Just curious, what is your opinion of the street corner panhandlers?

I don’t give money to them. I feel that free time, unemployed time, could be spent doing something else, either by utilizing the services of Social Services or whatever,. but that’s just my opinion.

I’m with @jca. I dislike it and do not give. Sorry, but services are available. Use them. Or stand in front of Home Depot.

I am willing to help someone temporarily stuck and need a hand up to get moving again.
I have given money/gas/rides to people in disabled cars. I have taken strangers to work.
But I am not willing to reach into my pocket for someone who just asks me.

I give money when I feel moved to do so. There but for the grace of… well you know.

And I have a friend who buys homeless people’s signs and uses them in his art and to raise awareness of their plight.

The art awareness this is cool. I find that in my community there is a mixture. Those who are mentally ill who cannot help themselves that need to be directed to resources and those that are among a dozen others that climb out of a van at 0700 and spread out among a 5 mile radius at busy corners and get back together again at 5 to pool their money. It’s a business. I tend to hand them an application for McDonald’s.

I don’t believe that most of the panhandlers are really poor and in need.

But in any event, I would rather give to an agency that is organized to help people, than an individual on the street.

In most cases, I don’t know enough about their lives to have an opinion. Nor do I see any point in judging people simply for being panhandlers. Everyone’s trying to make their way through the world, and this is a way some people have found that works.

@SavoirFaire – sure it works for them, but that lifestyle choice places no obligation on me, which is what the question was.

If you are standing on the corner busking or singing poorly, I’ll give you money. If you are on the corner with just a sign hoping for money, I won’t give you anything. Give something back for the money, even if what you do isn’t that good. It’s the effort that counts (and if you really are that bad, I’ll give you money to shut up until I finish passing).

What bothers me is that they can afford cigarettes and have walkie-talkies or cell phones to communicate with their buddies on different corners. I think this is true only in cities. It’s a business and a way of life for some. I don’t approve of that. There are social services available, but they prefer to live on the streets.
I support the social services.

I don’t like them and don’t give to them. Like others have said, there are social services available. They could be using them to get food, shelter, and even to get a job.

Any money that is given to pandhandlers is potentially wasted. If you want to make a difference in the world, there are far better charities and organizations to give to. Not these people.

@elbanditoroso No, that isn’t the question. Nowhere did @oneSasyRN ask if we give or feel obligated to do so. The question was what our opinion of them is.

For those saying “there are services available,” many don’t know that. So if you don’t like them, ignoring them is counterproductive. Hand them a business card for the social services you think they should be using. Given how many homeless people runaways from other towns or mentally ill, they very well might not know where to go.

A friend of mine landed a kick ass job by standing on a street corner in a suit, holding a sign saying ‘single father, unemployed, with management experience’

I think they’ve cornered the market.

They don’t usually annoy me except when they commandeer your attention in a captive situation as on a subway train.

In many cases it’s tough to tell if they are ‘authentic’ or ?? If someone says they want some money to buy some food and I offer them an apple or a sandwich and they sneer at it, then it seems to me they were lying. This makes me cynical and I tend to ignore folks who are just asking for money.

I agree there is a big difference between plain begging and street busking which involves some sort of entertainment for your contribution. For the most part I like the buskers who make an honest effort and I support them.

Most are scammers but some really need help. Shoes often are ‘tells’. Meth heads do it here, too.

My opinion of them personally is they should be removed from the streets and taken to social service locations. There is no way to weed out the truly needy from the moochers.

FYI – one needs money to stay in a homeless shelter. Often $10 or more a night. That’s300 a month for someone lucky enough to get in every night. Space fills quickly and there aren’t many beds. Often a person without ID will be turned away. The process to get homeless person ID is ridiculous.

Social services don’t always help.

@Seek_Kolinahr I have never heard of a fee for a homeless shelter, and the biggest local shelter assists those who need to get I D’s.

Your free market at work.

I wish I could say I was making it up.

Most panhandlers around my neck of the woods are scammers. It’s generally hard to tell who is really in need but I used to volunteer at the shelter and you are doing most harm by giving them any money. If they won’t take food or coupons for food it’s likely a scammer or an addict. Our shelters are free but you’ll need proper ID. The genuine homeless I see here are addicts or have mental issues. There is one guy who begs on farmer’s market day downtown. I usually give him a couple of tomatoes and he seems happy to get them. I’ll do that anytime, I’m not feeding anyone’s addictions or encouraging begging as supplemental income though.

Shelters in my area don’t charge at all. They kick out if you’re a boisterous asshole or if you are doing drugs in the shelter and won’t go to the hospital for detox and rehabilitation.

And I honestly couldn’t give two craps about assholes or drug addicts. They definitely won’t be getting my money.

I know how HARD it is to get out of poverty… so I don’t make assumptions about anyone on street corners. I know many are on drugs, many simply don’t want to work for ‘the man,’ many are in panhandling communities, and some are just absolutely stuck, trying to get back into the traditional employment/housing system. Since I don’t know which is which, I tend to give them food or water, never, ever money.

What I really, really, really, REALLY don’t like are the deaf panhandlers selling trinkets or ABC cards. They are playing off the community’s ignorance and sympathy—and further feeding into the myth that deaf people can’t work, making it harder for people who really want to work to find jobs. I knew a group of deaf panhandlers and learned how their game works, and… They get government assistance for each member of the family, food stamps, WIC, housing assistance, freebies, all kinds of support AND then go out and aggressively panhandle!! They used to easily get $100–200 a hour, $800 a hour during holiday seasons, but the places where they can get away with panhandling have dwindled. Thank goodness.

I am usually struggling financially myself. I also have been conned and lied to when I offer any extra money in my pocket. I know some people consider it a fulltime job and an art to prey on people’s guilt or kindness.

I do like street musicians most of the time and can give up a dollar or two. But I would rather give to a soup kitchen food bank or some charity event then to people who I can’t tell if they are scamming me or too proud or lazy to work minimum wage starter jobs. I have been working legally since I was old enough to and was raised by a family that believed in chores responsibility and family projects. There are also plenty of help wanted signs around our town for non skilled work. So I have very little pity.

In my county (county I work in, for Social Services, mind you) there is no charge for staying in a shelter.

Panhandlers are all aware of where DSS is. The ones who avoid it are usually drug addicts who don’t want to be forced into drug treatment programs or be tested for drugs.

Shelters don’t do drug treatment or force people to give up their urine. They have like 8 or 9 pm curfew and the people have to get out early in the morning. Often a bus will take them to DSS to apply, or just hang out until the next night.

My daughter is very close to a male panhandler. He is someone who , to talk to on the phone, seems “nice” and she said he frequently is ordered to rehab by a judge. I happen to know he gets food stamps , lives in a tent, and I assume he buys liquor with his panhandle money. He attempts to fix things around her place and has zero net worth. I feel sorry for anyone whose life has come down to this. I don’t look at them with disdain. On the other hand, my other daughter said panhandlers in San Francisco became nasty and aggressive with her at dusk when she was there with her kids on vacation and snubbed them. I’ve heard so many hard luck stories and , since I’ve been blessed in life, cannot dislike them. I can , though, fear them.

^ your daughter is letting this man inside of her house? Yikes.

@seekingwolf What, exactly, frightens you about this person? That he’s helpful around the house? That he sometimes spends money on liquor? That he receives food stamps? That he’s a drug addict? Plenty of people fit one or more of these descriptions, and we rarely have any problem with them. Indeed, you probably know some functional drug addicts without even realizing it. Most are not violent, after all, and nothing in @Aster‘s description suggests that the person in question is an exception. Try seeing through your prejudice and realizing that just because someone is homeless doesn’t mean they’ve ceased to be a human being.

^^^so much this.

@SavoirFaire

Oh please, this man is clearly not a functional addict. He’s on the streets and clearly has a criminal background (thus why he has seen a judge a bunch). I can’t believe you’d think he was functional… That’s actually really funny!

And no, I don’t have any addicts in my family or friends. I drink but most of my friends and family don’t drink at all. I stay away from the party scene/people and thus, I have the Fortune of not having to deal personally with drug addicts.

I never said that these people weren’t people. not sure where you’re getting that. I’m just suggesting that, gasp we not let known drug addicts into our homes and give them money knowing that it’s probably going to go up their noses (or whatever).

Common sense!

@seekingwolf Being on the streets is not proof someone is non-functional. Some choose to be on the streets, and indeed there are mendicant traditions in every culture (e.g., the ancient Greek Cynics or early Buddhist monks). As for a criminal background, all we know is that he has been sent to rehab. One can get that just for drinking in public where I am, as it is illegal to have alcohol outside here. In any case, I didn’t say that this person is functional. I said that you do not have sufficient evidence to say that he is not.

As for your family and friends, perhaps they are not addicted to anything (though please note that alcohol is not the only thing to which one can be addicted). But that is not enough to say you don’t know any functional addicts. You presumably have coworkers and other acquaintances, and it is doubtful that you know all the details of their lives. Functional addicts are all around us, regardless of what you may assume.

Finally, I don’t think it is commonsense to never let an addict into one’s home or give them money. My brother is a (recovering) drug addict. You think I should keep him out of my house? Should I not have helped him get into rehab even though it meant giving him money? Nor do I agree about not giving people money just because they might spend it on something I would not personally spend it on (e.g., drugs).

Peaceful beggars are far more preferable to me than muggers who have gone too long without their fix. A little charity now can save others from fear and desperation. For some reason, I just can’t feel bad about that. And even if we take away that motivation, I just don’t see how it affects me whether someone spends their money on food or beer. If alcohol brings a little sunshine to their lives, so be it.

You’re right, some chose dysfunction. They’d rather live out of the streets and in dangerous, unsanitary places. That’s dysfunction to me. Yes, it’s their choice and their right to be homeless but I think it’s indicative of something wrong. And I’m certainly not going to support their cause.

I’d just rather not give money knowing that it’s going to just go up someone’s nose, vein, etc. If you’re cool with doing that, well, it’s your money to waste so have at it. I prefer to donate my time to people who actually need it though and if that makes me a bad person, cool, I’d rather be be a “bad person” than blow money paying for people’s addictions.

I can’t really speak of acquaintances but my coworkers and acquaintances don’t know my personal life or things about me (I don’t like to talk at work) so in my mind, they don’t matter because they are not personally important or significant to me. So yes, I can safely say that no one I am close to is an addict. No abuse of alcohol, no cigarettes, no abuse of weed, no hard drugs, no sex addicts, no workaholics, etc.

Recovering addicts, I’d be a little wary of but depending on their history and how well I know them, maybe. Current addicts? No. No way José. I don’t think your brother, provided that he’s sober now and on a good path, is much like the scheming, delinquent crackheads I have the misfortune of dealing with in the city where I live.

Man, this thread makes me feel really lucky I don’t have to deal with addicts in my family. My boyfriend’s family is filled with addicts but I don’t want to meet them so I haven’t and won’t. Not my cup of tea.