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?

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.

I usually go with my gut feeling. Once I was filling up at the station when a man approached me about needing gas money to get up north. He said that he only needed $6 bucks and he was trying to get that together as he walked around the station. There were loads of people there and well, I thought I'd be generous, so that he didn't need to walk around. He said that he just needed to drive his family to Prescott. So, I gave him $10. He was shocked. He looked at the money, then at me, then at the money, and then back at me. He said, "Do you have an extra $2." I almost grabbed the money out of his hand. I looked at him and said, "I just gave you $10." He put his head down and said, "You're right, I'm sorry and thank you." He then walked away. My husband was so mad at me when I told him. I really to this day think the man was in need. He just got greedy. By the way, there are those who do this as a scam and as a living.

I do not give anything to these people because I've learned that too many of them are nothing more than thieves. I even heard of one woman who did this and finally got enough money to make a down payment on her new home! Things definitely aren't what they used to be, and neither are the people.

Unfortunately, the honest folks must suffer because of the dishonest ones.

I feel like these guys are freeloaders who prey on the kindness of others. Some of these guys do seem reasonable well dressed with older clothing but also better dressed than some of my retired friends including me. What happened to the free education they were offered for skill training over the years? There are people who worked at Hostess who now are laid off whom I would rather help.

On my local off ramps, there are hispanic men who hold bags of fruit or flowers for sale but they are not begging - I do buy once in a while. There are guys who wait at paint stores or Home Depot who do get work - but these are mostly illegals since the beggars are not interested in work.. It is very sad... America may be evolving into India.

I used to give but not any more The Salvation Army gets my help And why would anyone eant to give to the Hostess workers? They had a job and said they would rather do without than take a pay cut,so let them figure it out.

My gut instinct would be to drive on by, even though I consider myself a charitable person. Quite frankly, I do believe that some of them make a business out of it and are coached in big cities. In my own little town it would be quite different. But the guys on the streets frighten me a little. I would be afraid even to open my window. Better safe than sorry.