Do You Ever Give Money To Panhandlers

[moosmom]

Lizbud,

"I'll work for food" signs

What a novel idea!!!!

Since I've been looking for full time work for over 6 months, maybe THAT'S what I should do!!!!

I do not give money to panhandlers. I do offer to buy them a meal. Onetime I was in NYC and a panhandler asked me for money. I offered him my fruit yogurt and he got REAAAAALLYY pissed at me. He screamed at me, "I need MONEY, not your damned yogurt!!" Oh well, his loss.

[lizbud]

The first time I was approached by a panhandler was in the PetsMart parking lot.This guy said his car had run out of gas & he needed a few
dollars to get some. Said he had left his wife & kids in the car down the
street. The thought of the wife & small kids in a car stuck in traffic like that
made me sympathetic & I gave the guy a few dollars.

Only when I saw him again the next week with the same tired excuse for
money did I realize it was a scam. I never gave anyone money after that.

[k9krazee]

No, I never have. But, I have volunteered at the soup kitchen for the homeless many times, and I also make Christmas cookies each year and give them to the Red Cross.

[gini]

***This is NoahsMommy, NOT Gini***

I'll give food/drinks, but NOT money. There are sooooo many programs and governmentally funded housing/jobs/etc. for them to take advantage of.

I've often givin out food, but that's it.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

I don't because usually I'm by myself and I don't trust them not to hurt me or something. We don't have many here because our police will take them to the Red Cross and get them some help, if they really need it. The ones who really need help seem grateful, the ones who are just mooching, move on to greener pastures.

[Sevaede]

I do not.

I don't have money to spare. Period. We have enough to take care of ourselves and our (fur)babies. Most of the people I have encountered have been like the aforementioned "pros". I've talked to some folks who panhandle and they said they've made several HUNDRED dollars in a sitting (spanning a few hours.).

[kitten645]

Never.

I work in SF and between the train and the two blocks to my office I run a gamaut thru 10-12 VERY aggressive panhandlers. I've seen reports that more than half of these "homeless" are so as a matter of personal preference or "lifestyle".

In addition most of these people have an animal of some sort for the sympathy factor. This pisses me off most. If you can't take care of yourself fine, but it's not the animals fault. I have give some of these people kibble for the cat or dog.

I've also seen a van load of people dropped off in the financial district with a few taking each street first thing in the morning. Then picked up at night!

What a nice operation!

[CathyBogart]

Yes, though I like to chat with people before I decide to give them money or anything else. It also depends on where. In San Francisco - Heck no! The place and the people are too scary for me.

Santa Cruz though....There are a lot of homeless in Santa cruz, though not as many as in SF. I like to talk to some of the people who live underneath the pier on the beach and spend their days fishing. There's a lady there whose husband was really abusive and she ran away when he started to hit her beautiful pit bull, so I try to bring her money and a can of dog food. Last time I gave $5 to a homeless couple and the woman cried because they could BOTH buy a Subway sandwich for that much.

I know some people are out to buy alcohol or rip you off, but I'm willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.

[lv4dogs]

I do... that is if I have the money & if I have a feeling that it will be spent on things other than booze (even if I have a hunch that they will spend only part of it on booze but part on something else that is needed, I'll still give it). I usually chat with them for a while or the like to get a feel for them.

This is hard to type but it made me who I am today. I am not proud of it but again it made who I am today.
I lived on the streets before, more than once. A few times before I was even out of high school. My father and I did not have the best relationship back then. Only one of the times was it by choice or at least partially by choice. I moved out of state with an ex b/f about 9 years ago, who said we could find a house. Well we never found a house so we were homeless.
I have had to beg for money for food, dog food (Nanook was with me), personal items, etc.. and let me tell you if the person beggin for food has any morals then they will feel ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE asking for money. I know I did. I HATED HATED HATED it but I could not get any help from any organization. With no home to change clothes, take a shower at, etc... there were no job opportunities. It was a ROUGH life and I tried my hardest to get on my feet but it was near impossible without some help from someone.

[GreyhoundGirl]

Santa Cruz though....There are a lot of homeless in Santa cruz, though not as many as in SF. I like to talk to some of the people who live underneath the pier on the beach and spend their days fishing. There's a lady there whose husband was really abusive and she ran away when he started to hit her beautiful pit bull, so I try to bring her money and a can of dog food. Last time I gave $5 to a homeless couple and the woman cried because they could BOTH buy a Subway sandwich for that much.

Good for you !!!! I'm proud of you. I would have ran away if someone hit my dog, too.

[Danegirl2208]

i'll give spare change once in a while, but honestly i dont know the person, they could be using it for the wrong reasons, which is only going to make their situation worst.. i live in Arizona, the summer heat is HORRID, there are always heat stroke deaths during these months a good number of them being homeless people.. i buy the big boxes of bottled water at sams club and keep a few bottles in the car, i am more than willing to give them water..and in this heat..water is a MUST

[bckrazy]

It depends.

I go to San Francisco at least a few times a month... and that is basically the bum capitol of the country! You literally cannot walk a single block, anywhere, without encountering several people asking for money. It can get tiring, when I know there are countless shelters in the city and places to work... and especially because many are *clearly* high on something! I'm not going to give you money when you're scaring me, and offering me used chapstick for money (this has happened more than once!).

Me and my friends did meet a really nice person in SF a few weeks ago, who was without a home at that time. He came up and asked if he could bum a cig, which my friend Courtney did give him some, because he was genuinely appreciative and not scary! We had no idea he was homeless until he told us, and he was staying at a shelter that fed, water, clothed, & deoderized them. ^^ He was from New Orleans, moved to LA and did construction, and when he lost his job he and his 2 friends moved to SF to try to find a job in the area. There definitely are truly needy, good people out there... but there are also plenty of whack-jobs, who would honestly do better without people handing them change.

I was "scammed", I guess you could call it, and it really hurt my feelings. I was at Starbucks, that has a hotel right next door, and a lady with her son came up (with a cane...) telling us that she was behind on her hotel bill. So we both gave her $20. We came the next weekend, and guess who was there? The guy at Starbucks said she loiters every weekend for money, and does not stay at that hotel. It just is kind of sad, I cannot imagine what her poor son has to see & go through... and you have to think - it takes so much energy & social ability to kindly ask people for money and explain your situation - so why not put all of the time and energy into a legit job? I dunno...

[areias]

There is a lady that rides around my local walmart area, in a motorized scooter with a wagon that has a 75-100lb Rottweiler mix dog in it. She has a sign that says "Homeless, Please Help, Dog Is Hungry". I know she is homeless..I camped at the local park and saw her there under a tarp, with about 100 knick knacks set up around there on plastic shelves? Set up in the middle of the woods. First thing, please find a home for the dog, where you know he'll be fed, if you're worried about him going hungry. Second, stop spending your f***ing money on a MOTORIZED SCOOTER, it is not a wheel chair, it is for recreation. I would love one myself! Third, no offense to anyone that is pleasantly plump, but she is a very large lady and I have no idea how she keeps herself that large being 'homeless'. Maybe the dog is hungry because she eats all his dog food? lmao, sorry it may sound mean but I don't understand.

That said, normally I will give some loose change or maybe a dollar or two, after I talk to the person and get a feel for them, but I prefer to give them food. I remember talking to one guy in St. Pete, who played REALLY good guitar and looked like hank jr...I was gonna give him a few bucks but I noticed he had a leather briefcase and a can of beer behind him, and even pulled out a joint and started smoking in front of me and my friend.

[jackie]

There is a lady that rides around my local walmart area, in a motorized scooter with a wagon that has a 75-100lb Rottweiler mix dog in it. She has a sign that says "Homeless, Please Help, Dog Is Hungry". I know she is homeless..I camped at the local park and saw her there under a tarp, with about 100 knick knacks set up around there on plastic shelves? Set up in the middle of the woods. First thing, please find a home for the dog, where you know he'll be fed, if you're worried about him going hungry. Second, stop spending your f***ing money on a MOTORIZED SCOOTER, it is not a wheel chair, it is for recreation. I would love one myself! Third, no offense to anyone that is pleasantly plump, but she is a very large lady and I have no idea how she keeps herself that large being 'homeless'. Maybe the dog is hungry because she eats all his dog food? lmao, sorry it may sound mean but I don't understand.

The scooter may have been a donation, and they are not usually for recreation. If she is really large, it is probably the only way she can get around. I can't really see an obese person being able to wheel themselves about in a traditional wheelchair.

I don't like seeing homeless people with animals either, but I do understand it. It must be a very lonely life, and they probably need all the companionship they can get.

[catnapper]

stop spending your f***ing money on a MOTORIZED SCOOTER, it is not a wheel chair, it is for recreation. I would love one myself! Third, no offense to anyone that is pleasantly plump, but she is a very large lady and I have no idea how she keeps herself that large being 'homeless'. Maybe the dog is hungry because she eats all his dog food? lmao, sorry it may sound mean but I don't understand.
.

Wow, how utterly sarcastic. Like someone else said, that scooter might be the only way she can get around, and might be the only big thing she actually owns from her life of NOT being homeless. She might still have some pride and take good care of her scooter and her dog.

As for being overweight and homeless... more than likely she is overweight because of being homeless. It is far, FAR cheaper to feed herself on a $1 worth of junk food than it is to get a whole meal. You eat the quick and cheap junk food, the hunger pangs go away. Meanwhile you gain a ton of weight because the last time you has any true protein or whole grains was too long ago to remember. Look at how McDonals, Burger King, and Wendy's now have a $1 menu. You can get "Whole meals" for $2 (a sandwich and fries) You can actually feed yourself for $5 a day. Then do the same thing with $2 worth of Purina Dog Chow for the pup.