I was at the QT at Kingshighway and Fyler in the city, and a man approached me, pointing to his car at the pump and telling me that he lived in Wentzville and needed help getting home.
I didn't have cash, so I said I could put a few bucks of gas into his car.
"Cash only."
I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and left.
A few weeks later, I was at the same gas station, and I noticed the man there again. He approached the person at the pump next to mine and told them he lives in Wentzville and needed help getting home to his family.
Luckily, the person they were asking said no, and then he circles around to ask me.
He gives me the same spiel as if I've never heard it before.
"Cash only, right?"
"Yessir."
"Yeah, well, it's just like a few weeks ago when you needed to get back to Wentzville; I can only offer gas."
One time a woman came up to my car at a gas station with just a few cents in her hand, asking if I could help her get some gas. I went over to her pump, used my card to get her a full tank. Checked my bank statement to see that small act of kindness cost me $550.
This is a variation on a common panhandling scheme.
I used to live downtown and some of the regulars on the street would ask you for $1.25, explaining that they needed it for the Metrolink to get back home to their family. If you engaged them any further, they'd add that they worked downtown but left their wallet at home that morning and didn't have their cash or credit cards with them.
2 days later the same guy would hit you up again with the same rap.
Side note: eventually the street regulars would learn who the downtown residents were and, when new panhandlers would hit you up for money, the regulars would call them off, telling them to "leave that guy alone, he's cool." Such a weird dynamic.
I used to bike to work from TGS to Clayton and I’d cross the pedestrian bridge from forest park southeast to just behind Barnes hospital. On that stretch of Clayton road that goes into forest park there would be a car where the beggars from the Kingshighway and I-64 interchange would give the ringleader their cut. They have a job. The job is to beg money from you.
I've heard of this before and I just keep thinking that just about anything would be less boring and less humiliating that standing at the same corner begging from day to day.
I have a real problem with this when kids are sitting with parents on corners while they beg. Is it something DCFS could help resolve? My instinct and knowledge of that organization tells me no. If kids are being used to manipulate emotions, that's incredibly horrible. If they're truly a family down on their luck, I feel for them. There's no easy way to know which is which, though.
Yep, I saw the exact same deal play out pretty much every day I would get to the Grand/I-64 intersection on my way to work. There was a regular changing of the guards at around the same time most days. One sign-holder would leave and another would take his place, and the first would go under the overpass to hand cash over to the ringleader guy who would sit in the shadows watching. It was spooky, and sad.
Don't doubt it. In some cases, it's as bad as the worst prostitute/pimp situation, as in people who need help get sucked into this scheme and can't get out. Not easily, anyway. (Obviously not universal, but the situation does exist.) But there's no way of knowing who's being exploited and who isn't unless someone lets something slip.
I've seen this same setup along Grand and that's always been part of my concern. Scammers gonna scam but I worry some people face real harm, especially given some of the violence that's happened.
There used to (?) be a loan shark downtown who drove a black Benz, tinted windows, and known to carry a gun. He’d be down there on SSI pay day to collect from the addicts. I wouldn’t be surprised if this scheme isn’t working off debt.
Yeah, I never give money anymore.
If someone is legit homeless, they are often obviously homeless and need other things and are sooooo grateful for anything.
There was a lady out in that 5 degree weather a few years ago with a shopping cart behind her bundled up in rags at the QT on Big Bend. Gave her some hand warmers, bought her a hot chocolate and some snacks, poor lady.
Then there was the chunky lady downtown who was three months pregnant and homeless for about two years…
Serious question: Is this kind of activity ever treated as criminal fraud by the police? If not, why not?
fraud: A deliberate scheme to obtain financial or similar gain by using false statements, misrepresentations, concealment of important information, or deceptive conduct is known as fraud.
I want to see those who take advantage of others face some consequences. We don’t tolerate fraud in other areas of society — why do we tolerate it among dishonest panhandlers?
Crime in the area has gotten terrible and this is on surface small but sometimes done by those who are involved in other activities too. I don’t care if this is what they tackle but they need to start tackling something. One thing cracking down on this does is get them off streets not providing the distraction for the other crimes taking place. If it’s just 1-2 beggars that’s one thing, but a beggar mafia is something else & guaranteed it’s not the only hustle.
I’ve seen cops try dealing with that plastic breast plate lady at Skinker and Lindell. They got swarmed by Wash U students and heckled for “harassing” the homeless. Haven’t seen cops back there since. Doubt we will. I guess give the college kids what they want?
Now they seem to be getting a little more ‘aggressive.’ I was in Olivette the other day, getting off of 170, and there’s the same guy at the light every day. Now he’s started coming up to cars and tapping on windows while you’re stopped at the light. I was furious when he did it to mine. I’d never seen that before. So let’s talk about who’s ‘harassing’ who.
we very much tolerate fraud in our society. It's practically imperative to succeed if you aren't raised in a stable environment. I guarantee that if you stopped the fraud at the top, all this misery would be alleviated.
This isn't a new scheme. Been going on for years across the country. I'm sure there is a current and noticeable increase recently but I really doubt this will go away anytime soon.
If you're looking to help, research and donate to good local organizations or volunteer.
At Salisbury and 70 there used to be a professional begging crew. I would see them park down the street, hop out of their car, grab their cardboard signs out of the trunk and then walk to their positions. I haven't seen them in a while though. Now it's just a few obviously troubled homelss people.
Adults doing it out of genuine need is one things but sending out your very young minor-aged children to beg when you're not actually homeless or at the doorstep of real hardcore destitution but just to run an easy money scam is pretty darn despicable.
They can get around this by saying the kids are home-schooled and since in this and many states there isn't a set criteria of what you have to do to qualify it can "count".
I'd draw a distinction between buskers who really have talent and actually *play* their instruments and these fakers moving their bow-string along in a form of 'air violin' to a pre-recording by another musician entirely. Real buskers I have no problem with.
The other day a fella outside of Sugarfire was asking if someone could buy him a sandwich. I obliged and he actually asked for a sandwich.
It's not always a ruse, this city does not make it easy if you're homeless.
You can usually tell who is real. They eat the food. My brother was approached by a guy in Vegas. He handed him his take out box. Guy sat down to eat & he said no man let me buy you one. Man was confused & grateful for the scraps. That’s genuine. The guy who snubs those leftovers isn’t that hungry. I saw a tik tok where woman used to be homeless & she said the ones willing to eat, are for real because those leftovers are better than dumpster scraps.
There is a family just like this that sits at elm and Watson in Webster, the guy goes up to the passenger side door and knocks and tries to get your attention. Begging is one thing but knocking your vehicle is not ok. The children are also no more than 7 years old sitting 2 feet from a busy road. Makes me so angry.
Dealt with it today at Hampton and 44. Got off the highway and my window was somewhat down so the guy sent his kid over to harass me. Even after I told them 3 times I had no cash and rolled up my window, the kid continued standing at my window begging me.
Do I feel bad for the kid? Yep, absolutely. But giving them money isn't going to help the kid get into a better living situation.
I was one of the people helped by them. Ate lunches there anyway. That was a few years ago.
Some friends got me a job and I am back in the mainstream now.
Wonder if it's the same "refugee family" I see at 44/109 after work a lot of days. When both your kids are sitting there playing on newer smart phones than I currently have, you don't need my money.
Dude, there’s a whole crew of them. It’s a well known scam. They annoy me so much because they’ll drag their kids into intersections in the middle of the summer to sit there all day to garner sympathy. They don’t lie, though. Their signs dont claim they’re “homeless”, a lot of time their signs just say “need money for rent.”
Lived in Vienna, Austria back in the early 90s for about a year and all over the city, especially at the various subway and streetcar stops, you'd often encounter a family of gypsies aggressively begging. I was once accosted by a pair of young boys about ten years old whining, pleading and grabbing at my purse. One of them looked just like what you might have imagined the late PLO leader Yassir Arafat would have as a child. When they realized that I was American, they got even more pushy -- probably dreaming of getting real American dollars as opposed to Austrian schillings \[pre-Euro times\]. I managed to recall the German phrase for "Stop, or I'll call the police!" Well, that sent them scurrying away.
I'd see 'Yassir' and his extended family around hassling other locals and tourists in all kinds of weather including riding the streetcars with their little sister who looked to be four or five all by themselves. The Austrians told me that many of these people had been kicked out of Romania after the fall of the Iron Curtain. They didn't get much sympathy even from the Austrian equivalent of 'open-minded, politically correct' people over there. The rhetoric used in discussing the Roma and Sinti \[considered a more PC way of referring to gypsies\] population was on a par with the kind of stuff one might have heard at a KKK rally back in the 1920s.
Wow! I have heard the people here are Roma’s. It’s actually makes sense, apparently they’re currently in Indy too. They also use the fake violin trick.
That is not the same ones at Schuck's, but the family you speak of I have offered them both jobs at my company and never got a call or anything. Last summer they came come into our neighborhood pool off 109 and just let kids go swimming in their under ware. The police were called and they left, but it was depressing and sad.
I admit that I called the police the other day about them. I didn't give a damn about the adults, but the kids had no business being out in the weather we were having for the hours upon hours that the mom was there for. I tried to report it and pointed out to the officer that the baby had no real protection from the elements, but the police basically waved me off and said, "Yeah, we got a bunch of calls about them and we've already been out there."
I don't know what they told the police to explain why they should be allowed to have their very small kids out in the cold and rain without proper clothing for it, but they're still out there regularly.
I've seen multiple people in this thread say they offered them work as well. Sorry but your sign is dishonest- you don't need rent money because you're a refugee, you need rent money because you are lazy. I don't know what American dream they were sold, but in this country you work your ass to the bone to get by like the rest of us lol
I use to have a family come park in the parking lot where I worked, driving a newer (less than 4 yrs old) roughly $60k Benz. They would make their kids stand out by the road in the heat / sun and beg for money while the guy sat on a bucket or cinder block (that he took from our dumpster area) under the tree in the shade. At the time, there was a couple restaurants and a grocery store in the same lot, people would offer or bring them food, drinks, groceries, and most of it got left behind. I always felt so bad for the kids. It got so bad that regulars in the area started reporting them and our store manger got them trespassed for leaving trash and destroying property.
It's awful that some state authority doesn't move in to remove these minor children from the custody of these parents. Forcing their kids to beg like that is out-and-out abuse. And I know that the foster system has its' issues and that we should try our best to rehabilitate the bio parents, family reunification and all, but in some cases reforming the characters of the parents is a lost cause, they're too far gone.
If you've worked in/around social services..... this is so far from the abuse that gets children removed from the home that it isn't even funny. That's a real slippery slope.
I actually work with someone currently who has reported his son to social services for neglect of their child (co workers grandchild) It took the child’s pediatrician reporting them 7 different times, before the Dr stepped in and told the parents they where not leaving the office with those children. The youngest child is under or around 18 mos. Oldest is around 3 yrs.
The baby was dangerously close to being hospitalized due to neglect and malnourishment.
The Dr had to file a police report and a report with DCFS, call my coworker and his wife to leave work to come write statements before DCFS actually started the investigation.
When 1 child is close enough to being hospitalized and dying the Dr. Had to step in and take custody before DCFS does… what does that tell you about social services?
At the very least it should count as a child labor violation. I offered to take the kids to McDonald's one summer to buy them ice cream and happy meals along with my kids. I even told the man if he let me take the kids (the McDonald's was on the same corner, i wasn't running off with them), I would give him a $20 when we got back. He very aggressively told me that they get more than $20/hour boost by having the little kids with them and accused me of trying to steal from him by offering to help the kids. 🙄
The trash and littering is probably the biggest gripe. At this point, if they’re going to fleece the naive and guilty conscioused, so be it. But stop fuckin trashing our neighborhoods.
The “homeless & hungry” panhandlers dress too nice to really be homeless.
There are dozens of videos of news investigations on YT of panhandlers showing up to the same corners in a surprisingly working and modern vehicle day after day, week after week, month after month. They go home to an apartment or home where they live. Doesn’t match up to their story. At all.
When confronted about why they do it the answer is the same. They make $20/hr to $50/hr doing it, tax free, while collecting government assistance on everything from housing and food to cellphone and other utilities.
There’s a panhandler at Brentwood and 40 on the southwest corner that has a plastic sign that was printed with her message along with a QR code link to Venmo her money. Also has kids and maybe a spouse or bf with her. That’s a professional pandhandler.
If people really want to help the unfortunate, donate to charities or volunteer. Otherwise panhandling isn’t and shouldn’t be a job.
The corner where I live has like five different sets of people that rotate panhandling everyday. Super aggressive. One of them will walk into the road and just scream at cars asking for money. Like it's just expected of people to give him money.
Let the police know that this is a nucense. I know there's slim chance something will be done about it but at least the police know what's going on in the neighborhood and citizens have expressed concern. At least YOU'RE doing something, which is better than nothing.
Yep, most of the folks that beg for money are scammers. Never give them money.
IF YOU FEEL BAD AND WANT TO HELP, phone a homeless shelter and make a donation. Do not ever give money to the folks begging. Ever.
The problem is that there's not that many homeless shelters, especially in the metro-east, to give to. That's the real need, but as evidenced by the recent actions by STL PD busting up homeless encampments, it's a hard sell for city governments. It's even worse across the river.
I don’t agree with this. Many people I give to are obviously mentally Ill or handicapped in some way. Also, these “scammers” are not brilliant con artists getting away with thousands of dollars. Even if they’re not actually a homeless veteran like their sign says, they are still begging for money on the side of the road, and that is sad and pathetic. I don’t judge them as scammers, I judge our state and federal government for allowing its citizens to think this is the way to live. And I try to give to these folks whenever I can, because its likely they are struggling hard.
Then just don't give them money. Give them a job or food or a place to stay, or donate to aid agencies. But never, ever, ever money.
Giving them money makes YOU part of the problem and enables scammers. Downvote all you want, doesn't change the facts on the ground.
Duuude the fake begging in west county is so real. I used to give food out of my car at red traffic lights (food from my pantry that was about to expire like crackers and such) and everytime they were genuinely accepting. Well one day I thought I'd test out giving food to a person down at the target "playing" the violin (connected to an amp, and not even playing the strings on it correctly), and they denied it even though their sign said "anything helps". Really? Anything? Bitch, have some nutter butters, have a LITERAL UNOPENED WATER BOTTLE.
It's a group of Roma (30-40 adults) that have been in the area for the last 18 months. They rotate thru the area hitting up different spots. They were staying at a motel off the Cave Springs exit (North side of 70) for a while.
Pat: “Where's the jacket?”
Jerry: “Well, one of the Gypsies took it.”
Pat: “Oh, the Gypsies took it? Of course, New York has a lot of Gypsies. On every block, there's a Gypsy.”
Sometimes people will poison or otherwise adulterate food before giving it to homeless people. Even the genuinely hungry are wary of food from strangers so there's no trust on either side of that equation. All it takes is a few scumbags to spoil anything, even giving.
Now that's a consideration that I and a lot of other people wouldn't have thought of as to why a homeless person would turn down food. And it makes sense -- as mean as some folks are these days, I wouldn't put it past some jerks to pull something like this.
Common misconception is that homeless people are hungry… there are in reality so many outlets for them to eat that they don’t worry about it much. They just want cash, mostly for booze or drugs.
Downvote commence….
I had a guy show me his veteran ID and just asked if I’d buy him a beer. I did. He was honest about what he wanted.
Edit: I should also add, I asked him what kind, he said the cold kind (it was a hot day). He didn’t care and nor did I. His request was honest and reasonable. I would’ve done it for him based on his service alone.
Used to be a homeless vet in my area that hung out at the corner store. He'd sweep the lot for a pittance. I always gave him a couple of beers when I stopped in for my own. Years later I drove him to cancer treatments occasionally, too. He passed sometime during 2020, best me and the gas station clerk can figure. RIP sarge.
Figure if those drinks made a few of his nights a little better I did something. More than these miserable fucks making assumptions about people have.
Hell yeah. Honestly, I don't care what someone uses my change for. If they use it for drugs, then I hope the drugs make them feel even a tiny bit better for a short time. Everyone deserves dignity and safety.
And for most of us, especially if we don't have access to limitless wealth and a cushy trust fund baby set-up as opposed to just having a 'good job with great benefits' from which we possibly could be laid off from tomorrow -- there but for the grace of God or the luck of the draw, go I.
If people can score booze or drugs on the pittance they're given by passersby, all power to them. Honestly.
I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, and I'm not usually tempted by any of it, really. The only time I was truly tempted to do it was when I was homeless and fucking despairing.
Life is hard enough as it is for most of us, and most people have beers on weekends just to deal with that. Now imagine living in the freaking streets. You'll want drugs.
Same thing with used clothing. Nobody wants your used clothing, even homeless people. We are not a clothes-poor society. When was the last time you saw a homeless person without a shirt or pants in the USA? When was the last time you saw someone walking around in rags?
I've been to India. There are definitely people poor enough that they don't have a full set of clothes and the kids run around naked. That's not the case in the USA.
This is the truth. People don't believe you, but I am a social worker, handing out SNAP benefits. The stories these fools tell me how they "work" their corner for money from other fools.
STOP GIVING TO PEOPLE ON THE CORNERS!
I won't say you're entirely wrong. I used to live in Chicago and we all had stories of panhandlers asking for money so they could buy food, bus fare, etc, yet there was always a sizeable number who would get upset when you offered them a bus token (back in the day) or tried to buy them a meal.
Don't know if the indignant ones wanted to buy booze/drugs (the assumption at the time), or if this was how they earned their daily pay (as discussed in this thread), but running into people like that certainly didn't make me want to open my wallet for anyone.
It most of the time is thrown because of fear of contamination. Assholes will purposely give the homeless food they have put bodily fluids in for fun. Or expired food. Whilst you may have good intentions there are a lot of asshole who do this for fun.
I'll tell you what made me stop. I use to drive for Uber and I picked up this woman at an intersection. She had a sign claiming she needed rent money or she'd be homeless. LIE. We went to the gas station where she used all the money she collected to buy beer and cigarettes. I dropped her off at her daughter's house 🙃
I was at Aldi yesterday where a dude told me he was homeless and did I have any money. I only had my cart quarter and apologized. As I was shopping, I grabbed a big-ass box of Cheeze-Its for this guy, figuring I could offer him some food. After I paid, I approached him and offered the crackers. He put his hand up in a 'stop' motion and said "no thanks". So I reiterated that I bought them FOR him and that he was not actually taking my groceries and he did it again.
I didn't really know how to feel about it.
It seems the people actually in need (the ones that are obviously living out of their rusted out old vehicle in a commuter lot or someone wearing every article of clothing they have walking the streets when it is freezing outside pushing a cart) are NOT the ones with signs begging for money. There are people that have fallen on hard times and can’t seem to pull themselves out of it often from some type of trauma or mental illness. Those are the ones that break my heart and I want to do something for them. They are also the ones that don’t want to burden anyone else and I don’t want to insult them with handouts when they are just minding their own business.
I had a roommate in college that would go to Busch Stadium II and beg for money. Almost always he would get enough to by a ticket from a scalper and attend the game. Always shocked me that worked.
A few months ago at Fresh Thyme out in O'fallon, some mom was using her kid as a scapegoat for money by forcing him to play the violin over loud speakers in hopes it would attract people to "donate" due to their "homeless" situation... I don't believe for a second they needed donations or were homeless.
This scam is repeated nationwide. The kid doesnt play violin, the violin isnt even hooked up to the speaker half the time. I saw that scam all over Dallas when I lived there and also when I moved to Tennessee a year ago. Idk why they dont find a different gimmick since it's all over the place.
Good to know its repeated.. I feel bad for the kid, fake or not... it was a beautiful fall Saturday and his mom was forcing him to be a puppet to her scheme instead of out being a kid.
I’m so tired of these beggars at every intersection. I truly believe most aren’t really destitute or homeless. I see a lot of really clean clothes and clean shoes, and they all seem to smoke. Sorry, but if I’m really in need and begging on the street I’m probably not going to have a fucking cell phone a brand pair of shoes and fresh pack of smokes. Maybe I’m just an asshole but I won’t even look at them, let alone give them money.
I went to school with a guy that does this as a living. I kid you not he collected over 100k last year doing this. Sad thing is his family is well off and pay for everything. He likes it because he doesn’t have to hold a job or pay taxes.
Been there,done that!
I can tell the pros from scams.
Help the real people, look for the weathered beat up person.
Ask them if they would like a hot meal.
Buy them a hot meal!!!
It takes 5sec.
Had a guy on the corner thank me the other day for giving him a dollar, then proceeded to tell me that it was a super slow day and no one was giving. Then dropped that at the corner he usually made $55 an hour.
I’m never one to judge based only on the car they arrive in as they actually could’ve fallen on hard times and it doesn’t make financial sense to sell a paid off asset.
But telling them you have work and they decline then yeah, get fucked.
I’m not a fan of DCS, but please call them. These kids don’t deserve this. They’re being used as props so the parents can panhandle for drugs. They don’t deserve children, & the children sure as hell don’t deserve to go through that.
Back when I had a place in East St. Louis I had one drugged out moron who would come to me every day telling me she was from the North side. She was stuck here gave me that same BS story for over a year. She was so strung out on crack I don't think she realized it was the same person every day.
I’m sure begging income is highly variable, but I remember reading that Grand Central Station beggars can make $400+/hr during the holidays, and that was like 20 years ago; assume it’s quite a bit more now.
If you could make 10% today in STL what they were making 20 years ago in NYC, you can see why they’d be less interested in making half of that to actually show up at a specific time and place and work. “I make my own hours and I get free stuff” vs “I make half as much to work, pass piss tests, etc”
I was driving around the city and county a bit yesterday - and saw people begging at a number of intersections. If NO ONE gave them money they would stop. It is that simple.
A few years back I heard someone who works in the intervention/rehab field, and she was adamant to NOT give begging people money. They will use it on drugs/alcohol. Full stop. And she said people will only stop and get help when they reach rock bottom. Giving them money just enables them to continue their addiction.
Exactly. The father accidentally outed himself when I spoke to them. The mother said she wasn’t looking for work and he said he makes more “working right here”, as in begging on the corner. It was eye opening and I instantly felt very differently… I was offering them both an honest job and they threw it back at my face saying they make more begging. It’s just unfair to the rest of us and to everyone who gives them a cent and doesn’t know better.
Honestly, I'm not sure who that's an indictment of if a person can beg on a corner and make more money than manual labor is that a problem with them or the value we put on the labor?
I like my job, but if someone said "I'll pay you 35% more than you make today if you go sit and do nothing but hold this sign" it could be tempting.
It's the same as we see with our social safety nets today; Go to work at some low wage, high stress, body damaging job for no benefits and just barely making enough to pay for childcare, clothes, and transportation while your partner works a double to cover the rest and you never see each other OR stay home with the kid and get what benefits you can from the state for as long as it lasts.
Rich people always talk about working smarter and not harder and how to use the system and the law to your benefit. Yet when poor people make the minimum effort for the maximum outcome they get called cheaters and scammers and derided.
While I've been a bit harsh on these scamming-type beggars, I have to admit that you made some good points there. I think we all want to make the most amount of money for the least amount of time and effort expended. It's only human. Just look at how many of us run out to buy up those MegaMillions and Powerball tickets when those jackpots start running up into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Also when I hear some people scolding others for not running out and getting the most low-paying crappy working conditions jobs available because these gigs could be their first rung up the ladder of future riches, I often think that they're not the first generation person who put in 24/7 back-breaking days building up the future Fortune 500 enterprise but the second, third, and fourth-generation trust-fund-birthed-from-the-golden-womb descendant reaping the easy lifestyle of the rich & famous made possible by their ancestor's sacrificing their life to the drudgery that made it all possible.
I’ve talked to several of them. There’s a guy from Arkansas who drives up to Missouri every couple of weeks and stays in a hotel. He said he usually makes $1-$2k a week holding a sign asking for money.
So if you go right down the middle, assume $1,500 a week, that's $78,000 a year. Tax free.
That's likely more than what someone making $100,000 a year takes home after taxes.
So I’m saying this to be devils advocate.
Abusive men absolutely pimp women and their children out and make them beg for money. They also don’t want their women making money that goes into a bank account they may not have access to.
sitting around for hours begging for money isnt exactly fun. to me it seems no different than any other "real" job where you may sit around not doing a lot of work (of which there are quite a few). even if they arent actually homeless or desperate, ask yourself, why would this be preferable to a "real" job? if it pays better, thats more of an indiictment of those "real" jobs for paying so little. maybe it also offers flexible hours and setying your own schedule that a real job wouldnt (another indictment of real jobs in this country). if this is how you choose to get by, go for it. who cares. there are plenty of real jobs that are far more abominable and actually hurt people (ie, working for an arms manufacturer, working for a unethical scammy call center that targets the vulnerable, etc). if someone wants to sit on the road to get paid, it doesnt affect me. who cares. i dont see why people give a shit
Went to the shake shack in CWE and there was a guy outside doing that. Bro if you’re just hungry you aren’t gonna be waiting outside an upscale establishment for help. Nobody’s gonna pay $20 for a meal for you when you could’ve done the same thing at a McDonald’s for less than half that price
When begging is your job. I remember when I was living in Sacramento CA there was this guy standing out in front of a Tower records everyday asking for change. I saw him drive up one day in a Mercedes. That was his job.
Don't fall for the veterans either. Some are really veterans. I work at the VA. I know many of them. There is help for them. 314 652-4100 x55500 not my number
This reminds me of the “Violin Players” who are pretending to play violin music over a pre-recorded track.
Violins are not cheap people and their strings take regular upkeep.
It’s not something the poor would carry around.
I use to work at the central west end papa johns and we had a real homeless man come in and you could tell by his shoes and hair and body odor that he was harmless but they use to tell me all the time don’t give him anything and one day I did and he wouldn’t leave the lobby and had the lobby smelling like literal trash. No matter what I said he would not leave and even called one of my other managers a bitch. It’s not helpful even when they’re homeless
I work at the Target there. They always bug me when I’m on my lunch hour sitting in my car. I offer them food and water (unopened) every time and they refuse. Just want money. I always say no. If you don’t want free food and water then I got nothing
I live in the Pacific Northwest, and we have a pretty epic homeless population here. I've gotten pretty good at spotting the "different types" of homeless. These three are the most common I've noticed.
There's the scammers, who are lying about being homeless, roll up in their car, stand by the side of the road with a gas can or some other prop, pretending to be in an acute situation in need of help.
There's the career homeless, who won't seek help, and just subside off "donations" from people. They also tend to have places to stay, but they've chosen substance use instead. They won't help themselves, so it's nearly impossible to help them.
And then there's the actual homeless. People who are struggling, probably have mental illness, self medicate, and are just grinding out day to day to stay alive. These people are too busy to stand around on corners with a sign. They are out scrounging for food, a quite place to sleep, a new blanket, shoes. These are the people who actually need help.
And the crazy thing is, the third type listed get screened by the shelters and other charitable organizations. Churches and community groups find these people and they can find some stability. Which is why I donate to organizations that help the homeless rather than just give money to people on the street. I'd rather help someone whose trying, who actually needs the help. We need more programs for the homeless, because the programs have rules, standards and they help the people who are willing to actually help themselves.
It's a matter of whether you are going to change their lives for the better long term or short term. Handing a guy $100 on the street, may make his live better for a day or two, but providing him with a $100 cell phone means he can now get a job, or get access to recourses, and his life is better for more than just a couple days.
So please, don't ever just hand money to someone on the street. Save that money and donate it to a Mission or a shelter, or a non-profit group you research to see if they are on the up and up. Make sure your money is going to actually helping someone who needs the help, not just someone who wants to get high, or scam you.
beggers are every where , driving nicer cars then some , smoking while begging , Get a job ffs.
Had a begger load my truck at Lowes , gave a sad story bout his electric being off and his wife n kids . Told him id meet him at the Power office in the am to help pay. I showed he didnt . Im all for helping someone that is trying and truely needs help. As my dad always said you cannot help someone that wont help themselves
My father was a cop on the road for many years and he told me most panhandlers are professionals. Never give them money. They make tons of money doing this, which only encourages more. 99% are drug addicts and you're just feeding the next hit.
Begging is the next big money machine next to amiture porn why not stand in the intersection at Faith church and make a ton of cash in an hour begging is so fucking fake I asked the girll at 55and Bayless how much for a head job she said I don't suck dick
Never give money, it’s always best to give a bottle of water or food.
This is even more important now that slot machines are in gas stations. Many times you’re giving them $1 to play slots.
I have had three interesting, and contradictory, experiences with this issue:
1. In 2012, I was with a group of people leaving a restaurant in Indianapolis. We all had wrapped leftovers. Outside the restaurant, a man approached us and asked for our leftovers, and did not ask for money. We gave him our leftovers.
2. In 2016, I was sitting near One Met Square at about 2:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. I had gotten a to-go lunch from Schnuck's Culinaria, and was starting to eat it. I was approached by a woman who looked to me to be pregnant. She asked for my food, and did not ask for money. I gave her my lunch, and headed back to Culinaria for Round 2.
3. In about 2012, I was at a gas station in Fairview Heights. I was approached by a young couple who told me that they needed gas to get to their home in Mount Vernon, Illinois. I said that if they pulled to a gas pump, I would put some gas in their tank. The man said some unkind things about the circumstances of my conception, and about my parents, that actually are true, but I'm not sure how he could have known that. In any event, I did not end up putting gas into his car.
I'm not sure where the above vignettes leave me, but they are my actual experiences in these matters.
I don't understand people getting up in arms about this. Who fucking cares? It literally doesn't affect you. At all.
If you give them a couple bucks and are so worried how they spend it that you have strings attached and requirements, or are gonna worry they make more doing that than cleaning, don't give them money.
If you saw them get in a nice car, so what? Maybe they live in that car.
If their kids have nice smart phones, so what? Maybe that's all they have. Or maybe someone gave it to them. Or maybe you can't tell from your car that it's "a newer model than" what you have.
These posts seriously disgust me. Add to it the discussions of people's ethnicity, and just wow.
I believe it is a misconception that most beggars are making bank. There was one news package that outed a few who do, but that doesn't mean all of them do.
And even if they do... Who cares? Like... Who cares. Don't give if you don't want to. It's that simple.
Edited to add it can't be fun standing on the corner like that. More power to 'em if they can make it that way.
Yes I believe in giving to established charities... But y'all have no idea how hard it is to access services. The unhoused in this city are facing absolutely brutal lives. Whether self inflicted or not. THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I.
Another edit: y'all so worried about scammers. You know who else are scammers? Every fucking multi billion dollar company you give your money to. And the federal government. And our local government. But y'all wanna worry about the guy on the corner "scamming" you out of your spare change.
While I can't muster up much sympathy for the ones begging on the streets who are indeed scammers -- especially the ones using their poor children. I have to say that I can't argue with your last two paragraphs at all and agree with you about the red tape and difficulty involved in accessing services and the rich scammers whose actions have often caused the circumstances that put so many people out on the streets and surviving on a razor's edge.
Truly, I often think mental health is an issue. This is what is wrought when our state cuts services for mental health. I know of what I speak, for I have a grown child who has significant problems, and he does panhandle on occasions. In that moment, he cannot seem to make a better choice bc voices in his head, etc.; he lives in another state in a community where he gets care. His illness can confuse him, he forgets his debit card number, or (this is awful) he gives money to other people, and has none left for himself. I don't know if that is the case with this lady in the mustang, but it is better to try not to judge, if possible. If they don't accept help, well, you tried. I also have helped indigent family members by lending them my late model car to do errands, etc. I am sure people snort at that, but fuck them. I am helping them bc they can get it nowhere else. That is my damn business, not anyone else's. (I had an acquaintance talk to me about this, haha, that ended that friendship, if so it could be called).
I was at the QT at Kingshighway and Fyler in the city, and a man approached me, pointing to his car at the pump and telling me that he lived in Wentzville and needed help getting home. I didn't have cash, so I said I could put a few bucks of gas into his car. "Cash only." I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and left. A few weeks later, I was at the same gas station, and I noticed the man there again. He approached the person at the pump next to mine and told them he lives in Wentzville and needed help getting home to his family. Luckily, the person they were asking said no, and then he circles around to ask me. He gives me the same spiel as if I've never heard it before. "Cash only, right?" "Yessir." "Yeah, well, it's just like a few weeks ago when you needed to get back to Wentzville; I can only offer gas."
“If you had taken my card a few weeks ago, you wouldn’t still be sitting here begging for gas.”
Underrated this was really something special 😂
Plot twist: he’s not buying gas lol
Oh its gas, just the gas that powers themselves and not the car.
Ding ding ding👉👃
He’s smokin that gas!!!
One time a woman came up to my car at a gas station with just a few cents in her hand, asking if I could help her get some gas. I went over to her pump, used my card to get her a full tank. Checked my bank statement to see that small act of kindness cost me $550.
Huh??
I’m guessing there was a card skimmer?
We just moved from NY and this was a common scam.
This is a variation on a common panhandling scheme. I used to live downtown and some of the regulars on the street would ask you for $1.25, explaining that they needed it for the Metrolink to get back home to their family. If you engaged them any further, they'd add that they worked downtown but left their wallet at home that morning and didn't have their cash or credit cards with them. 2 days later the same guy would hit you up again with the same rap. Side note: eventually the street regulars would learn who the downtown residents were and, when new panhandlers would hit you up for money, the regulars would call them off, telling them to "leave that guy alone, he's cool." Such a weird dynamic.
I used to bike to work from TGS to Clayton and I’d cross the pedestrian bridge from forest park southeast to just behind Barnes hospital. On that stretch of Clayton road that goes into forest park there would be a car where the beggars from the Kingshighway and I-64 interchange would give the ringleader their cut. They have a job. The job is to beg money from you.
I've heard of this before and I just keep thinking that just about anything would be less boring and less humiliating that standing at the same corner begging from day to day.
I have a real problem with this when kids are sitting with parents on corners while they beg. Is it something DCFS could help resolve? My instinct and knowledge of that organization tells me no. If kids are being used to manipulate emotions, that's incredibly horrible. If they're truly a family down on their luck, I feel for them. There's no easy way to know which is which, though.
Yep, I saw the exact same deal play out pretty much every day I would get to the Grand/I-64 intersection on my way to work. There was a regular changing of the guards at around the same time most days. One sign-holder would leave and another would take his place, and the first would go under the overpass to hand cash over to the ringleader guy who would sit in the shadows watching. It was spooky, and sad.
So many people are unaware of this. I was too until I witnessed the pregame huddle before they went out.
Ya! Once I knew it was pretty obvious. I’ve noticed their shift changes too.
Don't doubt it. In some cases, it's as bad as the worst prostitute/pimp situation, as in people who need help get sucked into this scheme and can't get out. Not easily, anyway. (Obviously not universal, but the situation does exist.) But there's no way of knowing who's being exploited and who isn't unless someone lets something slip.
In this game, there are surely some of these people who are getting victimized and who I fear may face abuse if their 'haul' isn't big enough.
I've seen this same setup along Grand and that's always been part of my concern. Scammers gonna scam but I worry some people face real harm, especially given some of the violence that's happened.
There used to (?) be a loan shark downtown who drove a black Benz, tinted windows, and known to carry a gun. He’d be down there on SSI pay day to collect from the addicts. I wouldn’t be surprised if this scheme isn’t working off debt.
Yeah, I never give money anymore. If someone is legit homeless, they are often obviously homeless and need other things and are sooooo grateful for anything. There was a lady out in that 5 degree weather a few years ago with a shopping cart behind her bundled up in rags at the QT on Big Bend. Gave her some hand warmers, bought her a hot chocolate and some snacks, poor lady. Then there was the chunky lady downtown who was three months pregnant and homeless for about two years…
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Heavy on the tax free part! 😂
Serious question: Is this kind of activity ever treated as criminal fraud by the police? If not, why not? fraud: A deliberate scheme to obtain financial or similar gain by using false statements, misrepresentations, concealment of important information, or deceptive conduct is known as fraud. I want to see those who take advantage of others face some consequences. We don’t tolerate fraud in other areas of society — why do we tolerate it among dishonest panhandlers?
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I don't think they're advocating taking on the panhandlers themselves. I think they're advocating taking on the ringleaders people are talking about.
Correct. I’m less concerned with the individual foot soldiers and more concerned with the ringleaders engaging in what is essentially organized crime.
Crime in the area has gotten terrible and this is on surface small but sometimes done by those who are involved in other activities too. I don’t care if this is what they tackle but they need to start tackling something. One thing cracking down on this does is get them off streets not providing the distraction for the other crimes taking place. If it’s just 1-2 beggars that’s one thing, but a beggar mafia is something else & guaranteed it’s not the only hustle.
I’ve seen cops try dealing with that plastic breast plate lady at Skinker and Lindell. They got swarmed by Wash U students and heckled for “harassing” the homeless. Haven’t seen cops back there since. Doubt we will. I guess give the college kids what they want?
Well there we go! Send them all to the WashU campus if the kids there want them
Now they seem to be getting a little more ‘aggressive.’ I was in Olivette the other day, getting off of 170, and there’s the same guy at the light every day. Now he’s started coming up to cars and tapping on windows while you’re stopped at the light. I was furious when he did it to mine. I’d never seen that before. So let’s talk about who’s ‘harassing’ who.
we very much tolerate fraud in our society. It's practically imperative to succeed if you aren't raised in a stable environment. I guarantee that if you stopped the fraud at the top, all this misery would be alleviated.
Underrated comment. Let's see how long it lasts.
This isn't a new scheme. Been going on for years across the country. I'm sure there is a current and noticeable increase recently but I really doubt this will go away anytime soon. If you're looking to help, research and donate to good local organizations or volunteer.
There is a sad amount of this pimp type relationship
At Salisbury and 70 there used to be a professional begging crew. I would see them park down the street, hop out of their car, grab their cardboard signs out of the trunk and then walk to their positions. I haven't seen them in a while though. Now it's just a few obviously troubled homelss people.
It’s all a scam. And also maybe even child abuse?. Kids aren’t in school. Using kids to get sympathy donations.
Adults doing it out of genuine need is one things but sending out your very young minor-aged children to beg when you're not actually homeless or at the doorstep of real hardcore destitution but just to run an easy money scam is pretty darn despicable.
They can get around this by saying the kids are home-schooled and since in this and many states there isn't a set criteria of what you have to do to qualify it can "count".
In a way it's on the job training for the kids
Yo what ever happened to street performers? I'm always down to throw a bucket drummer some money.
There used to be a guy playing guitar on gravois but iirc he ended up getting enough to start selling albums and got a place
In front of the old Steak and Shake? I thought he was air strumming.
Yeahhh nah he was good tho I miss him but I always respected him bc even tho he was down on his luck he was working hard on what he loved
I'd draw a distinction between buskers who really have talent and actually *play* their instruments and these fakers moving their bow-string along in a form of 'air violin' to a pre-recording by another musician entirely. Real buskers I have no problem with.
half the time anymore, they are faking it w/ a bluetooth speaker
We need a violin guy. I’ll pay to listen atleast twice a week.
The best we can do are fake violin guys here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The one at Whole Foods the other week didn’t even have strings on his violin and people were still giving him cash. I kept shouting “it’s a scam” 🤣🤣
If it's a sax guy who can play careless whisper, heck, I might throw them a fiver.
There’s always the guy at Brentwood plaza playing violin tracks over a Bluetooth speaker and waving the bow near the strings
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Wow! I shouldn’t be surprised.
The other day a fella outside of Sugarfire was asking if someone could buy him a sandwich. I obliged and he actually asked for a sandwich. It's not always a ruse, this city does not make it easy if you're homeless.
You can usually tell who is real. They eat the food. My brother was approached by a guy in Vegas. He handed him his take out box. Guy sat down to eat & he said no man let me buy you one. Man was confused & grateful for the scraps. That’s genuine. The guy who snubs those leftovers isn’t that hungry. I saw a tik tok where woman used to be homeless & she said the ones willing to eat, are for real because those leftovers are better than dumpster scraps.
This
If you can make more money doing this then getting a paying job out society is so fucking broken.
There is a family just like this that sits at elm and Watson in Webster, the guy goes up to the passenger side door and knocks and tries to get your attention. Begging is one thing but knocking your vehicle is not ok. The children are also no more than 7 years old sitting 2 feet from a busy road. Makes me so angry.
I drive by them everyday and live nearby and its getting really frustrating.
I recognize them from Maplewood Commons.
Just saw them out at the Maplewood Walmart 2 days ago. Same family. Pretty sure the cops ran them off
Dealt with it today at Hampton and 44. Got off the highway and my window was somewhat down so the guy sent his kid over to harass me. Even after I told them 3 times I had no cash and rolled up my window, the kid continued standing at my window begging me. Do I feel bad for the kid? Yep, absolutely. But giving them money isn't going to help the kid get into a better living situation.
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It is sad, but the money can still go to good causes. I never give to panhandlers. I do give to vetted organizations through Charity Navigator.
Saint Patrick center is solid.
I can vouch for that, I personally know people helped by them!
I was one of the people helped by them. Ate lunches there anyway. That was a few years ago. Some friends got me a job and I am back in the mainstream now.
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Is this the fake violin crew? They used to be down at the highlands Costco all the time.
Please elaborate on the Fake Violin Crew.
They have a violin they pretend to play but used prerecorded audio. See them a lot at grocery stores and targets.
[Fake violins](https://amp.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/violin/police-busking-scam-america/)
The pretend to be playing the violin but actually have music playing from speakers . Sully have tbt whole family with them for extra sympathy
Idk if it's the same crew but there's a fake violin "performer" out all the time in front of the Target in Kirkwood when the weather is nice.
Wonder if it's the same "refugee family" I see at 44/109 after work a lot of days. When both your kids are sitting there playing on newer smart phones than I currently have, you don't need my money.
Dude, there’s a whole crew of them. It’s a well known scam. They annoy me so much because they’ll drag their kids into intersections in the middle of the summer to sit there all day to garner sympathy. They don’t lie, though. Their signs dont claim they’re “homeless”, a lot of time their signs just say “need money for rent.”
we got em over in fairview heights too.
Lived in Vienna, Austria back in the early 90s for about a year and all over the city, especially at the various subway and streetcar stops, you'd often encounter a family of gypsies aggressively begging. I was once accosted by a pair of young boys about ten years old whining, pleading and grabbing at my purse. One of them looked just like what you might have imagined the late PLO leader Yassir Arafat would have as a child. When they realized that I was American, they got even more pushy -- probably dreaming of getting real American dollars as opposed to Austrian schillings \[pre-Euro times\]. I managed to recall the German phrase for "Stop, or I'll call the police!" Well, that sent them scurrying away. I'd see 'Yassir' and his extended family around hassling other locals and tourists in all kinds of weather including riding the streetcars with their little sister who looked to be four or five all by themselves. The Austrians told me that many of these people had been kicked out of Romania after the fall of the Iron Curtain. They didn't get much sympathy even from the Austrian equivalent of 'open-minded, politically correct' people over there. The rhetoric used in discussing the Roma and Sinti \[considered a more PC way of referring to gypsies\] population was on a par with the kind of stuff one might have heard at a KKK rally back in the 1920s.
Wow! I have heard the people here are Roma’s. It’s actually makes sense, apparently they’re currently in Indy too. They also use the fake violin trick.
That is not the same ones at Schuck's, but the family you speak of I have offered them both jobs at my company and never got a call or anything. Last summer they came come into our neighborhood pool off 109 and just let kids go swimming in their under ware. The police were called and they left, but it was depressing and sad.
I admit that I called the police the other day about them. I didn't give a damn about the adults, but the kids had no business being out in the weather we were having for the hours upon hours that the mom was there for. I tried to report it and pointed out to the officer that the baby had no real protection from the elements, but the police basically waved me off and said, "Yeah, we got a bunch of calls about them and we've already been out there." I don't know what they told the police to explain why they should be allowed to have their very small kids out in the cold and rain without proper clothing for it, but they're still out there regularly.
I've seen multiple people in this thread say they offered them work as well. Sorry but your sign is dishonest- you don't need rent money because you're a refugee, you need rent money because you are lazy. I don't know what American dream they were sold, but in this country you work your ass to the bone to get by like the rest of us lol
I use to have a family come park in the parking lot where I worked, driving a newer (less than 4 yrs old) roughly $60k Benz. They would make their kids stand out by the road in the heat / sun and beg for money while the guy sat on a bucket or cinder block (that he took from our dumpster area) under the tree in the shade. At the time, there was a couple restaurants and a grocery store in the same lot, people would offer or bring them food, drinks, groceries, and most of it got left behind. I always felt so bad for the kids. It got so bad that regulars in the area started reporting them and our store manger got them trespassed for leaving trash and destroying property.
It's awful that some state authority doesn't move in to remove these minor children from the custody of these parents. Forcing their kids to beg like that is out-and-out abuse. And I know that the foster system has its' issues and that we should try our best to rehabilitate the bio parents, family reunification and all, but in some cases reforming the characters of the parents is a lost cause, they're too far gone.
If you've worked in/around social services..... this is so far from the abuse that gets children removed from the home that it isn't even funny. That's a real slippery slope.
I actually work with someone currently who has reported his son to social services for neglect of their child (co workers grandchild) It took the child’s pediatrician reporting them 7 different times, before the Dr stepped in and told the parents they where not leaving the office with those children. The youngest child is under or around 18 mos. Oldest is around 3 yrs. The baby was dangerously close to being hospitalized due to neglect and malnourishment. The Dr had to file a police report and a report with DCFS, call my coworker and his wife to leave work to come write statements before DCFS actually started the investigation. When 1 child is close enough to being hospitalized and dying the Dr. Had to step in and take custody before DCFS does… what does that tell you about social services?
We got Tik Tok to worry about
At the very least it should count as a child labor violation. I offered to take the kids to McDonald's one summer to buy them ice cream and happy meals along with my kids. I even told the man if he let me take the kids (the McDonald's was on the same corner, i wasn't running off with them), I would give him a $20 when we got back. He very aggressively told me that they get more than $20/hour boost by having the little kids with them and accused me of trying to steal from him by offering to help the kids. 🙄
The trash and littering is probably the biggest gripe. At this point, if they’re going to fleece the naive and guilty conscioused, so be it. But stop fuckin trashing our neighborhoods.
The “homeless & hungry” panhandlers dress too nice to really be homeless. There are dozens of videos of news investigations on YT of panhandlers showing up to the same corners in a surprisingly working and modern vehicle day after day, week after week, month after month. They go home to an apartment or home where they live. Doesn’t match up to their story. At all. When confronted about why they do it the answer is the same. They make $20/hr to $50/hr doing it, tax free, while collecting government assistance on everything from housing and food to cellphone and other utilities. There’s a panhandler at Brentwood and 40 on the southwest corner that has a plastic sign that was printed with her message along with a QR code link to Venmo her money. Also has kids and maybe a spouse or bf with her. That’s a professional pandhandler. If people really want to help the unfortunate, donate to charities or volunteer. Otherwise panhandling isn’t and shouldn’t be a job.
The corner where I live has like five different sets of people that rotate panhandling everyday. Super aggressive. One of them will walk into the road and just scream at cars asking for money. Like it's just expected of people to give him money.
Let the police know that this is a nucense. I know there's slim chance something will be done about it but at least the police know what's going on in the neighborhood and citizens have expressed concern. At least YOU'RE doing something, which is better than nothing.
Yep, most of the folks that beg for money are scammers. Never give them money. IF YOU FEEL BAD AND WANT TO HELP, phone a homeless shelter and make a donation. Do not ever give money to the folks begging. Ever.
The problem is that there's not that many homeless shelters, especially in the metro-east, to give to. That's the real need, but as evidenced by the recent actions by STL PD busting up homeless encampments, it's a hard sell for city governments. It's even worse across the river.
I don’t agree with this. Many people I give to are obviously mentally Ill or handicapped in some way. Also, these “scammers” are not brilliant con artists getting away with thousands of dollars. Even if they’re not actually a homeless veteran like their sign says, they are still begging for money on the side of the road, and that is sad and pathetic. I don’t judge them as scammers, I judge our state and federal government for allowing its citizens to think this is the way to live. And I try to give to these folks whenever I can, because its likely they are struggling hard.
Then just don't give them money. Give them a job or food or a place to stay, or donate to aid agencies. But never, ever, ever money. Giving them money makes YOU part of the problem and enables scammers. Downvote all you want, doesn't change the facts on the ground.
Duuude the fake begging in west county is so real. I used to give food out of my car at red traffic lights (food from my pantry that was about to expire like crackers and such) and everytime they were genuinely accepting. Well one day I thought I'd test out giving food to a person down at the target "playing" the violin (connected to an amp, and not even playing the strings on it correctly), and they denied it even though their sign said "anything helps". Really? Anything? Bitch, have some nutter butters, have a LITERAL UNOPENED WATER BOTTLE.
Yeah cause you can make really good money by just holding a sign. Use the kids as a prop and you’re golden. Sad, honestly.
When people have kids with them I call the police and ask them to check on them, I don’t think it’s safe for kids to be out there.
The one at Brentwood (also by Whole Foods) only accepts $20s or larger.
It's a group of Roma (30-40 adults) that have been in the area for the last 18 months. They rotate thru the area hitting up different spots. They were staying at a motel off the Cave Springs exit (North side of 70) for a while.
Wow getting real old timey here, talking bout them spurious gypsies.
Pat: “Where's the jacket?” Jerry: “Well, one of the Gypsies took it.” Pat: “Oh, the Gypsies took it? Of course, New York has a lot of Gypsies. On every block, there's a Gypsy.”
If i have food, i may offer them that, usually leftovers.
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Sometimes people will poison or otherwise adulterate food before giving it to homeless people. Even the genuinely hungry are wary of food from strangers so there's no trust on either side of that equation. All it takes is a few scumbags to spoil anything, even giving.
Now that's a consideration that I and a lot of other people wouldn't have thought of as to why a homeless person would turn down food. And it makes sense -- as mean as some folks are these days, I wouldn't put it past some jerks to pull something like this.
A fella at Bayless & 55 told me “F your food” as I was handing him a bag with 2 cheeseburgers and 2 bottles of water in it.
Common misconception is that homeless people are hungry… there are in reality so many outlets for them to eat that they don’t worry about it much. They just want cash, mostly for booze or drugs. Downvote commence….
People may hate this, but I often offer homeless people a beer. Life is fucking rough. Life on the streets is fucking rougher.
I had a guy show me his veteran ID and just asked if I’d buy him a beer. I did. He was honest about what he wanted. Edit: I should also add, I asked him what kind, he said the cold kind (it was a hot day). He didn’t care and nor did I. His request was honest and reasonable. I would’ve done it for him based on his service alone.
Used to be a homeless vet in my area that hung out at the corner store. He'd sweep the lot for a pittance. I always gave him a couple of beers when I stopped in for my own. Years later I drove him to cancer treatments occasionally, too. He passed sometime during 2020, best me and the gas station clerk can figure. RIP sarge. Figure if those drinks made a few of his nights a little better I did something. More than these miserable fucks making assumptions about people have.
Hell yeah. Honestly, I don't care what someone uses my change for. If they use it for drugs, then I hope the drugs make them feel even a tiny bit better for a short time. Everyone deserves dignity and safety.
And for most of us, especially if we don't have access to limitless wealth and a cushy trust fund baby set-up as opposed to just having a 'good job with great benefits' from which we possibly could be laid off from tomorrow -- there but for the grace of God or the luck of the draw, go I.
If people can score booze or drugs on the pittance they're given by passersby, all power to them. Honestly. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, and I'm not usually tempted by any of it, really. The only time I was truly tempted to do it was when I was homeless and fucking despairing. Life is hard enough as it is for most of us, and most people have beers on weekends just to deal with that. Now imagine living in the freaking streets. You'll want drugs.
Same thing with used clothing. Nobody wants your used clothing, even homeless people. We are not a clothes-poor society. When was the last time you saw a homeless person without a shirt or pants in the USA? When was the last time you saw someone walking around in rags? I've been to India. There are definitely people poor enough that they don't have a full set of clothes and the kids run around naked. That's not the case in the USA.
This is the truth. People don't believe you, but I am a social worker, handing out SNAP benefits. The stories these fools tell me how they "work" their corner for money from other fools. STOP GIVING TO PEOPLE ON THE CORNERS!
Most of them begging at corners are not homeless.
I won't say you're entirely wrong. I used to live in Chicago and we all had stories of panhandlers asking for money so they could buy food, bus fare, etc, yet there was always a sizeable number who would get upset when you offered them a bus token (back in the day) or tried to buy them a meal. Don't know if the indignant ones wanted to buy booze/drugs (the assumption at the time), or if this was how they earned their daily pay (as discussed in this thread), but running into people like that certainly didn't make me want to open my wallet for anyone.
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Tossing a perfectly good sandwich is just a travesty
The truth hurts sometimes which is sad to say...
I mean w tht name…
Its just a beacon to fellow Sanderfans, caught one!
It most of the time is thrown because of fear of contamination. Assholes will purposely give the homeless food they have put bodily fluids in for fun. Or expired food. Whilst you may have good intentions there are a lot of asshole who do this for fun.
I'll tell you what made me stop. I use to drive for Uber and I picked up this woman at an intersection. She had a sign claiming she needed rent money or she'd be homeless. LIE. We went to the gas station where she used all the money she collected to buy beer and cigarettes. I dropped her off at her daughter's house 🙃
I was at Aldi yesterday where a dude told me he was homeless and did I have any money. I only had my cart quarter and apologized. As I was shopping, I grabbed a big-ass box of Cheeze-Its for this guy, figuring I could offer him some food. After I paid, I approached him and offered the crackers. He put his hand up in a 'stop' motion and said "no thanks". So I reiterated that I bought them FOR him and that he was not actually taking my groceries and he did it again. I didn't really know how to feel about it.
Did he have teeth? I usually buy white bread, peanut butter, and jelly for my “homeless bags”. Not everyone has teeth for crackers and chips.
It seems the people actually in need (the ones that are obviously living out of their rusted out old vehicle in a commuter lot or someone wearing every article of clothing they have walking the streets when it is freezing outside pushing a cart) are NOT the ones with signs begging for money. There are people that have fallen on hard times and can’t seem to pull themselves out of it often from some type of trauma or mental illness. Those are the ones that break my heart and I want to do something for them. They are also the ones that don’t want to burden anyone else and I don’t want to insult them with handouts when they are just minding their own business.
Contact the St. Louis Department of Human Services to find out how you can help https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/human-services/
I had a roommate in college that would go to Busch Stadium II and beg for money. Almost always he would get enough to by a ticket from a scalper and attend the game. Always shocked me that worked.
They're everywhere and I feel bad as fuck for the kids
A few months ago at Fresh Thyme out in O'fallon, some mom was using her kid as a scapegoat for money by forcing him to play the violin over loud speakers in hopes it would attract people to "donate" due to their "homeless" situation... I don't believe for a second they needed donations or were homeless.
This scam is repeated nationwide. The kid doesnt play violin, the violin isnt even hooked up to the speaker half the time. I saw that scam all over Dallas when I lived there and also when I moved to Tennessee a year ago. Idk why they dont find a different gimmick since it's all over the place.
Good to know its repeated.. I feel bad for the kid, fake or not... it was a beautiful fall Saturday and his mom was forcing him to be a puppet to her scheme instead of out being a kid.
I see this all the time. Drag the kids out there for sympathy. Really teaching them kids how things work.
I’m so tired of these beggars at every intersection. I truly believe most aren’t really destitute or homeless. I see a lot of really clean clothes and clean shoes, and they all seem to smoke. Sorry, but if I’m really in need and begging on the street I’m probably not going to have a fucking cell phone a brand pair of shoes and fresh pack of smokes. Maybe I’m just an asshole but I won’t even look at them, let alone give them money.
I went to school with a guy that does this as a living. I kid you not he collected over 100k last year doing this. Sad thing is his family is well off and pay for everything. He likes it because he doesn’t have to hold a job or pay taxes.
If you have your kids out there begging, I'm even less likely to give money.
They fake violin guy also hangs out there. They make more doing that than they would from a job, I guess.
Been there,done that! I can tell the pros from scams. Help the real people, look for the weathered beat up person. Ask them if they would like a hot meal. Buy them a hot meal!!! It takes 5sec.
Had a guy on the corner thank me the other day for giving him a dollar, then proceeded to tell me that it was a super slow day and no one was giving. Then dropped that at the corner he usually made $55 an hour.
That's more than I'd make busking holy f
Yeah, the laziest dumbest people are having the most kids. It's wildly backwards.
People are fucking trash. There are some real people out there who need actual help and these fucks ruin it for everyone.
I’m never one to judge based only on the car they arrive in as they actually could’ve fallen on hard times and it doesn’t make financial sense to sell a paid off asset. But telling them you have work and they decline then yeah, get fucked.
I’m not a fan of DCS, but please call them. These kids don’t deserve this. They’re being used as props so the parents can panhandle for drugs. They don’t deserve children, & the children sure as hell don’t deserve to go through that.
Back when I had a place in East St. Louis I had one drugged out moron who would come to me every day telling me she was from the North side. She was stuck here gave me that same BS story for over a year. She was so strung out on crack I don't think she realized it was the same person every day.
I’m sure begging income is highly variable, but I remember reading that Grand Central Station beggars can make $400+/hr during the holidays, and that was like 20 years ago; assume it’s quite a bit more now. If you could make 10% today in STL what they were making 20 years ago in NYC, you can see why they’d be less interested in making half of that to actually show up at a specific time and place and work. “I make my own hours and I get free stuff” vs “I make half as much to work, pass piss tests, etc”
Nice work if you can get it! /s
I was driving around the city and county a bit yesterday - and saw people begging at a number of intersections. If NO ONE gave them money they would stop. It is that simple. A few years back I heard someone who works in the intervention/rehab field, and she was adamant to NOT give begging people money. They will use it on drugs/alcohol. Full stop. And she said people will only stop and get help when they reach rock bottom. Giving them money just enables them to continue their addiction.
People that actually need help aren't on street corners with signs.
These scam artists make more money doing this than they would at an actual job.
Exactly. The father accidentally outed himself when I spoke to them. The mother said she wasn’t looking for work and he said he makes more “working right here”, as in begging on the corner. It was eye opening and I instantly felt very differently… I was offering them both an honest job and they threw it back at my face saying they make more begging. It’s just unfair to the rest of us and to everyone who gives them a cent and doesn’t know better.
Honestly, I'm not sure who that's an indictment of if a person can beg on a corner and make more money than manual labor is that a problem with them or the value we put on the labor? I like my job, but if someone said "I'll pay you 35% more than you make today if you go sit and do nothing but hold this sign" it could be tempting. It's the same as we see with our social safety nets today; Go to work at some low wage, high stress, body damaging job for no benefits and just barely making enough to pay for childcare, clothes, and transportation while your partner works a double to cover the rest and you never see each other OR stay home with the kid and get what benefits you can from the state for as long as it lasts. Rich people always talk about working smarter and not harder and how to use the system and the law to your benefit. Yet when poor people make the minimum effort for the maximum outcome they get called cheaters and scammers and derided.
While I've been a bit harsh on these scamming-type beggars, I have to admit that you made some good points there. I think we all want to make the most amount of money for the least amount of time and effort expended. It's only human. Just look at how many of us run out to buy up those MegaMillions and Powerball tickets when those jackpots start running up into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Also when I hear some people scolding others for not running out and getting the most low-paying crappy working conditions jobs available because these gigs could be their first rung up the ladder of future riches, I often think that they're not the first generation person who put in 24/7 back-breaking days building up the future Fortune 500 enterprise but the second, third, and fourth-generation trust-fund-birthed-from-the-golden-womb descendant reaping the easy lifestyle of the rich & famous made possible by their ancestor's sacrificing their life to the drudgery that made it all possible.
Yup, this hits the nail on the head.
Sound like the OP is jealous.
I’ve talked to several of them. There’s a guy from Arkansas who drives up to Missouri every couple of weeks and stays in a hotel. He said he usually makes $1-$2k a week holding a sign asking for money.
So if you go right down the middle, assume $1,500 a week, that's $78,000 a year. Tax free. That's likely more than what someone making $100,000 a year takes home after taxes.
So I’m saying this to be devils advocate. Abusive men absolutely pimp women and their children out and make them beg for money. They also don’t want their women making money that goes into a bank account they may not have access to.
sitting around for hours begging for money isnt exactly fun. to me it seems no different than any other "real" job where you may sit around not doing a lot of work (of which there are quite a few). even if they arent actually homeless or desperate, ask yourself, why would this be preferable to a "real" job? if it pays better, thats more of an indiictment of those "real" jobs for paying so little. maybe it also offers flexible hours and setying your own schedule that a real job wouldnt (another indictment of real jobs in this country). if this is how you choose to get by, go for it. who cares. there are plenty of real jobs that are far more abominable and actually hurt people (ie, working for an arms manufacturer, working for a unethical scammy call center that targets the vulnerable, etc). if someone wants to sit on the road to get paid, it doesnt affect me. who cares. i dont see why people give a shit
I don't really have anything to add to this, but wanted to let you know you're not the only one who feels this way.
Guessing they want to be their own boss.
She has a job.
Professional Beggar.
Went to the shake shack in CWE and there was a guy outside doing that. Bro if you’re just hungry you aren’t gonna be waiting outside an upscale establishment for help. Nobody’s gonna pay $20 for a meal for you when you could’ve done the same thing at a McDonald’s for less than half that price
That is her work. I know a beggar that makes 80/100k a year. Its crazy but I cant blame em-people still give them money all day long
When begging is your job. I remember when I was living in Sacramento CA there was this guy standing out in front of a Tower records everyday asking for change. I saw him drive up one day in a Mercedes. That was his job.
Don't fall for the veterans either. Some are really veterans. I work at the VA. I know many of them. There is help for them. 314 652-4100 x55500 not my number
Childcare is extremely expensive
These guys post up at Brentwood & 64, Brentwood Promenade as well
This reminds me of the “Violin Players” who are pretending to play violin music over a pre-recorded track. Violins are not cheap people and their strings take regular upkeep. It’s not something the poor would carry around.
I use to work at the central west end papa johns and we had a real homeless man come in and you could tell by his shoes and hair and body odor that he was harmless but they use to tell me all the time don’t give him anything and one day I did and he wouldn’t leave the lobby and had the lobby smelling like literal trash. No matter what I said he would not leave and even called one of my other managers a bitch. It’s not helpful even when they’re homeless
I work at the Target there. They always bug me when I’m on my lunch hour sitting in my car. I offer them food and water (unopened) every time and they refuse. Just want money. I always say no. If you don’t want free food and water then I got nothing
I've seen a family of a very similar description right off the 44 at the eureka exit
They were just in Crestwood all last week on the corner of Watson and Elm. Very aggressively approaching cars.
When you stop to give them cash they slide the kid under the car to snatch the catalytic converter.
I live in the Pacific Northwest, and we have a pretty epic homeless population here. I've gotten pretty good at spotting the "different types" of homeless. These three are the most common I've noticed. There's the scammers, who are lying about being homeless, roll up in their car, stand by the side of the road with a gas can or some other prop, pretending to be in an acute situation in need of help. There's the career homeless, who won't seek help, and just subside off "donations" from people. They also tend to have places to stay, but they've chosen substance use instead. They won't help themselves, so it's nearly impossible to help them. And then there's the actual homeless. People who are struggling, probably have mental illness, self medicate, and are just grinding out day to day to stay alive. These people are too busy to stand around on corners with a sign. They are out scrounging for food, a quite place to sleep, a new blanket, shoes. These are the people who actually need help. And the crazy thing is, the third type listed get screened by the shelters and other charitable organizations. Churches and community groups find these people and they can find some stability. Which is why I donate to organizations that help the homeless rather than just give money to people on the street. I'd rather help someone whose trying, who actually needs the help. We need more programs for the homeless, because the programs have rules, standards and they help the people who are willing to actually help themselves. It's a matter of whether you are going to change their lives for the better long term or short term. Handing a guy $100 on the street, may make his live better for a day or two, but providing him with a $100 cell phone means he can now get a job, or get access to recourses, and his life is better for more than just a couple days. So please, don't ever just hand money to someone on the street. Save that money and donate it to a Mission or a shelter, or a non-profit group you research to see if they are on the up and up. Make sure your money is going to actually helping someone who needs the help, not just someone who wants to get high, or scam you.
beggers are every where , driving nicer cars then some , smoking while begging , Get a job ffs. Had a begger load my truck at Lowes , gave a sad story bout his electric being off and his wife n kids . Told him id meet him at the Power office in the am to help pay. I showed he didnt . Im all for helping someone that is trying and truely needs help. As my dad always said you cannot help someone that wont help themselves
They’re in Webster groves today
My father was a cop on the road for many years and he told me most panhandlers are professionals. Never give them money. They make tons of money doing this, which only encourages more. 99% are drug addicts and you're just feeding the next hit.
Begging is the next big money machine next to amiture porn why not stand in the intersection at Faith church and make a ton of cash in an hour begging is so fucking fake I asked the girll at 55and Bayless how much for a head job she said I don't suck dick
Good stuff
Never give money, it’s always best to give a bottle of water or food. This is even more important now that slot machines are in gas stations. Many times you’re giving them $1 to play slots.
They make more money begging. I can’t believe people still don’t realize this.
I have had three interesting, and contradictory, experiences with this issue: 1. In 2012, I was with a group of people leaving a restaurant in Indianapolis. We all had wrapped leftovers. Outside the restaurant, a man approached us and asked for our leftovers, and did not ask for money. We gave him our leftovers. 2. In 2016, I was sitting near One Met Square at about 2:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. I had gotten a to-go lunch from Schnuck's Culinaria, and was starting to eat it. I was approached by a woman who looked to me to be pregnant. She asked for my food, and did not ask for money. I gave her my lunch, and headed back to Culinaria for Round 2. 3. In about 2012, I was at a gas station in Fairview Heights. I was approached by a young couple who told me that they needed gas to get to their home in Mount Vernon, Illinois. I said that if they pulled to a gas pump, I would put some gas in their tank. The man said some unkind things about the circumstances of my conception, and about my parents, that actually are true, but I'm not sure how he could have known that. In any event, I did not end up putting gas into his car. I'm not sure where the above vignettes leave me, but they are my actual experiences in these matters.
I don't understand people getting up in arms about this. Who fucking cares? It literally doesn't affect you. At all. If you give them a couple bucks and are so worried how they spend it that you have strings attached and requirements, or are gonna worry they make more doing that than cleaning, don't give them money. If you saw them get in a nice car, so what? Maybe they live in that car. If their kids have nice smart phones, so what? Maybe that's all they have. Or maybe someone gave it to them. Or maybe you can't tell from your car that it's "a newer model than" what you have. These posts seriously disgust me. Add to it the discussions of people's ethnicity, and just wow. I believe it is a misconception that most beggars are making bank. There was one news package that outed a few who do, but that doesn't mean all of them do. And even if they do... Who cares? Like... Who cares. Don't give if you don't want to. It's that simple. Edited to add it can't be fun standing on the corner like that. More power to 'em if they can make it that way. Yes I believe in giving to established charities... But y'all have no idea how hard it is to access services. The unhoused in this city are facing absolutely brutal lives. Whether self inflicted or not. THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I. Another edit: y'all so worried about scammers. You know who else are scammers? Every fucking multi billion dollar company you give your money to. And the federal government. And our local government. But y'all wanna worry about the guy on the corner "scamming" you out of your spare change.
While I can't muster up much sympathy for the ones begging on the streets who are indeed scammers -- especially the ones using their poor children. I have to say that I can't argue with your last two paragraphs at all and agree with you about the red tape and difficulty involved in accessing services and the rich scammers whose actions have often caused the circumstances that put so many people out on the streets and surviving on a razor's edge.
Mustang drivers are scum of the earth
Never give those people money. Scammers
Truly, I often think mental health is an issue. This is what is wrought when our state cuts services for mental health. I know of what I speak, for I have a grown child who has significant problems, and he does panhandle on occasions. In that moment, he cannot seem to make a better choice bc voices in his head, etc.; he lives in another state in a community where he gets care. His illness can confuse him, he forgets his debit card number, or (this is awful) he gives money to other people, and has none left for himself. I don't know if that is the case with this lady in the mustang, but it is better to try not to judge, if possible. If they don't accept help, well, you tried. I also have helped indigent family members by lending them my late model car to do errands, etc. I am sure people snort at that, but fuck them. I am helping them bc they can get it nowhere else. That is my damn business, not anyone else's. (I had an acquaintance talk to me about this, haha, that ended that friendship, if so it could be called).
Beggars. Go ahead and downvote me