Beggars are getting bold!

[luvsJack]

The ones I have encountered in NOLA usually at least give you a joke for your money, or a rose, or some beads--something. One guy came up to dh and said "I bet you $5 I can tell you where you got those boots". So dh said ok. They guy said "you got them on your feet in New Orleans". DH gave him the $5. Another guy offered to shine his boots for $5--but dh wouldn't let him. And another just walked up and handed me a rose, after smiling very nicely he then turned to dh and said "that will be $2 for the lady's rose". I couldn't help but laugh at the look on dh's face.

We have s homeless guy that stays by WalMart and has something wrong with him (I don't know what or if it is physical or mental) but he makes keychains when he can find the stuff to make them with and he sells them for a dollar or two. Sometimes he just holds a sign that says "anything will help". I will usually buy him something to eat.

BUT, at the ball park there is another guy that will wait around out in the parking lot and come up to you as soon as you open your car door and ask for money. The first time, I reached in my wallet to get him a couple of dollars and he saw the $10 in it and said, "can't you just give me $10 so I can get some bread and sandwich meat" and then he started crying. I felt really bad and then some people that live around there said he is a drug addict and he wants it to buy drugs. After that I wouldn't give him anything and didn't get out of my car if he was in the parking lot until there were a couple of dads close by. The people that live around there and know him will just tell him to leave before they call the cops!

 

[scrapquitler]

Then she should have ordered something cheaper.

Or instead of buying something at mcdonalds, go to the grocery store and use the $5 for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter...she could eat for several days instead of just one meal from mcdonalds

 

[pixiewings71]

DBF deals with this stuff almost every day.....if he doesn't take a lunch he will go grab McD's or Subway, or Panda or Chipotle, he says the McD's and Subway are the worst. He generally just sits in his car to eat (his office doesn't really have a breakroom and if he eats at his desk he is expected to work even tho he's on lunch) so he will go to the McD's drive thru, park and eat, he's had women proposition him for a good time for money, had people ask him for money, one lady walked up to the window and said "give me your fries, you don't need them" LOL He said "no, go get your own fries" and she started going off on him, yelling and cussing him out!! He picked up his phone and called the cops, she was still there when they showed up! LOL He'd watched her approach a few other cars and when the cop pulled into the lot she was screaming at someone else. There are a few people who work certain areas in our town and yes, they use the same signs month after month after month....my favorite was "marriage in family, need help to get to Alabama" then the next month it said "death in family, need help to get to Alabama"...the best part was they had simply taped another piece of paper that said "death" over the "marriage" from the original sign...it was the SAME sign....lol I don't give them anything. There is another guy that has a sign that says "anything helps, even a smile" he always smiles and tips his hat to every car that drives by, I've given him $5 a time or two, he's a very nice guy and yes, he could be playing me but the $5 makes me feel better. There was a guy DBF and I saw in SF, his sign said "I need beer money" we laughed so hard that we gave him $5 as well....LOL

 

[fairestoneofall]

several years ago, they busted up a professional panhandler ring here locally. there was a group who would work the same corner regularly. turns out they were raking it in (tax-free) and staying at a local hotel.

what's sad is that there are people who genuinely need help. but nobody would trust them because the others give them a bad name.

 

[luvmy3]

Or instead of buying something at mcdonalds, go to the grocery store and use the $5 for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter...she could eat for several days instead of just one meal from mcdonalds

She must have never heard the saying beggars can't be choosers

 

[ols386]

Or instead of buying something at mcdonalds, go to the grocery store and use the $5 for a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter...she could eat for several days instead of just one meal from mcdonalds

There ya go!

She must have never heard the saying beggars can't be choosers

 

[Tinijocaro]

DH just came home from the grocery store. He said a woman approached his car and asked for money to buy food. He handed her a $5 bill and she thanked him. He began to roll his car window up when she abruptly stopped him and said, "Hey wait! I need 35 cents more to pay the tax on my sandwich with the $5 you gave me". DH laughed and said someone else would have to pay her tax and drove away. This floors me that someone would ask for *more* money from a total stranger. Oh well...

If I was hungry, I mean really hungry, I would do desperate things to get food. Especially if it involved my kids.

 

[Reddy]

If I was hungry, I mean really hungry, I would do desperate things to get food. Especially if it involved my kids.

My kids - I would go to the church group first, I know they are safe - it would be bad if my kids didn't have me

My MIL told me about a story that was in the Austin paper - the lady was retiring from panhandling - her 2story house, new car were paid for, had enough money in the bank to live off of. She admitted to getting over 1,000 a day for most of the days that she stood out on the street. She was now old enough to get SSI so she didn't need to stand out there anymore. It really made my MIL mad, she remember giving her money (sometimes it was the money that was for her lunch so she went without)

I'll give to church groups but not to a person that is begging for this reason, I know there are people who need help. But they need to help themselves, if everyone gives to them without asking for something in return - what are they learning to do but to keep this up???

 

[Witch Mountain]

I had someone approach me in the parking lot of a grocery store an ask for money, I said sorry, I don't have any cash. The person said, "You can get out some cash with your debit card in the store!"

And then last week someone INSIDE a store asked if I could spare $5 for her to buy "just one thing." (She had this lacy lingerie set in her hand that did not cost $5.) Again I said sorry, I don't have cash. So she said, "Could you just put it on your credit card?" As I said no and walked away, a store employee came up behind me and apologized profusely and said they were waiting for security to come talk to her.

That takes guts.

I live near you, and I've had people come up to me in the mall parking lot "I ran out of gas, can you give me some money?" but they're not even holding a gas can.

The other thing that's been happening more and more is the people begging on the corners near the mall. They've got white buckets and say it's for some charity I've never heard of before. Every time I leave my house, there's someone at that corner begging. One man was pretty insistent, but I said through the car window that I had no cash.

 

[laurie31]

About 15 years ago, I had a patient who was a begger. She proudly listed that as her occupation.

We asked her why she didn't try to find a job, but she said she LIKED the job she had. (yes, she considered it a job). She said with other jobs, you had to dress nice and go every day, even if it was cold or raining. With her job, she didn't have to bother with make-up or fixing her hair, and she didn't have to go if she didn't feel like it. She didn't have to worry about calling in sick and making something up, and she never had to go out in the rain. She made about $1200/month. That's tax-free, of course, and I don't know what it converts to in today's dollars, but it's still decent money for just sitting there doing nothing.

The economy was good back then, and there was nothing wrong with her that she couldn't work, she just didn't want a job where they made you show up on rainy days!

I prefer to give to homeless shelters, church, community food banks; places that will help the truly needy, but can also sort out the who is and who isn't in true need.

 

[ilovepcot]

If I was hungry, I mean really hungry, I would do desperate things to get food. Especially if it involved my kids.

I think most of us would.

 

[disneyquestions]

I work at a law firm. I had a client come in to drop off paperwork and ask me for $2. He told me last time he was in that his son was some big shot Dr....

 

[arminnie]

Are you kidding me? The absolute worst homeless begging I've ever encountered was in NOLA and Washington, D.C. I think it's because people get to where the climate supports them sleeping outside if they can. We have a larger homeless population in Ohio during the summer. I remember the year Reagan closed the half way houses and the government provided buses for the homeless to relocate, THAT was interesting. Everyone went south or to the NorthWest where the climate was moderate.

No, I'm not kidding you. Now I don't hang out around Bourbon Street. There probably are panhandlers there targeting the tourists. Nobody goes to Bourbon Street except tourists or maybe drunk teenagers.

I live in New Orleans proper not out in the burbs. I have NEVER had a panhandler approach me. I walk everywhere. There are plenty of low income areas (too many) within blocks of me - but people here seem to rather work than beg.

I do agree with you about the climate thing though. Much easier where it is warmer. Now I never said there were no homeless in New Orleans -it's a big problem. It was even worse after Katrina. Just horrible, horrible.

In San Francisco there was no way to walk a few blocks even around Union Square without having extremely aggressive beggars yelling obscenities and threats.

Oh I just remembered I did have somebody ask for a dollar once - but that was in a Target out in one of the suburbs.

 

[C.Ann]

For certain and that's why DH gave her money. She nodded in the direction of McDonald's when she asked about money for food and DH thought $5 would buy her one of the "Dollar Meals" they have going right now. No, she wanted a $5 sandwich *and the tax to go with it*. That's fine.

Yes - that definitely seems "bold", but I did want to say how nice it was of your DH to give her the $5 to begin with..

Some of these people are legit and some aren't, but with the economy the way it is and so many people/families falling through the cracks where they miss out on any kind of help because they're $2 over the limit, if someone approached me and I had it to give, I would.. I'm sure that many people would consider that foolish, but if it's not going to "break the bank", I'll take my chances and hope that it really helped the person out..

When even the food banks/pantries have run out of food to give to those who need it, you know things are really, really bad..

 

[scbelleatheart]

Most of these people are professional panhandlers and con-artists, and/or drug addicts. I love busting the ones out that I see at the same spots. They aren't even smart enough to change their stories. "Sir, we're trying to get back to Greenbrier and we're out of gas and......." Really, that's the exact same thing you said 2 weeks ago when I saw you. This actually happened, I love busting these people out.

You must have run in to the same one we did last week but it was Greensboro! (while lighting a cigarette) DH asked how she paid for those. He acted so .

 

[Anjelica]

There was a "pregnant" lady outside of our office a few years ago with a sign stating she was homeless and pregnant. She was there for a few months and went away. About a year after I first saw her she was back "pregnant" and homeless.

 

[Mkrop]

DH and I took the kids to Vegas last summer to see the Grand Canyon. After we saw the GC, DH got incredibly sick and could not leave the room. So I did my best to take the kids to kid friendly places in Vegas. We were doing great, took cabs to avoid any shady areas etc. So we were standing outside the Mirage waiting for the volcano to erupt. A young man came up and ask for money for the bus to get out of town. I figured it was a scam but with the kids there i thought it was better to give him a $1, but I did ask if he had a job, he claimed he did but spent his paycheck. I told him he should budget better. I then see him asking every other tourist the same question. Sigh yes I was scammed, oh well. Now he comes back again and asks me. I said I already gave you money, he swears up down and sideways that it wasnt him. I told him he put it in his back pocket. He got in my face now. Luckily a gentleman standing near us just quietly walked over and glared at him. He finally moved on. And a nice older couple came and stood behind me and the kids while we watched the show, and said that he was there the night before too.

We also see these people on the offramps in Philly as well. If you give them food, they toss it.

 

[cm8]

DH and I took the kids to Vegas last summer to see the Grand Canyon. After we saw the GC, DH got incredibly sick and could not leave the room. So I did my best to take the kids to kid friendly places in Vegas. We were doing great, took cabs to avoid any shady areas etc. So we were standing outside the Mirage waiting for the volcano to erupt. A young man came up and ask for money for the bus to get out of town. I figured it was a scam but with the kids there i thought it was better to give him a $1, but I did ask if he had a job, he claimed he did but spent his paycheck. I told him he should budget better. I then see him asking every other tourist the same question. Sigh yes I was scammed, oh well. Now he comes back again and asks me. I said I already gave you money, he swears up down and sideways that it wasnt him. I told him he put it in his back pocket. He got in my face now. Luckily a gentleman standing near us just quietly walked over and glared at him. He finally moved on. And a nice older couple came and stood behind me and the kids while we watched the show, and said that he was there the night before too.

We also see these people on the offramps in Philly as well. If you give them food, they toss it.

Wow, that was very scary I bet He scams to the point of forgetting who he already got. I am glad that others were around to provide a bumper between the both of you.

 

[akhenaten]

This may sound awful.. but I used to give to every drive our local food bank had...
then they did a story in our local paper about people who have expensive homes/cars using the Food bank (this was a while ago, not in this latest economic down turn) ... they feature one woman getting divorced who drove up in her Jaguar to pick up her food...

ummm sorry I don't own a home or a jag and have young kids and my food is going to this woman in her jag!! No way!!

I never gave as much or as often again...

 

[Debbie7452]

I hate to say it but my church runs a food bank that I have donated to many times. One day I was up at the church and saw folks loading food bank groceries into their car. The lady was wearing the latest trendy clothing and shoes and decked out with jewelry. I don't think our food bank is very careful to make sure the folks are truly needy. It looked like she had more disposable income than me because she spent less on groceries! I do still give, but I worry a bit more than I used to that I am really helping needy people.