Why would you give money to beggars?

I tend not to give money but will give food. Giving out money on the street doesn’t fix the problem. It only reinforces the behavior of panhandling. It could also be enabling an addiction.

They feed off the change, only wanting more, and growing stronger. I don’t.

I’ve given money, food, etc. to the homeless on several occasions. I had a lengthy conversation several years ago with a homeless man in Philadelphia (while in Phila, the homeless were always around me). The conversation with him was one of the best I’ve ever had. I don’t see how I’m that different from a homeless person. I think most of us are only a second away from being homeless. One wrong turn, especially these days, can lead one down a path they never thought was possible. I was at a point in my life where I didn’t know how I would get my next meal. It certainly helps one appreciate their life.

I don’t care if they spend the money on alcohol or drugs; if either of those things will help ease their pain for even a minute, it’s worth it to me.

@jeanna we do have quite a homeless situation in Philly. The streets are flooded with the ejaculate of the homeless; they’re quite shameless about it.

i had one woman come up and ask for change for a dollar. When i pulled out four quarters she took them and ran off.

One guy was peeing on the side of Whole Foods, middle of the day.

Homeless guy jacking off on South Street.

Seen it all. yay Philly!

For me, I do it out of kindness and compassion. Unless I track that person’s movements, I can’t say for sure what they’re doing with the money. There is always a chance they might purchase drugs or alcohol but then again, it might be entirely true that they are indigent, have no home or job, and they’re seriously hungry and in need of sustenance. I’m not quick to judge anyone and the good samaritan in me usually takes precedence over my second thoughts about what could be someone’s questionable motives for begging (panhandling?) for money.

I don’t do it often, but I have done it and have actually gone out of my way to go get money or food and bring it back once or twice. It is just based on a feeling; sometimes my heart just breaks for them and sometimes I think the person is a scam. What is a few dollars to me in the long run even if I am wrong?

can i just say: i’m far more inclined to give them some change if they have a clever sign. if it’s a rubbish sign “Vet God Bless”, i’m not into it. if it’s a poem or an honest admission (“why lie? i need a beer.”), i’m more inclined.

@jeanna Of course I’m not going to assume all homeless people are the same, but I’ve seen homeless people act in ways that could only be categorized as dangerous to themselves and others that come into contact with them.
In my city there are a lot of cases where homeless people commit criminal acts, many times while drunk or high and that’s not something I want to contribute to. Ultimately I want them to get help and not be homeless and I feel that giving monetary handouts on the street is counter productive towards this end.

@eponymoushipster Yeah, I’ve seen lots of things in Philly. It’s still one of my favorite cities!

I have and will again.

Everyone deserves something in their lives.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Don’t housed people commit the same sort of crimes, though?

@eponymoushipster I’ve seen a homeless guy in a wheelchair with a sign on his back saying “don’t you feel guilty about not helping homeless vets?”.
I’ve also seen this same guy walking walking around freely without the aid of crutches or a wheelchair. He also drives a very nice looking Ford Explorer.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Oh no doubt. I understand that completely. I think my compassion really stems from the experiences I’ve had. Once you’ve reached a point where you have nothing to eat for weeks, you start to see a whole new side to life.

@boots I don’t give them handouts either.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic exactly. we have one guy in Philly – who parks himself near a busy intersection by the main train station – with a stroller. guess what? the stroller is EMPTY.

@jeanna i live there. woot!

@jeanna For real… That’s why I’ll give food.

@eponymoushipster I’m jealous. Seriously. People think I’m insane when I say that’s in my top 5 favorite places. heh

@The_Compassionate_Heretic That works for me. :)

I do. I have been poor and homeless. I was even working at the time. $4.25 per hour doesn’t go very far.

Think about it. You smell like shit and don’t have nice or even clean clothes. You don’t have a phone number or an address. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU FIND A JOB? Really, let me know. I’m curious. Oh, and you need to come up with food between the interviews.

I don’t give out money on the street period but on a couple of occasions have bought meals for homeless youth and I donate money to Salvation and a local youth care program in my City when I can afford. I feel that donating money to CERTAIN charitable services like salvo’s and local street youth care programs the best way to go about it.
Just for the record do you’re research & find ones not being contracted by a sales company so you’re donation isn’t being used for other means.

I tend not to give change to someone positioned at a freeway off-ramp. When stuck in the drive-thru of a fast food place and hit up for change for a burger, I offer to buy them a burger. Quite often, they decline that offer. Care to guess where the money goes, in those cases? See ya…..wtf (my initials)

I gave money to a begger before simply just because I felt sorry for them having to live on the streets, cold in the winter, nothing to eat and so on while I live in a house with family and we have all the things they would want that we take for granted everyday. Then when you think about how that person ended up in that unfortunate situation. At times some people may not want to give money to the begger thinking they will do nothing but spend it on drugs or such things that will not help them.
2003 I was a soldier in Iraq – yes in a war zone. I saw what a country really looks like when there is no government, laws or organization when killing and poverty was everywhere the eye could see. A lot of soldiers did not want to give money to arabic women just thinking that it could be used as a means to fund terrorists. Well in my case I was just guarding a military convoy in the city of Tikrit. While my officers where inside buying camel burgers – an arabic woman approched me, in her arms underneath her clothing she was holding a baby. I did not understand her words but her gestures I understood well. She was begging for money to feed her baby. The baby was just skin and bones. I was so angry – outraged at not the fact that the baby was so skinny – but because she – the mother herself was so over – weight. She has been eating good.
So being that there was a street vender there selling chicken sandwiches (please excuse the desription, I don’t know what the food was really called in Arabic) I pulled out my money and went over to buy some food and water for the woman and her child. It was the most I could do for them at the time. The woman had a 8–10yr old boy with her and the baby so he handled the food and walked with her back to where they came from. I felt better as a human being for doing that and even though not all the other soldiers agreed with me I did not care for there thoughts at that moment, because anyone of us could be in their same situation.

I give money to the homeless that I encounter on the streets. I don’t give money to the ones that are on the freeway exit to my house because I have heard that they are working in conjunction with each other and actually live in a nice house in an expensive subdivision. I have heard this from many different sources. But the homeless people I encounter in the town I work in don’t usually even beg. They just walk around with shopping carts and I give them a few dollars. I know they are really homeless and need to eat.

”if the beggars are using their money for drugs, alcohols, and gambling…”

That’s a pretty big generalisation. I tend not to give money to beggars because here in Australia we have a decent welfare system. If I lived in the USA, I would give more simply because the welfare system there is abysmal.

I should qualify my last statement, it is abysmal in terms of my limited understanding of how it works.

Just wait until you are down on your luck and need a few bucks because you are hungry and then you will see how it feels.

“this homeless guy asked me for money the other day.
I was about to give it to him and then I thought he was going to use it on drugs or alcohol.
And then I thought, that’s what I’m going to use it on.”

lazyboy- underwear goes inside the pants

why not? not like you desperately need the change.