Panhandlers: It Never Ends. (submitted for your amusement)

[kozmic]

I do try to help when I do see folks at the intersections. I won't give them money. I give them small nylon "backpacks". In each are a pair of wool socks, various energy and snack bars, some form of chips, gum, mints, nuts, etc. I usually insert deodorant or body spray and tooth brushes and toothpaste.
In the summer I try to have a few bottles of cold water in my truck to distribute. In the winter I put 5 or 10 dollar gift cards to Dunkin or Tim Hortons for hot drinks, etc. in the packs. During really cold spells I'll include a pair of gloves.
I try to have packs set up for both men and women.
Some seem offended or ticked off I don't give out money. Others are very appreciative and grateful. The full backpacks are worth much more than a few bucks if I was to give them cash, but at least I know I'm not just feeding into their habits (whatever those may be).

 

[DWalt]

It is well known locally that most of the beggars are part of professional crews, and they have assigned begging locations. I see them often standing around the doors of stores. I don't see the "will work for food" signs these days (of course they won't), but they used to be common. What I see now are mostly "homeless veteran" and the ubiquitous "God Bless" signs. Beggars holding puppies are also not unusual. That is probably very effective. Another ploy is used by beggars at gas stations. "Mister, I need to be at a job interview in an hour (or some similar sad story) and I ran out of gas and don't have the money to buy any. Can you spare $5?" I actually fell for that one once.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I is very bad in Reno, I hate to say.

Reno put up signs prohibiting pan handling at end of freeways and intersections.

They, don't work !!

 

[djohns6]

We had a guy that was obviously mentally handicapped that would beg at the same intersection . He got struck by a car and died . Somehow the story came out that somebody would drop him off and pick him up at the end of the day and take most if not all of what he collected .

 

[Sistema1927]

A buddy of mine, who owns a moving company, would normally give a couple of bucks to a guy on the corner on his way home from work. Once day, he stayed late, trying to figure out which of his trucks he could afford to buy new tires for. As a result, he was about 30 minutes later than usual going home.

As he approached that corner, he saw the recipient of his largesse "shutting up shop" and walking across the street to a new F150.

Never again.

 

[Bajadoc]

The amount of naivete toward street people by most of the public is quite disheartening.

 

[Autonomous]

Another anecdote.
My daughter was working at a higher end clothing store. There was a woman that begged in front of the store every day.
One day she was inside buying a lot of nice stuff.
She saw my daughter's confused look, laughed and said she was going on a cruise!

 

[johngalt]

Normally they harmless. There is one very aggressive panhandler in downtown St Paul by the Excel Energy Center. At a stop light, I saw her once try to force a car door open. Not cool. The police told me she is ‘known’.

 

[steelslaver]

The slime balls make it hard for those who really are down on their luck.

When I used to work on drilling rigs, there was one old school driller called "Dutch". We are on the way out to the rig short a hand and he sees a hitch hiker. Picks the guy up and shortly there after turns down a gravel road headed to the rig. Guy freaks out a bit. Dutch tells him he now has a job, works the guy for a few days, lets him stay at his place, pays him out of his pocket and runs a buddies name in the rigs log book. Buddy cashes the check and gives money to Dutch. Guy left to finish his travels with some good cash in his pocket. When, I was drilling every driller had a "ghost". When you were short a guy you put the ghost name in the book, then when the check came you had your ghost cash it and split it up with the crew. I always used one of my brothers. The statute of limitations is long gone. We figured we were doing all the work and making the oil company pay us for our extra labor

A way different time. Lot of guys just used made up Social Security numbers, ran a bunch of dependents and skipped from one rig to another.

 

[Rustyt1953]

A slightly different tack; I rarely give to street beggars as my "Spidey Sense" usually prevents me.

But, once in a great while, a feeling surges up telling me "you need to do this".

I will give them something and walk away at peace as I gave from a glad heart and felt led to do so.

What happened to the money after they received it is not my concern. Whenever this happens I feel blessed for doing it as I did it for what I perceive as the right reason.

 

[steelslaver]

Yes, I do the same thing sometimes, at worst they get something and I get to feel good about myself. But, I don't think I really get conned much

 

[djohns6]

One day I stopped at an intersection where a street bum was panhandling . As he approached my truck I waved him away . He threw the " F -bomb " at me and punched my window . I dialed 911 and explained the situation to the dispatcher . About 30 minutes later I passed through the same intersection on my way back and saw the panhandler bent over the back of a Police car wearing some new bracelets . The old boy really needed to work on his social skills .

 

[Buford57]

One panhandler in my area has the usual "hungry, homeless, anything helps" lingo on his cardboard sign and at the bottom is a CashApp address.

 

[Greyman50]

Few years ago was out to JAX beach coming out of a booze store when this guy comes up and says” Im not going to BS you I just need a few bucks for a cold beer”. I gave him a $5 and told him thanks for being honest.
The city and county of and around JAX passed an ord. against panhandling but you would not know, they are still everywhere.

 

[glenwolde]

I run across an honest beggar a few years ago. Me and my better half were sitting outside a coffee shop drinking coffee. A man came up that looked like he hadn't slept in a few days. He says "hey bro I just got out of jail and I really need a beer". I asked if that was the truth and he said yes. I gave him five bucks and off he went to the liquor store. He made my day too.

I saw a guy one day in the freeway u-turn underpass holding a sign saying "Visions of a cheeseburger". Right after the u-turn there was a Whataburger. I went through the drive-thru and got him a #1 with cheese combo and drove around again. He was sooooo happy.

 

[meaneyedcatz]

There was a guy on the corner with standard equipment, ragged cardboard sign. After he finished his shift he walked up the street and into his Cadillac Escalade and drove off.

Spotless white sneakers are a giveaway.

 

[steelslaver]

A city can pass an ordinance against pan handling, then they can fill up their jail and feed them. There is an endless supply of bums and a day or 2 in jail isn't a deterrent to many of them. Plus, now many of them know the legalities of jail crowding, court times etc etc. Might as well try to round up all the stray cats and herd them

 

[Racer X]

There was a guy on the corner with standard equipment, ragged cardboard sign. After he finished his shift he walked up the street and into his Cadillac Escalade and drove off.

Spotless white sneakers are a giveaway.

I too look at shoes and socks. pure white socks are a dead giveaway.

 

[31FordA]

We had a local guy who was at the same intersection everyday. One leg, ratty clothes, sign saying he was a homeless vet. He was the opposite of homeless, as he owned multiple mobile homes that he rented out. He wasn’t a vet either. The missing leg was legitimate, apparently lost it in a motorcycle accident. He was making about $1,000 a week begging, which nicely supplemented his pension and social security. We also suspected he was making money selling prescription meds to his trailer tenants. State Police finally ran him off after he kept causing problems in the intersection.

 

[10mm Shooter]

Many years ago, I had a guy hit me up for 26 cents in front of a convenience store. It struck me odd that he ask for a specific amount. I had to ask "why 26 cents ?". He said the he wanted to buy a "forty" and was short that amount. I did not have any change, so I gave him a dollar for his honesty...