Do You Ever Give Money To Panhandlers

[carole]

In NZ we have a good enough welfare system IMO to make sure most people are not totally going without, i do however appreciate there are certain circumstances that no matter what, people do end up living on the streets, however having said that we have young ones who just do not like the rules at home, up and leave and become homeless, IMO they are choosing this lifestyle,and my empathy is somewhat not to easy to give in these situations,but again each individual situation is different and we should not always be so quick to judge, one never knows when the shoe might be on the other foot as we say here, in other words when you yourself could face being just that homeless, it can happen to anyone from any walk of life, i think if we keep that in mind one can always find a few cents to spare to help those less well off than ourselves.

[lv4dogs]

I've been following this thread closely.

I have been there & done it, not that I am proud of it like I said before but each & every response affects me in some way. I'd love to reply to almost every post on this thread but I can't. Not only does it hurt (not all of it hurts though), but it would take too long. I want to say a BIG thank you to those of you that are not "bashing" the homeless in one way or another.

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.

You couldn't be more right. As long as the animal is well cared for I have no problems with a homeless persona having a companion.


Here's a serious quote (with a little bit of humor at the end)
Don't judge a person until you walk a mile in their shoes; that way, you'll be a mile away, and you'll have their shoes - Frieda Norris.

[Cataholic]

WOW! Some of these responses are a bit surprising. I do like that saying, "there but for the grace of God, go I".

Some of these responses remind me of the argument you hear in domestic violence cases, and the battered woman (usually woman) situation. Maybe these women just like the abuse??? CAUSE, if they DIDN'T like it, they would have left the situation long ago, right?

Life just isn't that simple.