I am sick of panhandlers

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

It seems that the panhandlers seem to zero in on me when I'm walking down the street; there can be 50 other people on the street and for some reason they always pick me. Of course I always give them the same answer: NO. Maybe it's just because I look guilty about the fact that I'm not going to give them anything that makes them zero in on me. It really ticks me off when I see these same guys later on buying scratch tickets with money that people have given them for the 'bus' or for 'food'. Granted many of these people are mentally ill and probably should be hospitalized, but I also see many able bodied looking ones as well. Also, what is it with the pet dogs/cats that you sometimes see them dragging around? Sympathy? Also, I REALLY dispise the agressive types; the ones that mouth off at you when you politely tell them no.

[NEOWatcher]

...Maybe it's just because I look guilty about the fact that I'm not going to give them anything that makes them zero in on me...
They are looking for two things. Gullibility, and somebody who's not poor.
Do you dress well and look gullible?

There are many different kinds, but one of the largest problems is that people do feel sorry for them and give them money. Unfortunately, that gives the un-deserving ones an easier time at doing it.

[ToSeek]

I used to work in downtown DC, where panhandlers are everywhere. I made a point of not giving them any money but assuaged my conscience by making a larger donation to a local organization that provides food and medical care to the homeless. That way I have greater confidence that I'm actually helping them.

[Serenitude]

I have to admit - I'm totally weak-willed. My heart bleeds for them, and I invariably give them something. I think to myself (right or wrong) that nobody lives like that by choice, and our system is designed to produce them. I give them what I can. What REALLY drains my money, though, are the Salvation Army ringers during Christmas. I CANNOT walk past one without putting something in the bucket/container/whatever. Multiply that by the absurd amount of shopping my wife drags me through...

Let's just say it definately adds up :wall:

[BigDon]

Grow a beard Banquo. Knocks that stuff right out. Until I grew my "mean face" about 8 years ago, co-incidental to my wife leaving me, I used to have the same problem. I looked calm and peaceful. They zero in on that. Grow even a short beard and they move on to other people. I would note how often I got hit up with or without a beard. Always when not wearing one, almost never with. Though I can grow a nice beard in as little as two weeks. Just has too much silver in it now so I keep it off.

[Eoanthropus Dawsoni]

I saw an investigative program on TV about ten years ago which reported that many of the professional panhandlers would spend all day in the city begging, then go home to their homes in the suburbs. Some of the better ones were making 30-40K per year, tax free. That was ten years ago so I suspect that they are pulling in a lot more money today.

[sarongsong]

...I always give them the same answer: NO...By shaking one's head, the verbal barrier is not crossed, encouraging them to more readily look for their next prospective benefactor, while lessening a confrontational situation.

[Gerrsun]

Instead of growing a beard, just dress like a pan-handler. They'll ignore you or offer YOU a cigarette.

[aurora]

A lot of them are homeless, and many of those folks have real problems, but in my city it seems like the most agressive panhandlers are not.

I walked past one guy who was begging for money, and then an hour later I walked past again, and he was around the corner sitting in his car smoking a cigarette.

[Nicolas]

In that case, you can of course walk after them while keeping repeating "will you please not accept my money", and this for at least three blocks.

[Doodler]

Don't even have to get out of my car for them. They're at intersections all over central Maryland. They hang out at stoplights and walk up and down the median. Every now and again I've go to fight the urge to gun the engine a little when they pass in front of my car waiting at a red light...

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

check out Quinpool and Robie in Halifax most days they are there walking up and down the median....reallly annoying

[Eoanthropus Dawsoni]

Don't even have to get out of my car for them. They're at intersections all over central Maryland. They hang out at stoplights and walk up and down the median. Every now and again I've go to fight the urge to gun the engine a little when they pass in front of my car waiting at a red light...


The median panhandlers seem to be showing up everywhere. I have only given money to one of them. Instead of the usual piece of cardboard with the "Homeless Vet, need help" sign, his sign read "Need money for beer."

[jrkeller]

The median panhandlers seem to be showing up everywhere. I have only given money to one of them. Instead of the usual piece of cardboard with the "Homeless Vet, need help" sign, his sign read "Need money for beer."


The only one I ever gave money to, told me he wanted to buy some smokes. I said something like, "you're the first honest panhandlers I've met"

[Frantic Freddie]

I find that a strong stance,a stern look & the phrase "Do you wanna get shot?" seems to work very well....

Just kiddin',but I did really say that once to a guy that followed me to my truck,screamin' & cussin' at me.

[ciderman]

Some similar looking foreign coinage puts em off.
Or makes em mad, probably best not to.

[Fazor]

There were a lot of them when I lived in pittsburgh...but I was a student at the local art college so they knew we were poorer than they were and pretty much left us alone.

They also tend to scoot the other way when you are in uniform and have your gun on your hip. That was one of my favorite parts about that job :)

But for the most part, the people that are guilty/gullible either make eye contact or are trying too hard to look like they don't notice them. Just being firm with whatever you say but not in a condisending way usually works best. just remember that they're people too. Treat them the same you would treat anyone else.

[Gillianren]

I have to admit - I'm totally weak-willed. My heart bleeds for them, and I invariably give them something. I think to myself (right or wrong) that nobody lives like that by choice, and our system is designed to produce them. I give them what I can. What REALLY drains my money, though, are the Salvation Army ringers during Christmas. I CANNOT walk past one without putting something in the bucket/container/whatever. Multiply that by the absurd amount of shopping my wife drags me through...

Let's just say it definately adds up :wall:

I know how you feel, though I refuse to give the Salvation Army a cent. (They have a right to their beliefs, but I have the right to disagree with them and not give them anything.) All that being said, I agree with ToSeek's plan. I just wish we'd do something for mental health care and a living wage in this country--a lot of genuinely homeless people do have jobs, but they can't afford housing anyway.

[Roving Philosopher]

Don't even have to get out of my car for them. They're at intersections all over central Maryland. They hang out at stoplights and walk up and down the median. Every now and again I've go to fight the urge to gun the engine a little when they pass in front of my car waiting at a red light...They do that here in Minnesota, too. My wife keeps granola bars in the car, so when they ask for money for food, she gives them food, instead (actually, she'll give them that no matter what they ask for).

[jseefcoot]

Wow, I must have it good.

Where I live, if someone's in a median asking for money, it's a fireman asking you to fill his boot with spare change so he and his buddies can buy coats for poor kids. (And even then it's only like 2-3 times per year.)

I've never been asked for money by a person who I thought was homeless; I have been asked for money by people that looked like they were just strung out.

The closest I've come to stuff like this is some student asking me for free pizza while I'm on a delivery. Having been a poor student in my past, I can sympathize. . . . . but it's hard when that student is wearing $300 worth of designer clothes and a pair of shoes that costs more than my monthly car payment. Not to mention all the oral jewelry nowadays. When I was a kid, grills were something you either cooked on or put on the front of your car.

So usually my response to them is "What are you gonna give me for free?" -- which almost always works. I don't know if I'd use that line on a real homeless person in a 'real' city. (Kentucky doesn't really have any, unless you want to count Louisville.) I really haven't thought much about it. It's not in the news much, I don't ever see it. . . . out of sight, out of mind.

How big of a problem is this in the more metropolitan areas?

[aurora]

In the US, pretty much every city has a homeless problem.

[davidlpf]

check out Quinpool and Robie in Halifax most days they are there walking up and down the median....reallly annoying
Spring garden road was full of them on the sidewalks.

[Argos]

Panhandlers... You make things look as though the streets were full of beggars in rags [perhaps like the band of zombies in Jacko´s "thriller"]. :)

I didn´t even know you had those things up there...

[Matherly]

I just can't stand panhandlers. I mean, the Texas Panhandlers are all "Oooo! I went to Texas Tech". And the Idaho Panhandlers are all "Let's take some potates to Canada". And the... hmmmm? Oh? Ohhhhhhhh.


Nevermind.

[jrkeller]

When I lived in Austin, TX the panhandlers were a big problem. They were especially bad by campus. We called them (I believe students still do) Dragworms. The road that runs north-south along the west side of campus is called "The Drag (http://www.texasoutside.com/austinframes/guad.htm)". I saw every kind of scam and everyone had they own stories. People putting ketchup on bandages, buying them food and then watching them through it in the trash, poetry for sale, etc. I was once offered services for 20$.

One time, one of them hit me up for food money. I told them that the new Salvation Army facility had just openned (which was true) and that he could get a meal and a good nights sleep there. His response was that he couldn't take charity. I almost laughed out loud.

[Impium Orexis]

I used to live in my car. Now I own a house. I neither asked for, nor was given anything. I have no sympathy for those who beg on the street. Sure it's hard to pull yourself out of that situation. Yeah it's hard to get a job when you can't even take a shower. It's difficult, but it's not impossible. Beggar bums are just lazy bums. The ones who aren't lazy end up with homes.

When they come to you asking for money, tell them, "Remember, true change can only come from within."

[space cadet]

Wow, I didn't realize this was such a problem in some places. I've been asked for money like, twice in my whole life. And one of those times wasn't even in the state of Utah!

Another benefit of living in a small town, I guess.

[Tog_]

At the grocery store, we used to get them a lot. The company had a strict rule that it was not allowed on the property at all, so every now and then we had to aske someone to go out to at least the sidewalk. More than half of the ones that "needed money for bus fare to get to Colorado to visit my sick kid", would make one long trip around the parking lot on foot, and get in their car and drive to the next store.

One couple set up camp by the parking lot exit. After about 4 days, the manager, (who was a very "in your face" sort of person) told them that theye were going to have to find someplace else to do that because it was driving off business.
The guy said, "We're homeless, we have no where to go."
The manager said, "And yet, you've never even come into the store to get an application to get a job here. You got 5 minutes."
Thy guy said, "Would you really hire me?"
"I might have if you'd ever applied. You live on the front lawn, it's not like you could be late. 4 minutes."
They left and we never saw them again.

I'm not sure it was the best way to do it, but I think the point he made was valid. This same manager gave one of the other people that used to come in an beg for cigarette money a coat. She was from the supervised living home up the street, and not really all there.

I may or may not offer something to a person depending on a lot of things. Working the night shift at the store, I got really good at spotting meth users. Anyone that shows any of the signs gets the, "Sorry, no cash. Age of the debit card." line.

[jrkeller]

Wow, I didn't realize this was such a problem in some places. I've been asked for money like, twice in my whole life. And one of those times wasn't even in the state of Utah!

Another benefit of living in a small town, I guess.

I never encountered them when I lived in Michigan. The first place I saw one was in TX. I think it is the weather. It would be pretty hard to survive in Michigan during the winter.

[Nicolas]

My biggest problem is just politely saying "no" or making a gesture that says as much, and keeping the smart answers for myself.

"I'm sorry sir, but I haven't eaten for 3 days and 3 nights"

It's ok for this time, but don't ever do it again


"I'm sorry sir, but I haven't eaten for 3 days and 3 nights"

Oh it ain't that bad then. I can't even remember the last night that I've eaten

It doesn't help them and they didn't ask for it, so I try to keep that inside my little mind :).

[Gillianren]

I do have sympathy for those people who are on the streets because they are mentally ill. That's just not something you ask for. At least, not if you have any sense. There's not a lot of mental hospitals which will take you if you're not actually a danger to yourself and others, and a lot of people aren't, but they don't have the touch with reality required to deal with life on their own. If they don't have a family capable of providing for them, or aren't capable of finding their family (this is actually possible), where else is there form them to go?

But yeah, if you just don't want to have a job, I have terribly limited sympathy.

[Serenitude]

I do have sympathy for those people who are on the streets because they are mentally ill. That's just not something you ask for. At least, not if you have any sense. There's not a lot of mental hospitals which will take you if you're not actually a danger to yourself and others, and a lot of people aren't, but they don't have the touch with reality required to deal with life on their own. If they don't have a family capable of providing for them, or aren't capable of finding their family (this is actually possible), where else is there form them to go?

But yeah, if you just don't want to have a job, I have terribly limited sympathy.

I feel the same way. If I thought it was just someone who was too lazy to work, and would just walk to their car at the end of the day and go home to suburbia, I wouldn't give them a red cent.

But I also think to myself that we're all of us just one bad day away from being in that position, and I hope that if the worst were to happen, and I were in that position and needy, if I were in those shoes, and had to humiliate myself by begging for scraps from someone better off than myself, that I'd find someone who would help me, even if it was just a little.

Not trying to impugn anyone who's posted thusfar - don't get me wrong - just describing what goes through my head that makes it so difficult for me to say no. Please nobody take that personally ;)

@Gillian - I can understand what you mean about the Salvation Army - from a few hints thusfar, it sounds like our belief systems are at least similar. I have friends who think I'm nuts for supporting the Christian Children's fund, and I take some good-natured ribbing for that :lol:

[Impium Orexis]

But I also think to myself that we're all of us just one bad day away from being in that position...

Well I can tell you, in my case at least, it took about four solid weeks of that day to put us on the street. In retrospect, it was almost comical, like one of those comedies where the guy just can't catch a break.

I think there is a bit of a misconception here. While there is always that homeless guy who walks around talking about 11 dimensions who used to be a quantum physics prof and had his mind fried by string theory, most of them aren't crazies. For most of the actual homeless, as opposed to professional panhandlers, due to either laziness, lack of determination, or lack of hope, they aren't willing to do what they need to do to improve their lot.

I don't want to get on my soapbox too much, but the ones that can't accept that when you're at the bottom, no job is beneath you, that can't accept having to start over from square one, those are the ones that never manage to pull themselves out of that situation. Giving them $.50 towards their next bottle of liquor won't help them at all.

Either way, unless it makes you feel good, giving money to beggars isn't doing anybody any favors.

Serenitude, I imagine if you found yourself in that situation, the first thing you'd do is seek out a homeless shelter. Many are overflowing, I know, but you could at least use the facilities to clean up, possibly get a suit jacket and pants, and look for employment. A humble, menial job will keep you fed, and being frugal to boot will eventually have you back in your own dwelling.

In conclusion, I talk too much. :D

[Nicolas]

It is true that it needn't take too much to find yourself on the street. Lose your papers, some bad luck, et voila.

On the other hand, it doesn't take the world to get back off the street. It's not easy, in contrary, but it is possible in most countries.

It is true that quite a percentage of beggars simply don't reallly want to get out of that life. They admit it themselves. It's some kind of station between a normal life and suicide. When the only problems are cold and hunger, life is simple and bearable. that's their reasoning. I'm not judging them over that, but it's something that's not generally known.

People who lose it all due to back luck or a stupid decision, and who need to restart from square 1 have all my sympathy. People who manage to get back to something from that famous square one certainly impress me. I've never been there, but I can believe that at square one the choice for "cold and hunger" versus "about all other problems in the world" is a difficult one.

[BigDon]

Snip
Working the night shift at the store, I got really good at spotting meth users. snip

I was watching a major networks expose on drug use a couple weeks back and saw they were being scammed big time. One woman claimed to be a big time meth user who use meth 15 times a day for the last ten years. Yeah right. Not only was she positively fat, she had a full set of white teeth.

For you astronomy types out there, one of meth's street names is "tooth melter". Methamphetamine is very toxic to your teeth. Starts killing them off after about a year of moderate use.

That and she wasn't "brain sprung" another obvious symptom of chronic meth use. Oh, she tried to pass herself off as slightly mad, But she was obviously doing what homeless women call "oodle-ing". Thats when a homeless woman, who thinks some guy is looking at them with evil intent, stares off into space, bob their heads from side to side, and make the "oodle" sound. Supposedly puts the man off. (Amazing the things you can learn doing late night office moves in the back alleys of San Francisco.) Was shown how it was done. Now I don't buy into it.

[Gillianren]

I'm one break-up away from being homeless. I've got a bad rental history (not entirely my fault; I had roommate issues the last year or so at an old apartment), so I can't get another apartment--but I can't afford one anyway. State disability in Washington pays me $339 a month, and I challenge you to find an apartment in Olympia for that. I'd have to move back home to my mother's house, which I couldn't afford to do.

Now, I'd call my social worker first thing--well, get someone else to call her; I've got a phone phobia. Living on the streets would kill me. And it's no excuse for not looking for a job, if you're able (I'm not). Which, I guess, boils down to "I don't have a lot of sympathy for most panhandlers, but I do have sympathy for more than a few homeless people."

[mugaliens]

I always keep some loose change in my pocket, such as a few pennies. That way I can give it to them and say, "Sorry, but it's all I've got."

Bottom line, some really are beggers living in boxes, while others are scamming the system making some dough.

[crosscountry]

I gave once to a guy. he had no forearms and was holding a bucket with the one elbow he had. Just a couple bucks, but man that's a tough life.


I'd prefer them not be there too.


Panhandlers in Germany are much more polite. They often say nothing and only hold their hands out. In Prague they sat on their knees and bowed over. Many times I couldn't even see their faces.



I'd rather pick up a hitchiker than give someone money - and have done so many times.

[Big Brother Dunk]

Panhandlers aren't THAT bad here, especially in the winter, but they can be a problem at times. They don't approach you, but sit by the side of a building with a hat out.

When I was in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago, I was approached very aggressively by many people on the streets. And they could be very persistent as well, I was followed for half a block on one occasion.

Apparently Vancouver has a homeless problem of near epidemic proportions and I can see why they say that.

By the way, there is a series of publice service commercials running here that discourage giving money to panhandlers.

[TriangleMan]

Apparently Vancouver has a homeless problem of near epidemic proportions and I can see why they say that.
I've never seen a city in the Western World that had a panhandler problem bigger than Vancouver. Washington DC and NYC pale by comparison. I've never been to San Francisco but I've been told it is similar to Vancouver.

Vancouver has three things going for it that contribute to the problem: milder weather than the rest of Canada, it's on the West Coast thus the "end of the line" for the bus, and a huge spending cut to mental health services back in the 90s which resulted in many mentally ill patients being sent out to the street.

In some streets of downtown Vancouver you'll either be approached for change or see someone with a hat out 3 to 4 times per block. I figured all major cities in North America were like that until I started travelling. When I got to Washington DC I was surprised by how little panhandling there was.

[BigDon]

T-man, you can't believe the amount of panhandlers here in SF. I didn't know about Vancouver though. A lot of the panhandlers here are straight up heroin junkies or the mad. If the weather gets too cold or rainy they go to LA for the winter.

[TriangleMan]

Yep, my understanding is that SF is comparable to Vancouver in terms of the problem. I haven't heard or seen of any other city in North America where panhandling is as big of a problem.