How do you feel when you are driving and when you get to a stop light a man is standing there with a sign aski?
Today, we were driving not the city and as we exited the freeway and got to the stop light, there stood a fellow. The odd thing is, he had long white hair and a long white beard. He looked like Santa. Always feel kind of sad for them, however one day my sis in law and I were eating lunch, and we watched as a well dressed man took two men to separate corners and showed them how to hold their signs to go with the traffic. Do you think some of these fellows are pimped out to beg? Do you give them money?
2012-11-24T16:17:31Z
Wow! I am sorry to see all the thumbs down! Yikes, I seem to have acquired a follower. I don't give thumbs down and I appreciate all your answers.
Anonymous2012-11-24T16:03:19Z
Favorite Answer
If the men at the stop light don't have on firefighter clothing and are not holding a firefighter boot for donations, then they don't get even a nod from me.
I do sometimes give money to people I don't know, but not to those guys with signs. One day, my son stopped and told a guy holding a "WILL WORK FOR FOOD!" sign that he would pay him $20 to clean out the cab and bed of his pick-up truck. My son had a broom, trash bag, etc in the back of the truck. He said he'd also buy the man's lunch at the Denny's across the road. The guy said, "No, man, I ain't that hungry."
I know some of the people I give to may have more money than I have, but I do it anyway when it feels like the right thing to do. If they rook me, shame on them. If I have no compassion, shame on me.
I do not give money to guys sitting on the street corner holding begging signs. Have you noticed they now include God in their signs? ( I'm a Christian, down on my luck, God bless ) I also believe there are other far better ways to get a hand up. When I worked at a convenience store on a popular begging corner, these guys would come in with HUGE wads of money, buy a 6 pack of tall boys, and get their change turned into lighter to carry bills. By far the biggest share of them are supporting a drinking habit, so no need for shelter - they can and do crash anywhere. I truly wish it were against the law in my area to beg on the streets because it also is dangerous for foot and car traffic. I share a lot of my wages with needy people, so I am not greedy, I just will not give to beggars on the street.
edit: I have on at least 2 different occasions given them easy to open food stuff, and when I pulled into a nearby store to shop, there he was trying to get money back for the item I had just given to him.
I understand it's possible to make a very good living panhandling. But from the way most of the beggars I see on the street look and act and smell, I am convinced they are not professionals.
So I always used to give money to them. Better they should get it, I always thought, than some group like the Salvation Army, which promotes a religious idiology that I believe is destructive to the world.
But I don't have any money to give to anyone anymore. Everything I buy nowadays goes on the credit card, which gives me a loyalty discount and makes record-keeping for taxes much easier and also keeps me from being robbed.
I imagine begging for your supper is getting to be a tough row to hoe here in the age of plastic financial transactions.
Usually,no money for them, but once in a while I donate based on a gut feeling that they need it.
Working in Chicago, I quit entirely after several instances of giving money and being asked for more. I also saw a guy there who commuted in from my suburb to Chicago, to beg every day. He lived in a decent house with his mother and was perfectly able to work if he wished to do so.