Last night I saw a panhandler on the side of the ride while I was being driven by a friend. His sign read…
WHY LIE?
I need a beer
We all busted up! We gave him a few bucks.
I’ve seen another sign that said, “Will suffer verbal abuse for money.” I’ve seen other funny ones in this messed up town of Eugene, OR, but I seem to have forgotten them
Anyway, what’s your favorite panhandling sign you’ve ever seen? The clever ones deserve the money damnit!
To be honest, I’m with Violet, and have never thought any to be clever. I’ve seen a few “Why Lie?” ones, and they’ve just p*ssed me off. Yeah, I need a beer too, but I’m on my way to work.
I saw this while coming back from dinner with our sons, who were busy impersonating a pack of wolverines at the time. I needed the laugh and gave the guy a couple of bucks for it.
My dad gave me a snapshot of a guy on the street in Key West. He’s sitting in a $5.00 plastic yard chair, wearing a black and yellow Cat in the Hat hat, and has a sign that says, “Dirty Jokes!! 50 cents and up. I NEED BEER.”
Some of my buddies were at a concert downtown one night. A guy was saying, you know, “Hey, I’ll be honest, I need some liquor. Can anyone spare some change?” A few people, including my friends gave the guy a couple bucks.
Then, one lady went to the store, and bought the guy a fifth of Jack Daniel’s. He was so happy, he gave all the other people their money back and ran around yelling, “God bless this woman! You can all have your money back, I don’t need it anymore!”
When I was in college in Madison, WI, there was one homeless guy with a guitar who had the words to “Brown Eyed Girl” (among other similar songs that I can’t remember) written on pieces of posterboard.
Many a weekend night you could see him, surrounded by 30 or so drunk college students, all singing along along and dancing while he played the guitar. Very surreal experience.
Yeah, I’d be pissed off at “I need beer” as well… which is not to say I wouldn’t crack up. I just wouldn’t give any money. Shit like, “I need to feed my kids” works better on me even if I’m thinking “Gee, I hope you don’t have any kids” while I’m counting off the cash.
Ain’t America a great place! I am stunned at the acceptance of beggars shown here.
I guess we are lucky here in Brisvegas and Down Under generally.
I have never seen a panhandler , much less one with a sign. I suppose they must exist, but if a society is functioning properly there shouldn’t be ANYONE forced to be homeless or to beg.
A guy asked me for a cigarette. When he saw me scowl, he quickly added, “I’ll give you my soul!” I was a little creeped out, but amused nevertheless. I handed him a ciggie and politely declined his offer.
But hell, I’ll give auliya the benefit of the doubt. Here’s the good news - in America, we don’t FORCE anyone to be homeless or to beg. Usually, they have a choice. Okay, that’s a little snide…you get the picture.
All in good fun, folks…
Back to the OP, though…I’ve given $ to a few pan handlers but never based upon a sign. It’s usually just a matter of if I have a few bucks easy to reach in my pocket and can spare the dough.
There is a bum who sits near Times Square in NYC with a sign that says “Tell me off for $2.” Apparently he has been doing that for quite sometime, because I saw him myself over 2 years ago, and then about 8 months ago I saw him on the “Insomniac with Dave Attell” show. It was pretty damn funny.
Okay, that’s a little snide…you get the picture.