Board 8 > How often do you give money to panhandlers?

(+) Yeah! (+)

ever?

Once or twice. They mostly scare me with their aggressiveness.

Uglyface2 posted...

Once or twice. They mostly scare me with their aggressiveness.

how are they aggressive sometimes? fortunately haven't seen that much

never

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Never - I don't carry cash so it actually isn't even an option.

I wonder if panhandlers are going to have to start handing out business cards with PayPal/Venmo information at a certain point.

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Once I did because it was New Year's, and he had a sign that said "Not gonna lie. Just trying to get Drunk". It was a Holiday. Felt right.

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7 years ago when i moved to the big city i live in now i did it a lot for about the first year i lived here. after that i became cold hearted and callous so i never do it anymore. small town life did not prepare me for so many homeless and grifters

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I did a couple of times when I lived downtown Toronto.

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Never, even if I do carry cash.

Giving things like food or bottled water is fine, though if they try to decline it and ask for money you should politely tell them to fuck off.

Reg posted...

Never, even if I do carry cash.

Giving things like food or bottled water is fine, though if they try to decline it and ask for money you should politely tell them to fuck off.

So you agree that cash assistance welfare shouldn't be a thing also, right?

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For what it's worth i do draw a line between panhandlers that are just beggers and those who provide a service. Some pretty talented musicians out there, i think once or twice a year i run into one that's way too good to be on the streets. And sometimes that's the case, either an experiment or practice with crowds.

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Oh boy, this thread will surely be civil and avoid becoming emotionally charged.

Xiahou Shake posted...

Never - I don't carry cash so it actually isn't even an option.

I wonder if panhandlers are going to have to start handing out business cards with PayPal/Venmo information at a certain point.

I've met some that use Square (or maybe some knockoff with the same card-swipe dongle) upon getting the "I don't carry cash" response.

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Wanglicious posted...

never

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Corrik7 posted...

So you agree that cash assistance welfare shouldn't be a thing also, right?

how do you draw that conclusion?

Ive never seen one

CwebbMichSac4 posted...

how do you draw that conclusion?

Reg posted...

Never, even if I do carry cash.

Giving things like food or bottled water is fine, though if they try to decline it and ask for money you should politely tell them to fuck off.

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well still it doesn't automatically mean the dude is against things like official cash assistance for poor people.

If I have small amounts under $5 I will.

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Never, though that's almost entirely due to me rarely (if ever) having encountered any

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Kinglicious posted...

For what it's worth i do draw a line between panhandlers that are just beggers and those who provide a service. Some pretty talented musicians out there, i think once or twice a year i run into one that's way too good to be on the streets. And sometimes that's the case, either an experiment or practice with crowds.

I hate when I don't have cash but do have food and they say no after some big spiel about being hungry. About a week ago I had no money but a freshly bought pizza and this guy who was asking for money for food said no when I offered a slice because he didn't eat processed food. Seriously go fuck yourself with that shit.

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FWIW it takes just one demented jerk to spike their donated food with acid to make you wary

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i'm saying this as someone who almost never donates.

i wish social safety nets were in place such that i never had to feel guilty about it

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Xiahou Shake posted...

Never - I don't carry cash so it actually isn't even an option.

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I've done it once to a person that looked legit.
Most don't look legitimate.

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Generally I'll give them $2, but only if they solicit me. I figure it's more likely they need the money if they approach you. I won't give it to a panhandler that I happen to walk by.

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twice when I was a teenager and first started working. quickly learned that I don't actually care about anyone other than myself.

one time within the last 5ish years. I obtained some dirty/grimy coins totaling less than about 5 dollars and was looking to get rid of them. gave them away to the first person who asked.

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Money never, food occasionally. I've never had someone turn down food; the few people who I offered food were very appreciative. One man outside a Little Caesars actually said "listen I don't want any money, can I just have a slice" and it kinda broke my heart.

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They're kind of all over in California and Las Vegas, so I hand out spare change from my car's cup holder every now and then. I'll admit I'm shallow and am more likely to do so if the guy is at least semi-attractive.

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Nearly never ever. I'd rather give tip. However I might consider it if they're like really old.

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Theres one dude in my neighborhood who I used to give money to sometimes. He was nice and had a puppet, and his turf was on my route to the train so I saw him all the time.

otherwise I mostly dont do it anymore now that city living has made my heart cold, but like two days ago I went to 7-11 and these two dudes outside were having a debate and they asked for my input as I was walking in and then after this brief discussion there was the surprise reveal that one dude was homeless and then I felt sort of trapped because we were already talking so I gave him 50 cents
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Zero.

l learned that the panhandlers outside of Kadena AB at night all own the shops that they panhandle outside of. That rubbed me the wrong way when I found out and now I trust no panhandlers.

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SwiftyDC posted...

Zero.

l learned that the panhandlers outside of Kadena AB at night all own the shops that they panhandle outside of. That rubbed me the wrong way when I found out and now I trust no panhandlers.

Yeah, it's unfortunate, but tons of panhandlers are just grifters and scammers who decided it pulled in enough money to be worth their time.

Said grifters and scammers also tend to be the ones that refuse food and such and insist on money, so they can at least be somewhat filtered out that way.

I don't really carry cash other than maybe a $20 that I'm not going to give away, so I can't really in at all recent years. I gave a dude a quarter once at some point I vaguely recall.

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Never. But I do give them water.

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Reg posted...

Yeah, it's unfortunate, but tons of panhandlers are just grifters and scammers who decided it pulled in enough money to be worth their time.

Said grifters and scammers also tend to be the ones that refuse food and such and insist on money, so they can at least be somewhat filtered out that way.

The worst are the ones who fake injury. There's a special place in hell to those.

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Never. Tell them no or I just lie and say I got nothing

If I have change I'll give it to them, but bills almost never.

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Nope. If I hear them call out to me I instinctively say "cant help you"

If they try and bum a smoke I will sometimes. At least I know what they are looking for

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If theyre at the bus station and say they need money for the bus Ill give it to them. This has happened probably less than ten times in three years of me using the bus frequently.

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Almost never. If they are just standing around with a sign it's always a no.

If they like approach me and tell me a story that seems believable maybe a few bucks if I have cash on me (rare).

if they happen to do something like tell me a joke or a street magic trick or whatever I'm more inclined to give them something.

KokoroAkechi posted...

Almost never. If they are just standing around with a sign it's always a no.

If they like approach me and tell me a story that seems believable maybe a few bucks if I have cash on me (rare).

if they happen to do something like tell me a joke or a street magic trick or whatever I'm more inclined to give them something.

"What's the best nation on Earth?"
"I don't know."
"DO-nation."

I felt bad that I only had some pocket change.

WazzupGenius00 posted...

If theyre at the bus station and say they need money for the bus Ill give it to them. This has happened probably less than ten times in three years of me using the bus frequently.

It's more frequent in San Francisco.

But then homelessness is much more frequent in San Francisco.

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Like 12 years ago when I first moved to Albuquerque, I used to all the time.

Then one time I was walking out of Walgreens with just bags and bags of discount Easter candy (lol), and someone asked if I had money for food, so I just gave them a whole bag of candy.

When I was getting in my car, I saw a girl get out of the driver side of a pretty nice Honda and go up to the guy, and they literally high fived over it, and I felt dumb as hell.


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