Zone1 Beggars at the Intersection: How do you feel about them? What do you do?

[justaschmuck9]

In the past two years, I have noticed an epidemic of people begging at major intersections in my city. At a big four-way stop, you'll see them at all four medians. They're working in tandem. All have cardboard signs. All begging for help.

What do you do about it?

My first impulse is anger. I'm angry that they're implicitly lying about how they'll use the money, probably going for drugs or booze. The other thing is my charity solicits in front of certain stores. We have to go through a lot of red tape to get permission and permits to solicit. From the business; from the state; from the strip mall owner. And it absolutely frosts me to see these beggars at those same strip mall exits panhandling for themselves...not for charity....to buy drugs and booze. They didn't ask permission from anyone. It angers me even more when dunderheads give them money.

Now as a Christian, I wrestle with this. I feel bad that I get angry. I've talked to two priests about this. Both said I shouldn't get angry. One said that rather than give them money, I should engage with them and offer to accompany them to a restaurant and have a meal with them. The other priest said I should be pleasant and treat them like a human being, though I don't have to give them anything. He said "How rotten must their lives be that they would stand out there, regardless of what they do with the money?" He had a point. People addicted to drug or alcohol are not happy or well people. Anger isn't the proper response.

One time I did as the first priest instructed. The very next day after I talked to him, I was sitting in the parking lot at Lowe's looking at my phone. A woman tapped on my window and asked for money for something to eat. I thought it was divine providence. So I offered to go into the Kroger's and get her some fruit and bread and such. But that wasn't what she had in mind. She wanted to eat at the Sonic across the way. So I said fine and let her order. She got a meal deal with fries and a drink. I bristled at what I considered a junk meal, but went with it. I paid $8.64. Trying to make conversation, I asked her name. She refused to tell me. We talked a little bit about her circumstance. Everyone in her life was a f*cking asshole by her account. At the end, she asked for money. I declined. She thanked me for the meal and went on her way .

Pope Francis when asked the question, said he would not only talk to a beggar kindly, he would give them money. He said "So what if the person wants to buy a glass of wine. Who among us doesn't have a guilty pleasure?" I don't see it that way. I see it as enabling an addiction. I was talking to a woman who works in the ABC stores. She said she'll see these guys who were out panhandling come in with stacks of bills to buy liquor. Homeless professionals advise people to NOT give beggars money, that you can give them vouchers for the local shelter. It is a fact that most homeless are not beggars, and most beggars are not homeless.

So how did I feel after my encounter with the woman at Lowe's? Ambivalent. I felt sort of good, but also sort of like a sucker. Probably more the latter. I definitely didn't like getting her a junk meal, but I guess that wasn't the point. I liked that she seemed appreciative, and may it did help her a little. But I decided I probably would do it again if given the same circumstance, at least not in the same way.

I have softened recently, when I considered the plight of a neighbor girl my daughter's age who fell into drugs. Nice family, good neighborhood. But she just went bad. Now they don't know where she lives. She has a child her parents have adopted and take care of. What if it was this neighbor girl whom I've know since she was six who I saw pandhandling on the street corner? I wouldn't be angry then. I would feel compassion and sorrow. I'd ask her if she needed anything or to be driven somewhere. But I wouldn't give her any money.

Any thoughts about this topic?

I'm glad you are attempting to get at a right attitude. That is more than a lot of people do. A lot of people just write off all homeless as drug addicts and ne'r do wells when really, only a small % are.. according to my information.

We have to remember that a lot of homeless or downtrodden people could be cancelled people. The Left are vicious and don't care what they deprive a conservative of, in their persecutions. They have no compassion for anyone, from the unborn to the elderly. And when we consider how a lot of young people are raised today... we will get more of the same in the future. . selfish, un-empathetic people, indulged narcissists who never bother to think about how others feel or think or live.. scary.

I like what your priests told you, although I disagree that we should refuse to help those who ask. The Bible says to GIVE to those who ask of you. It does not say to find out exactly what the person will spend it on, although it is totally u/standable that u wouldn't want to help someone buy drugs. But again, most homeless are not druggies..

I don't think you would have been wrong to decline to buy the woman a meal when she didn't want the food from a store. To me, thatshows she was not hungry.. and if she didn't tell u any other valid need she had, well... I dunno. But other than that, I think we should give to people. I think I have kind of developed a 6th sense about whom to help and whom to.. not approach.

 

[DudleySmith]

CEO's of charities living high defeats the purpose of a charity which is to help others. CEOs are fundraisers above all else. I can't stand when a so-called charity becomes a big business instead. Jesus lived poor. Jesus' followers should also live modestly, particularly His preachers. I have lived that way all my life, even though I could live any way I wanted. I admire so much the nuns I had in Catholic school who made do on a shoestring.

You keep babbling about 'living high'. $75K is not 'living high', no matter how you hope to ignore real life facts. Most of those 'rich pastors' don't take a dime from their churches, and in fact many of them pay for a lot out of their pockets from other income.


Jesus hung out with and partied with some rich friends, in fact one payed for his tomb and was putting up the Apostles and the women at the time.

Charities wouldn't need to become 'big business' if the needs didn't far outstrip what the churches can provide, which is what happened with industrialization; serfdom was actually a better system than modern industrial economies; serfs at least had a legal right to grow their own food. Try keeping a milk cow or some chickens on the little patio of some cheap one room apartment some time and see what happens to you. Poverty and working class wages are a far cry from the economics of 30 A.D. Jerusalem, as anybody can find out for themselves.

 

[Leo123]

Give them a $100 bill. They'll not return because........alcohol poisoning.

 

[Mashmont]

You keep babbling about 'living high'. $75K is not 'living high', no matter how you hope to ignore real life facts. Most of those 'rich pastors' don't take a dime from their churches, and in fact many of them pay for a lot out of their pockets from other income.


Jesus hung out with and partied with some rich friends, in fact one payed for his tomb and was putting up the Apostles and the women at the time.

Charities wouldn't need to become 'big business' if the needs didn't far outstrip what the churches can provide, which is what happened with industrialization; serfdom was actually a better system than modern industrial economies; serfs at least had a legal right to grow their own food. Try keeping a milk cow or some chickens on the little patio of some cheap one room apartment some time and see what happens to you. Poverty and working class wages are a far cry from the economics of 30 A.D. Jerusalem, as anybody can find out for themselves.

This was ten years ago. $75,000 seemed quite a lot for the local director of Meals-on-Wheels, an organization that gets 35% of its funding from the government. and relies on volunteers as drivers. That salary is certain to be well over $100,000 by now. That's too much. Government involvement is what makes that and any charity suspect for me. Put simply, government money corrupts, and is by definition, causes inefficiency and takes away drive. It tells me it won't be as that people aren't fighting to make money go further. I think back to the nuns in my Catholic school who stretched every penny and did a great job on a shoestring. All charities should be like that. They need to be outstanding stewards of money, where volunteers have fire in their belly and make it a point to live humbly.

 

[themirrorthief]

This was ten years ago. $75,000 seemed quite a lot for the local director of Meals-on-Wheels, an organization that gets 35% of its funding from the government. and relies on volunteers as drivers. That salary is certain to be well over $100,000 by now. That's too much. Government involvement is what makes that and any charity suspect for me. Put simply, government money corrupts, and is by definition, causes inefficiency and takes away drive. It tells me it won't be as that people aren't fighting to make money go further. I think back to the nuns in my Catholic school who stretched every penny and did a great job on a shoestring. All charities should be like that. They need to be outstanding stewards of money, where volunteers have fire in their belly and make it a point to live humbly.

I give them money because I love them God is Love...thats all the religion you need to know

 

[Dogmaphobe]

I see beggars as a litmus test, myself.

When I pull up to a stop sign and they try to hand me the dollar bills through the window of my car, I know it's time to get a haircut and a good shave.

 

[Mashmont]

I give them money because I love them God is Love...thats all the religion you need to know

I love them too. That's why I don't give them money.

 

[Ray9]

In the past two years, I have noticed an epidemic of people begging at major intersections in my city. At a big four-way stop, you'll see them at all four medians. They're working in tandem. All have cardboard signs. All begging for help.

What do you do about it?

My first impulse is anger. I'm angry that they're implicitly lying about how they'll use the money, probably going for drugs or booze. The other thing is my charity solicits in front of certain stores. We have to go through a lot of red tape to get permission and permits to solicit. From the business; from the state; from the strip mall owner. And it absolutely frosts me to see these beggars at those same strip mall exits panhandling for themselves...not for charity....to buy drugs and booze. They didn't ask permission from anyone. It angers me even more when dunderheads give them money.

Now as a Christian, I wrestle with this. I feel bad that I get angry. I've talked to two priests about this. Both said I shouldn't get angry. One said that rather than give them money, I should engage with them and offer to accompany them to a restaurant and have a meal with them. The other priest said I should be pleasant and treat them like a human being, though I don't have to give them anything. He said "How rotten must their lives be that they would stand out there, regardless of what they do with the money?" He had a point. People addicted to drug or alcohol are not happy or well people. Anger isn't the proper response.

One time I did as the first priest instructed. The very next day after I talked to him, I was sitting in the parking lot at Lowe's looking at my phone. A woman tapped on my window and asked for money for something to eat. I thought it was divine providence. So I offered to go into the Kroger's and get her some fruit and bread and such. But that wasn't what she had in mind. She wanted to eat at the Sonic across the way. So I said fine and let her order. She got a meal deal with fries and a drink. I bristled at what I considered a junk meal, but went with it. I paid $8.64. Trying to make conversation, I asked her name. She refused to tell me. We talked a little bit about her circumstance. Everyone in her life was a f*cking asshole by her account. At the end, she asked for money. I declined. She thanked me for the meal and went on her way .

Pope Francis when asked the question, said he would not only talk to a beggar kindly, he would give them money. He said "So what if the person wants to buy a glass of wine. Who among us doesn't have a guilty pleasure?" I don't see it that way. I see it as enabling an addiction. I was talking to a woman who works in the ABC stores. She said she'll see these guys who were out panhandling come in with stacks of bills to buy liquor. Homeless professionals advise people to NOT give beggars money, that you can give them vouchers for the local shelter. It is a fact that most homeless are not beggars, and most beggars are not homeless.

So how did I feel after my encounter with the woman at Lowe's? Ambivalent. I felt sort of good, but also sort of like a sucker. Probably more the latter. I definitely didn't like getting her a junk meal, but I guess that wasn't the point. I liked that she seemed appreciative, and may it did help her a little. But I decided I probably would do it again if given the same circumstance, at least not in the same way.

I have softened recently, when I considered the plight of a neighbor girl my daughter's age who fell into drugs. Nice family, good neighborhood. But she just went bad. Now they don't know where she lives. She has a child her parents have adopted and take care of. What if it was this neighbor girl whom I've know since she was six who I saw pandhandling on the street corner? I wouldn't be angry then. I would feel compassion and sorrow. I'd ask her if she needed anything or to be driven somewhere. But I wouldn't give her any money.

Any thoughts about this topic?

They are here too in New Hampshire. Most of them are drug addicts working for cartels in large cities like Manchester or Nashua. They are bussed or driven to smaller cities where they occupy spaces to solicit donations. I nearly rear-ended a car in front of me a few years ago when a driver with a green light stopped in the middle of the interection to hand money to one of them. It is a cultural issue that could easily result in traffic fatalities.

 

[Lisa558]

They ALL have a new “strategy.” Without fail, they are standing next to “their” baby in a stroller.

What annoys me more than their standing at the intersection is when they are at the entrance to Target and Walmart, begging for handouts, standing next to sign saying “help wanted….$17 an hour to start.”

 

[BothWings]

I see many of those people with smartphones, decent sneakers, obviously had a shower in the past few days. Explain that.

Meanwhile just blocks away we have trouble filling simple positions at local businesses. I would tell many of these people to apply. We need the help. Get a fuckin job, they are hiring everywhere! What's your excuse??

Evidently some people have some problem with mental illness, physical or mental disability. Those are the people who obviously can't take care of themselves. They're usually found strung out under bridges, not proudly standing at intersections with their dogs and their cell phones and nice sneakers.

If anything I would surmise these people have some kind of a welfare income which is used for their habitation and basic basic expenses. But they spend just a couple hours each day playing their guitar at the intersection for pocket money, and end up eating very well at the end of the day on that. They might actually be making more money per hour then they would make working at a grocery store and they know it. And with their little welfare nest egg they only need to beg a few hours a day.

The only other explanation I can see is if maybe these people are convicted felons who have a hard time getting a job anywhere.

 

[BothWings]

They are here too in New Hampshire. Most of them are drug addicts working for cartels in large cities like Manchester or Nashua. They are bussed or driven to smaller cities where they occupy spaces to solicit donations. I nearly rear-ended a car in front of me a few years ago when a driver with a green light stopped in the middle of the interection to hand money to one of them. It is a cultural issue that could easily result in traffic fatalities.

That may be true in your neck of the woods, but in my neck of the woods (western P.A.) these people don't look like drug addicts. They have good posture, and look like they've had a decent meal and a shower within the past day or two. They're not twitchy and they seem focused. I've seen plenty of drug addicts and they are f***** up compared to these people.

 

[BlackSand]

In the past two years, I have noticed an epidemic of people begging at major intersections in my city. At a big four-way stop, you'll see them at all four medians. They're working in tandem. All have cardboard signs. All begging for help.

What do you do about it?

.

I roll down the window and ask them if I can bum $2 off them.

.​

 

[ding]

I usually give them a couple of bucks.

 

[Mashmont]

I was soliciting at a store for my charity. As I say, we have to get several layers of permission to do this. And a panhandler comes to us and asks me for money, and I tell them we are collecting for a charity. So he stands in front of us and solicits people ahead of us for himself. The people are confused, thinking he's possibly with us. So I tell him he can't do this. Fortunately, he didn't persist so I didn't have to get the authorities on him. I think he was mentally imbalanced.

 

[LuckyDuck]

In the past two years, I have noticed an epidemic of people begging at major intersections in my city. At a big four-way stop, you'll see them at all four medians. They're working in tandem. All have cardboard signs. All begging for help.

What do you do about it?

My first impulse is anger. I'm angry that they're implicitly lying about how they'll use the money, probably going for drugs or booze. The other thing is my charity solicits in front of certain stores. We have to go through a lot of red tape to get permission and permits to solicit. From the business; from the state; from the strip mall owner. And it absolutely frosts me to see these beggars at those same strip mall exits panhandling for themselves...not for charity....to buy drugs and booze. They didn't ask permission from anyone. It angers me even more when dunderheads give them money.

Now as a Christian, I wrestle with this. I feel bad that I get angry. I've talked to two priests about this. Both said I shouldn't get angry. One said that rather than give them money, I should engage with them and offer to accompany them to a restaurant and have a meal with them. The other priest said I should be pleasant and treat them like a human being, though I don't have to give them anything. He said "How rotten must their lives be that they would stand out there, regardless of what they do with the money?" He had a point. People addicted to drug or alcohol are not happy or well people. Anger isn't the proper response.

One time I did as the first priest instructed. The very next day after I talked to him, I was sitting in the parking lot at Lowe's looking at my phone. A woman tapped on my window and asked for money for something to eat. I thought it was divine providence. So I offered to go into the Kroger's and get her some fruit and bread and such. But that wasn't what she had in mind. She wanted to eat at the Sonic across the way. So I said fine and let her order. She got a meal deal with fries and a drink. I bristled at what I considered a junk meal, but went with it. I paid $8.64. Trying to make conversation, I asked her name. She refused to tell me. We talked a little bit about her circumstance. Everyone in her life was a f*cking asshole by her account. At the end, she asked for money. I declined. She thanked me for the meal and went on her way .

Pope Francis when asked the question, said he would not only talk to a beggar kindly, he would give them money. He said "So what if the person wants to buy a glass of wine. Who among us doesn't have a guilty pleasure?" I don't see it that way. I see it as enabling an addiction. I was talking to a woman who works in the ABC stores. She said she'll see these guys who were out panhandling come in with stacks of bills to buy liquor. Homeless professionals advise people to NOT give beggars money, that you can give them vouchers for the local shelter. It is a fact that most homeless are not beggars, and most beggars are not homeless.

So how did I feel after my encounter with the woman at Lowe's? Ambivalent. I felt sort of good, but also sort of like a sucker. Probably more the latter. I definitely didn't like getting her a junk meal, but I guess that wasn't the point. I liked that she seemed appreciative, and may it did help her a little. But I decided I probably would do it again if given the same circumstance, at least not in the same way.

I have softened recently, when I considered the plight of a neighbor girl my daughter's age who fell into drugs. Nice family, good neighborhood. But she just went bad. Now they don't know where she lives. She has a child her parents have adopted and take care of. What if it was this neighbor girl whom I've know since she was six who I saw pandhandling on the street corner? I wouldn't be angry then. I would feel compassion and sorrow. I'd ask her if she needed anything or to be driven somewhere. But I wouldn't give her any money.

Any thoughts about this topic?

There are over a half-million homeless in the United States. I have looked into it and found that "no country" is without homelessness, even Iceland has a lot of homeless people (Brrrr!). One problem that just like in other nations, each homeless person in the US, has his/her/its own personal story as to how they arrived at that situation and even if you talk with them, there is no guarantee that you will hear the truth. There is a woman that lives in a house next door to my significant other and my significant other has seen the woman, when out and about, on a corner carrying a sign, asking for money. In her case, we know the woman is a perpetual scammer. With some, its drugs and/or alcohol, with others, it's mental illness and still others, it's wanted criminals constantly on the move and not able to settle down because of it, then of course, a portion of them are just scammers that do it to gain extra money.
As even socialist nations have homelessness, it shows that there is no known 100% solution to the problem and how you deal with it personally, is your decision. You can give them a few bucks, offer them some temporary work, or buy them a meal, or ignore them. That's about it.

 

[greenerpastures]

I love them too. That's why I don't give them money.

this doesn't make sense. If they had all the money they needed, would they be out on a street corner begging? I mean, it's right b4 your eyes.. neediness..
I'm not saying some won't use the $$ u give them for drugs or alcohol but seriously, only a small percentage use it for that. Rent is ridiculous in case u haven't noticed

 

[greenerpastures]

I usually give them a couple of bucks.

I think this is the right attitude and the bible backs me up. It says to "give to those who ask".. doesn't say Give after you find out the person's whole life story and it passes your smell test..

 

[DudleySmith]

They ALL have a new “strategy.” Without fail, they are standing next to “their” baby in a stroller.

What annoys me more than their standing at the intersection is when they are at the entrance to Target and Walmart, begging for handouts, standing next to sign saying “help wanted….$17 an hour to start.”

And of course those businesses fall all over themselves to hire the homeless. Quit being stupid, just because you need excuses to shit on people down and out.

 

[DudleySmith]

this doesn't make sense. If they had all the money they needed, would they be out on a street corner begging? I mean, it's right b4 your eyes.. neediness..
I'm not saying some won't use the $$ u give them for drugs or alcohol but seriously, only a small percentage use it for that. Rent is ridiculous in case u haven't noticed

And indeed it doesn't matter what they do wit it. Many didn't start doing drugs until they lost their jobs and hit the streets anyway. And again, most homeless are invisible; they do have jobs and they sleep in cars and vans.

 

[beagle9]

There are over a half-million homeless in the United States. I have looked into it and found that "no country" is without homelessness, even Iceland has a lot of homeless people (Brrrr!). One problem that just like in other nations, each homeless person in the US, has his/her/its own personal story as to how they arrived at that situation and even if you talk with them, there is no guarantee that you will hear the truth. There is a woman that lives in a house next door to my significant other and my significant other has seen the woman, when out and about, on a corner carrying a sign, asking for money. In her case, we know the woman is a perpetual scammer. With some, its drugs and/or alcohol, with others, it's mental illness and still others, it's wanted criminals constantly on the move and not able to settle down because of it, then of course, a portion of them are just scammers that do it to gain extra money.
As even socialist nations have homelessness, it shows that there is no known 100% solution to the problem and how you deal with it personally, is your decision. You can give them a few bucks, offer them some temporary work, or buy them a meal, or ignore them. That's about it.

True, but when homelessness is tied directly to government policies and there fall out, well then that is another thing altogether. Sometimes it takes a while before one starts seeing the fall out from bad government's, but when it starts showing up in high numbers on the streets, then something has gone very wrong with what government promoted and supported in which caused serious riffs in our everyday societies. All one has to do is look back through the years, and judge the amount of this sort of thing going on in order to follow the changes in policies, culture's and other that will guide a person into knowing the truth about it all.