What's your philosophy on these people?

[bull]

We have a huge problem in the Portland area with people begging. It's not uncommon to see four or more people with cardboard signs on each corner of a four-way intersection during morning and evening rush hour. Some of them are total phonies, like the guy I've seen several times wearing a sleep apnea mask with the wrong type of oxygen tank nearby. I used to see signs that said "Will work for food" but I don't see those anymore.

Though I've given in the past I've basically given up on them because I don't want to perpetuate their possible addictions, I don't know which ones are the liars and I'd rather see them off the street getting help from legitimate sources rather than making $75k/year in tax free cash off people making $40/year legitimately.

Although I have considered dressing nice and holding a sign that says "Need money for classic car restoration. Please help" just to see what would happen.

Anyway, do you guys give street beggars money?

[69CoronetRT]

Depends on the story.

[justin1987]

I was in Chicago about a month ago and a guy gave my buddies a story about how he helped children at a home for underprivileged children. Both my friend's gave him $10 and as soon as he got the money he walked about 30 feet and turned down a dark alley. I'm pretty sure he went and bought some crack.

[PocketThunder]

I was driving home from DQ and had some french fries i wasnt gonna finish so i gave them to the guy that works the corner near my exit on the freeway.  He started eating them right away so i guess his sign for needing money for food was true because he was hungry..

I dont give out money though.  daycare, diapers and formula are my charity for the time being..   

[Silver R/T]

i feel sorry for them but I realize that they can get food at local food banks and there's shelters for them and if they really want they can always get a job

[myk]

In order to get into my parking lot for work I have to make a U-turn at this specific point everyday.  I've seen the same homeless guy for well over a year.  Now, if I were to give him money today, then what about tomorrow? Or the day after that?  The next week?  Month?  And so on?  When does it end, because his homeless status obviously won't in the forseeable future, which is why I refuse to give out any money at all to anyone, anywhere.  If you help someone you become involved in their life, and personally I find it discomforting to either help someone one day only to give them the cold shoulder the next day, OR continue to help someone and enable/prolong their dependence on others.

Each one of these souls has a story to explain their circumstance to be sure, but as I try to tell my girlfriend, who insists on being sad, sitting in her apartment, listening to Linkin Park and hating the world all day, the good, happy life isn't going to throw itself into your lap-you have to make it happen.  These homeless people need to learn how to master their lives again...

[C_stripes]

There was one here once that had a sign that said will work for food. A friend of mine went and told him he had some things for him to do and he would pay him $50.  The guy said no.  All he needed to do was mow a lawn and weed their garden.

[myk]

'Nuff said...

[FLG]

If i have the time and theres a local food joint nearby ill tell em "Listen, i aint giving ya money but ill buy ya food...what do ya want?". Never had one homeless guy turn down free food.

[Shakey]

No money 'cause I simply don't have time to listen to stories as I walk by, however if I have leftovers from a restaurant I'll pass them on. Or, in the case below.....

A few years back on New Year's eve my Wife and I were heading into the city to celebrate.  Each year at Christmas I clean out the liquor cabinet and return all the bottles that were given to me throughout the year that I know we won't drink.  One bottle was not from Ontario so the LCBO wouldn't take it back.  I told my Wife that we'll give it to the first guy we run into when we got downtown.

This beggar was sittin' on the grate and when I handed him the brown paper bag and he looked inside his eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas.  "Happy New Year Sir, Happy New Year bless you"

I'm sure he guzzeled that bottle and was dead by sun up!

[Mike DC]

 
I think decent people can occasionally end up on the street for short periods of time.  But there are homeless guys in my town who have been begging on the same corners since at least when I was in gradeschool. 


A lot of homeless people are mentally ill, though.  It would be a lot easier to write them all off as worthless bums if the govt's mental health care was more extensive.

[ITSA426]

A good spot for the WWJD question.  Not mine to judge.  A statistically high number of those guys are vets that served the country in exchange for broken promises - and some are pretenders. 

I can't always tell which is which so if I can help I help.  If I give money to a man it's no longer my money and he can buy what he wants with it.  I can't walk in his shoes, but I sometimes feel I know where he's been. 

It helps me count my own blessings.

[Charger74]

Portland should due what Tucson did, ban them from the intersections, but I doubt that.  I agree most are people in a bad situation.  Then you got the ones that doing it just to make money without actually working, they walk a few blocks away, jump into their brand new mercedes and go home to wife and kids in a $300,000 dollar home.  Those piss me off.

A friend of mine ran into a really, really good one once.  PUlled up to a stop sign with a guy sitting there, sign read "Why lie, I need a drink".  He gave a ten just because of the sign......

[Mike DC]

 
Some of the Vietnam combat claims are lies.  IMO that's a really lowdown lie to tell, but it happens. 



Something like 1% of all Americans in the Vietnam age group actually served in the miltary, went over to Vietnam, went into combat, and got severely disabled, and lived to come back here that way. 

There's another statistic in a census that about 80% of those people who claim to be Vietnam Vets are lying. 

         

[Guns N Rotors]

This will be me by the end of summer

[ITSA426]

 
Some of the Vietnam combat claims are lies.  IMO that's a really lowdown lie to tell, but it happens. 



Something like 1% of all Americans in the Vietnam age group actually served in the miltary, went over to Vietnam, went into combat, and got severely disabled, and lived to come back here that way. 

There's another statistic in a census that about 80% of those people who claim to be Vietnam Vets are lying. 

         

But I'm not.  I'm wondering where you got your numbers.

For a while Vietnam Vets had the highest suicide rate in the country so the odds of the panhandler being a Vietnam vet diminish with the decreasing population.  I don't approve of the panhandling but it seems easier than dealing with the VA. 

[Ponch ®]

I usually don't give anything. Mostly because I hardly ever carry any cash with me anymore. Philosophically, I'm hesitant to give them money for many of the reasons mentioned above. I do occasionally break down and give some change tho, if I have it on me. If you think the street beggar situation is bad, try the border crossing coming back from Tijuana. Mothers with newborns, young kids doing firebreathing and juggling tricks for a quarter, and people with visible physical deformities and illnesses all compete for your attention. It's quite depressing, really, but if you give to one then they'll all start flocking to your car. I just keep my windows rolled up.

I do have one funny anecdote, which I might have told here before. One Saturday morning a few years ago, I stopped at a 7-11 (which was next to a bar) to grab some coffee and some Famous Amos cookies. On my way out, this dirty little mexican guy came up to me and said to me in Spanish "Hey buddy....look, I ain't gonna lie to you. Last night I came to the bar, and you know, got really drunk and spent all my money, and now I don't even have enough to take the bus home. Can you spare some change?" I appreciated his honesty, so I reached into my pocket and gave him the 2 or 3 bucks I had plus some lose change.

[Orange_Crush]

You don't have an option for "yes."

I seldon carry cash, but when I do, I might give them some, If I don't an I am in a position to do so, I'll buy them some food...a sandwich and chips or a big mack.

It is not my place to judge.  What they do with the money is their business. 

I am not a religious man, but this line from the book of Matthew has always stood out in my mind:

"I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Matthew 25:40

[justin1987]

A local news channel did a story on a "homeless" guy. He had a regular job Monday thru Friday and worked on the corners during the weekend. He made $70,000 a year begging for money.

[ITSA426]

There's always that good local story about the enterprising guy getting rich panhandling instead of the old fashioned way where you just buy a congressman. 

Still not mine to judge

[Brock Samson]

  we gots plenty here in the city,.. s.f. is a more hospitable place then most and alot of towns ship their problem folks off to s.f. with a free bus ticket... we really have a pretty amazing amount of folks pan handeling,.. I tend to ignore the younger healthy looking guys as i figgure their not looking hard enough for work, but i still try to be polite and make eye contact if at all possible...
Some folks though are obviously round the bend and actually scary, we have alot of section 8s roaming the sidewalks shouting at the sky dragging a sleeping bag over thier shoulder...
  Then there's the old folks some in wheelchairs well past the age of normal retirment if they're women i'm far more likey to dig into my wallett, sometimes i give them a $20.oo sometimes i will spend sometime listening to their story, which isn't allways  what I'm expecting some of these folks used to be quite successful.
Some i've been seeing on the same corner for 20 years,.. I once bought a guy a bunch of socks and shoes for christmas,..
    most i pass by though..

FYI:
http://www.sfgate.com/g/special/pages/2003/homeless/

[bordin34]

I rarely give to them, but I will not give to one that is smoking.

[The Kid]

We have them around here, especially downtown. They actually started to become a problem and are now suppose to have a permit, but that costs like $20 so most don't.

My Step-Mom's friend works with homeless people. She says that the best thing you can do it offer to buy them food, DON'T GIVE THEM CASH. That way, if they are truely hungry and homeless, they get what they need and will really be greatful. Then you also know they won't walk into a liquor store, or buy drugs. If they turn it down then they're just after cash.

[Silver R/T]

There was one here once that had a sign that said will work for food. A friend of mine went and told him he had some things for him to do and he would pay him $50.  The guy said no.  All he needed to do was mow a lawn and weed their garden.

sounds like a phony. Id be careful letting a bum mow my yard, don't really want strangers around my house. Besides I enjoy mowing my own yard.

[bull]

You don't have an option for "yes."

I seldon carry cash, but when I do, I might give them some, If I don't an I am in a position to do so, I'll buy them some food...a sandwich and chips or a big mack.

It is not my place to judge.  What they do with the money is their business. 

I am not a religious man, but this line from the book of Matthew has always stood out in my mind:

"I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Matthew 25:40

I disagree because every time you open your wallet you are making judgements about where your money goes. Therefore, as stated in the Matthew verse above, you are required to judge whether or not the person receiving your gifts is actually "the least of these" or just some phony scammer making $75k a year tax free. For example, I would be more apt to give money to a homeless mother with two kids rather than an able-bodied 25-year-old on the other corner. That's a judgement because I think the mother and children need it more (although I think it's interesting that I almost never see mothers out begging but I have seen hundreds of able-bodied young men).

There are different kinds of judgement, some good, some bad. I was very judgemental, subjective and discriminative when choosing a wife, a car, a house, a school, etc. Same with where I spend my money. I make judgements about where I spend it, how I spend it and how it will be used. Sometimes I don't have much choice (such as paying my water bill) but when it comes to extra spending money I have the option to decide where it goes based on the judgements I make about the information I have access to.