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Poor bastards...

Kevin

Turbo Monkey
Titel is total clickbate and maybe slightly in appropriate but whatever. :D

Working in Göteborg, Sweden at the moment and I see more and more beggers on the streets.
Theres tons of them in te city center and now even outside of town in front of super markets, home depots etc. most of them with a little pillow or blanket and a cup for teh money.

Now I think a lot of them are lazy gipsies, mostly coming from Romania or other countries in Eastern Yurp and just looking for an easy buck, but with this whole Syria refugee thing it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes.

I usually follow a rule of "If I think someone cant supply for themselves I might spare them some change if I have any on me in the first place". Or if I see one at a super market ill buy him/her a sandwich or something. But if I see some young guy sitting there with his hands up Ill just say have a good day.

To some of you living in bigger cities in the US this might be quite normal but frankly Im not used to seeing this over here and definitly not in this scale.
When travelling to central or South American countries im more likely to give them something because these countries are usually dirt poor and a dollar to me is 100 dollars to them, but here I find it a bit more complicated then that.

Whats your take on this? Do you ever give beggars money or do you keep your hard earned money all to yourself?
 

Mo(n)arch

Turbo Monkey
Dec 27, 2010
4,441
1,422
Italy/south Tyrol
Seeing these dudes getting picked up with BMWs or Audis after their "workdays" made me really upset.
In Italy there are tons of beggers around. I always felt a little guilty as I wanted to help them but the above cured me somewhat.
 
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Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,021
Sleazattle
Never ever. Sure their are people who need help, but just as many that will abuse peoples generosity. I do donate $, food and clothes to shelter organizations that can give the people the help they need, which usually goes well beyond food and shelter.

There was one guy in Seattle that I would pay for his bus fare on occasion after I was around long enough to realize he wasn't an addict or a thief or dangerous, just screwy in the head. Other folks in the area trusted him enough and would pay him to do odd jobs and walk their dogs.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,559
AK
We got quite a few here in Anchorage. What usually happens is they get kicked out of a native village for something like drugs or alcohol, then they come here to rehab, but then end up with nowhere to go because they are banned from multiple villages, so they end up on the street, perpetually trying to find and buy alcohol, living homeless (yes, in Alaska). I never give them money, as it simply won't help. Once you are at this level, you need a way to get back into society with a mailing address, SS card, birth certificate, clothes, and all the things one needs to get a job, but without these things, it's pretty hopeless and difficult to overcome. The $ is much better spent for a shelter or charity that addresses these things. There are also quite a few mentally challenged people here stuck in this rut too, it's just a shame all the way around.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,145
16,539
Riding the baggage carousel.
I'm of (at least) two minds about this. Generally speaking, I approach this much the same way Kevin does. It's an unreliable metric to be sure, but if my gut says, "this person could use a hand" I'll buy a sandwich or something for them, but I refuse to give strait up cash.

Locally, the Jesus Freaks have made it legally pretty hard on the transient population by banning things like panhandling, just standing or sitting on teh corners downtown, banned camping along Sand Creek, etc. Consequently most of them have managed to find their way out into the burbs. The amount of panhandlers I see on my evening commute, especially now that the weather is improving, has definitely increased. IMO, most of these people might have issues, but homelessness is not one of them.

When we were in LA last week, it also seemed like the number of transients there had exponentially increased. Of course any urban area is bound to have such a population, but what I found striking was just how many more it seemed like there were. As I understand it, LA has taken a very different approach to dealing with it's population of transients, from Colorado Springs. Making things like camping under the overpasses, and trying to eek out a living, while not completely legal per se, but not illegal either, not having the cops hassling them all the time, providing services, and so forth. Almost as if it's a community problem and the transient populations are actual people or something.

Anchorage
That has got to be rough in the winter.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
in college i spent a lot of time riding bmx in downtown rochester at night. lot of regulars on the homeless scene there. definitely some mental issues. once a group of us ran into a guy and he asked for money, he said he was just trying to buy a 40. he was straight with us about it, so instead of us just giving him money our one guy rode off and bought a 12 pack. we hung out and drank with him. good times.
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,928
14,450
where the trails are
As a rule I don't give panhandlers any money. I got quite jaded living in downtown Chicago.

That said, I've made some exceptions over the years. Once I had a guy ask me in my car while stopped at the top of an off ramp. I told him I didn't have any money but asked if he wanted my lunch. He accepted and said thanks for not pretending he wasn't there.

I'd give a sandwich to somebody, but not cash.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,145
16,539
Riding the baggage carousel.
He accepted and said thanks for not pretending he wasn't there.
I had this happen in downtown Seattle once. I genuinely had no cash on me, but his level of gratitude for just acknowledging him was a real eye opener for younger me. Definitely had an impact on the way I view the...less fortunate, for lack of a better word.
 

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,081
9,791
I have no idea where I am
The art district is flanked by a homeless shelter and a bus stop. I get hit up for money every day. Most of them have mental issues and addictions. Some are just lazy.

I have no money to spare, but I have time. I wish they were satisfied with some basic human interaction, but they just want money for booze or drugs.
 

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
I give to organizations but never to individuals, there are a wealth of community organizations that provide shelter, food, clothing with no questions asked. All are within walking distance in this small town. Most who want money want it for tobacco or alcohol.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,559
AK
That has got to be rough in the winter.
You'd be amazed how resilient people are. They string together huge camps made of tarps and other stuff just beyond the bike paths through the city and huddle together when it gets real cold. Sometimes they die, but usually not. The shelters go into an "extreme weather" mode too and open doors to everyone, but many don't accept it.

There's one guy I see every once and a while on corners that holds a sign that says "Why lie? Eye (picture of an eye) like beer".

Then there's a bench I ride by on the way home when I'm commuting where they just throw their bottles to the ground and leave all sorts of trash around, that pisses me off, but obviously it's happening because something has gone wrong in their head and for real or perceived reasons, they are "stuck".
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
Sometimes...depends on the mood. Like others, I am prone to give to charities. But I am more likely to give to animal charities rather than human. Not a huge fan of humans.
 

boostindoubles

Nacho Libre
Mar 16, 2004
7,839
6,145
Yakistan
Last night a guy did 30 one handed push-ups in the street, then asked us all for money. I saw him pull two 5's and then he wouldn't stop hitting us up so he got my roach. He was elated, said that herb was the best natural viagra he knew and was going to run home to his woman for a marathon session of hanky panky.

Back home I don't hand out anything but food, after seeing one guy get in a BMW and another crew of pan handlers were busted because their dealers would swing by twice a day to collect cash and hand out smack.
 

Andyman_1970

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2003
3,105
5
The Natural State
Depends, in Little Rock there's a pretty sizable homeless population. The ones hanging outside the liquor store I don't give anything to. I have however on several occasions given food, and a sleeping bag or two to folks that seemed genuine.......
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
Last night a guy did 30 one handed push-ups in the street, then asked us all for money. I saw him pull two 5's and then he wouldn't stop hitting us up so he got my roach. He was elated, said that herb was the best natural viagra he knew and was going to run home to his woman for a marathon session of hanky panky.
:rofl:

only in philly

glad to see you got yourself sorted too btw
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,559
AK
Back home I don't hand out anything but food, after seeing one guy get in a BMW and another crew of pan handlers were busted because their dealers would swing by twice a day to collect cash and hand out smack.
Bitches got pimps?
 

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
I hate giving my money to dirty, thieving bastards but I have to, they take it straight out of my salary. No problems giving people on the street a few dollars every now and then though.