord loves drunks, fools and little children.
Two out of three ain’t bad.
I have no problem giving homeless people food (if I have any at the time) extra clothes, but sometimes that’s not what they want. My friend was going through McDonald’s Drive Thru when this man approached her car, knocked on the window and asked for some money because he was hungry. She said she didn’t have any one her (she was apying with Interac) but if he waited on the other end of the Drive Thru, she would get him some food. She did, he took off before she could give it to him.
I go with the thought, if I have it, I’m not alone and you are not scaring the crap out of me okay. I mean if you are scamming, so what, I lose a dollar?
One scary story, I was at the bus stop when all of a sudden I was surrounded by ten very tough-looking, drunken people who asked me for spare change. The one woman, who was ll beaten up looking was the one who asked. All I had was my bus ticket and I told them that. Freaked me right out, they went through everyone else at the bus stop like that.
Seems to me I’ve driven by that taco stand at night, and noticed an unusual collection of women with flashy, tight clothing hanging out at the corner, getting into cars, and being dropped off by cars.
Or am I thinking of Sunset, not Sepulveda? I’m still an amateur on LA streets.
- Rick
One of my wife’s classmate in college did a paper on pan-handling. He went to NYC using various stories to beg for money. Made over $300 in a couple of hours! Mind you, he had a marketing advantage. He was well dressed and came on with credible stories such as loosing a wallet and need the bus fare back up-state, etc. Just goes to show, if you don’t feed the pigeons, they won’t bother you.
The only real begging I’ve done has been at numerous Dead shows waiting on a miracle. I’ve also given out my fair share of miracles as well, and don’t think there are too many feelings that top that - both the giving and the getting. Of course, there is not too much out there that tops a Dead show! 
Panhandling brings up a couple of interesting philosophical / introspective questions. Many of us give occasionally or rarely to people on the street. (I lived in NYC and am now in DC). As a poor student (er, an impoverished one, that is) I really felt for someone who, despite what they might do with it, despite other options out there, live quite a shitty life. Despite the scam artists out there, there are a lot of people who really are desperate. At the same time, that extra seventy cents in my pocket was about half a slice at Koronets, a whole day’s worth of pizza.
So when would I/you give away that bit of change? A good joke teller / clown is a good pull to me, as well as a musician. When we walk down the street passing up one person to give to another, we are in effect making the choice over who deserves our help and who doesn’t. It is not a live changing act we are doing, but the mental thought process is somewhat the same. IMHO what makes you decide on that day to give to thatj particular person gives you a bit of insight into how you view the world. [disclaimer]Not negative, mind you, just a way of uncovering some of the hidden influences on your life.[/disclaimer]
Lastly, if I can add my own personal take on the scammers and what they are. Sure, scammers (or hubba-monsters if you will) can be pretty much considered the bottom feeders of society. But aren’t they really just selling a product? The HB is selling a bit of good feeling about one’s self, no? Person X gives over what change they have in their pocket at the time (.75 - 1.25?) in return they get a polite, humble, gracious thank you. Usually you get a blessing. (This is much more the rule in NYC and DC than are complaints. The complainers do exist, but are not typical of most panhandlers).
Person X walks away feeling like they just did a good deed, did a little bit to make another human being happy. That person goes on to their local video store, or calls tech support, or gets into a cab, whatever, in a marginally better attitude than they were in before. They are nicer to the clerk, etc. That clerk is then marginally nicer to you, standing next in line. The end effect is that in an afternoon of work (standing in the cold bumming for change, asking for voter signatures, handing out leaflets, taking tickets… all work) the HB might get a thousand dirty looks and fifty bits of change. The HB gets money, those fifty bought a feeling, and spread out through the city making it a slightly (very, very slightly, but slightly nonetheless) nicer place. A simple capitalistic exchange. Not much different from Madison Avenue.
Thank you for listening.
Once in a while you can get shown the light
in the strangest of places
if you look at it right…
I hadn’t been hit up by anyone with the “out of gas” story for maybe two years. Then I read this topic yesterday, and WHAM last night a motor-mouth guy in a baseball cap and an alleged pickup parked up the street gave me the classic pitch. It was hard to keep a straight face.
Anyway, thanks a lot for jinxing me, guys!
Sending this to MPSIMS…
Nickrz