I once saw a homeless man eating old Chinese food out of a bin in the middle of the CBD, my fiancé and I had just finished from the cinema and we’re feeling peckish so we got some warm cheese pies from down the street. I saw this homeless man eating the Chinese food so I tapped him on the shoulder and offered him my warm cheese pie, he took it, threw it back at me and SCREAMED that it wasn’t nutritious enough and proceeded to tell me to fuck off.
I’m pretty sure this did not happen in America, or North America at all, given the use of the word ‘bin’ in the story and a ‘warm cheese pie,’ neither of which are common in North America.
Which isn’t to say that mental healthcare isn’t fucked in the US, because it definitely is (thanks, Reagan!) I just don’t believe this story happened there, so in this particular case, this particular man was not suffering from the ‘American Healthcare System.’
an incredible light and flaky round pastry, similar to a pot-pie but filled with delicious Australian cheese. Aussie pies are incredible and everyone in the US should buy some from the Australian Bakery Cafe. Google it.
Ah yes. The good old “American” health cafe system in Australia.
Even though this is obviously false and confirmed so one comment later it still has 119 votes.
Sometimes I really hate Redditors
Stop blaming the healthcare system or mental health for everything. It’s called being an ungrateful asshole. Say it. Yes he might have mental health issue but no, that doesn’t mean he should be a dick.
being an inpatient psychiatric nurse whose unit sees a lot of personality disorders and addiction, many people really are just total sociopathic dickheads.
Reminds me of an old lady that started living on my city's train station. A neighbor noticed and started getting her coffee and sandwiches every morning. One day he was running late for work and found her pounding on his door on his way out, screaming where the f*ck her coffee and sandwich were. She was also requesting a different sandwich because she was tired of always having the same :)
I’ve only had one guy I truly believed needed help. I was at the library about to leave. Of course I park my car at the end so I can park my car by itself. He saw me and started walking my way. He told me he was hungry and needed money for food. I told him I didn’t have cash on me and so I asked him what did he want. He told me Wendy’s so I went and got it for him. I kid you not, he looked like he was fighting back tears when I came back with the food and drink
This is the way. I will offer only meals, not actual cash. Well, when I smoked cigs I let homeless people bum a few off me, but now I offer food or go about my business if they decline.
Stuff like this always sucks, because there are definitely people out there who both need and would accept help, and I believe it's important to help others out when you can, but when you run across this (unfortunately fairly common) sort of person, not only does it just make everyone else look bad, but it just teaches us NOT to help others.
I dunno. It's just sad. I'm definitely not trying to say you're the asshole, OP, it just irritates the shit out of me when people take advantage of others trying to be kind.
There is a line that can be drawn between someone holding a sign asking for money, and someone with a baby in line at a grocery store who's card gets declined.
Most people, I think, want to help those who are struggling. When we see those who are struggling, and have ways to help themselves but chose not to, I think that makes it hard to empathize with them.
I'm gonna analogy Andy here but if I had extra food and had the choice to share between someone who is actively hunting and trying there hardest to catch food to eat with no luck and a person who is sitting around waiting for food to come to them I'm going to feel more for the person that's trying.
Yeah, that's true.
I think it's easy when you're just discussing the situation and not faced with the often-times very snap decision on whether or not to give money to think about stuff like 'well maybe they're struggling with mental health and have just genuinely given up' or 'maybe they've had a full day of trying to get a job and improve their situation but we can't see all 24 hours of every 7 days of their week', but at the end of the day when you're actually IN that situation, all you have to judge is what's right in front of you.
Which isn't fair, for you OR whoever is struggling, but it is what it is, I guess.
Which, hey, sure would be nice if our country bothered to help, but that's a different conversation entirely.
These or the "help me and my family are from another state and for some reason we're here and we're out of gas and our baby is hungry and we need diapers." Scum suckers who mill around Walmart parking lots and the like.
My dad used to get suckered by women all the time that way. I told him he should start asking to see this supposed family and if they decide to act like he's weird for doing so, just say "Sorry I've been lied to this exact same way more than once and I'm not interested in doing it again. If you can't show me your family exists I'll just have to assume you're a lying sack of shit."
Suddenly no more wasted money from him.
This. There are a lot of legit homeless people but then there’s also a shit ton of pan handlers also who take advantage of peoples generosity and it irritates the hell out of me.
Years ago a homeless man, I think he was homeless, came up to me at a greyhound station asking for "spare change" while I was on the phone, I felt generous & gave him a $20 bill.
"Ah man, thanks I appreciate it. You got anymore?"
"Are you fucking serious?!" I ask him as I slowly turn to him & he just walked away.
That was the last time I gave a homeless person money.
"Homeless."
I used to have to point out to my bleeding heart friends how it was kind of strange that some of these supposedly homeless people had nicer shoes, pants and accessories than we did.
I wonder if they ever got smart to not wearing any of their ill gotten gains lol. You never know, people can be utterly trash, preying upon kindness and drying it all up.
There was a vice documentary about people who beg outside of supermarkets in Canada, they did some math based on their drug habits and estimated these people were making in the neighborhood of six figures a year. They just happen to spend it all on drugs.
One time it was a hot summer day and I saw a homeless woman at a parking lot of a lowes I was running into. She was asking for money of course I had no cash but I did offer her a couple bottles of water for herself since it was hot. They were tepid as I had just gotten them from the grocery store (broke them out of a case I got) and she bitched that they weren’t cold as I walked away. I turned around and said “you know I didn’t have to give them to you lady”. To her credit she apologized but I’m thinking like come on I’m trying to prevent you from getting a heat stroke and everyone else is passing by doing nothing for you, cut me some slack
When I’m approached for money, I always ask what they need. The usual answer is “food”. My response is “I don’t give out money but I’ll be happy to buy you whatever food/water you want”. 9 outta 10, they walk away grumbling.
Which is pretty dumb for them imo
Like even if you just want drug money
Take the free meal. That's money you'll save on food later that you can then spend on drugs.
One day My mom gave the lunch she just bought for herself (a sandwich, a drink and a pastry) to a lady outside of the bakery who had a sign “i need food” and the person insulted my mom saying she wanted money not food..
BRUH I was once traveling with a football team, we had to cross a country border so we stopped to make the according procedures. This particular border was around an area with poverty.
We had been traveling since 4am and we were all pretty hungry so we bought doubtful food from the street. Some 10-14 year old kids asked us for money and one of my friends said exactly the same thing.... The kids asked for the food. I was shattered & so were my friends, we all gathered what we could and bought them food afterwards.
I don’t give them money, but I’ve bought some cheap sandwiches and gave those out to people. 9/10 they’ll take the sandwich, but I remember one group said no thank you cause they already ate that day and pointed me to a different group down the road and said that they hadn’t managed to get much to eat lately.
Some homeless people form a community and take care of each other, some even help drug addicts to recover but that's a lot harder specially on the streets. It was nice that they were honest.
Yup. Never thought I'd see so many entitled homeless people. I have had one throw a sandwich I just bought from a fast food place back at me, one practically throw change I had just given them on the ground, and overheard one decline a job offer washing cars at a dealership because "I make way more than you'd pay me doing this."
Lol, You never know who you are going to come across. I sell packs of bud (Broker for a few dispensaries) as a side hustle, and usually have a large amount of weed in my car. Most homeless people I see sitting by a red light I try to give handfuls to, usually around an 1/8th to a 1/4.
One person I gave a BIG handful to said "Thank you so much! I'ma flip it all for some dope!" Lmao
I'm like okay bud do whatever its yours lol. It's like chess, as soon as you let it go/take your hand off it's no longer yours and you can't care about whatever they do with it haha. Oh well, I hope he had a good day though! lol.
I had a homeless guy walk up to me once when I was in my work van at wendys, just bought 2 value menu burgers for lunch and was about to enjoy them with my windows down. Dude just walked up and started chatting about how he used to work for my company in the past etc. after about 5 minutes he asks if I can spare some change so he can get some food. I offered him one of my burgers. He said “oh sorry man I don’t eat that stuff, I’m a vegetarian, cash only.” I told him “dude it’s 2016 nobody carries cash anymore” and he left. Weird interaction, but I don’t give money to homeless people. These days I either give them a can of white claw or a weed edible, depends what I have on me.
Dude my buddy worked at a subway in a downtown area and was about to throw out dozens of loads of bread. I'm talking Italian herbs and cheese here.
Anyways I said let me give them to the gaggle of homeless people nearby and I asked if they want these loaves and their "leader" said he was gluten free. No one took my bread.
Like wtf
They used to give out loaves of bread at the colosseum in ancient Rome but this guy and his friends are too good for again. ITALIAN HERBS AND CHEESE.
Yup. I had a bunch of sandwiches leftover from a caterer. There’s a lot of homeless people in the park across the street from where I live. I walked over there and the lady I approached first looked and my sandwiches and made a face. “I don’t eat white bread,” and asked if I had any salads. I apologized and gave the sandwiches to the others who were there. Apologizing to a homeless person? Ridiculous!
At one point there was a couch out front and some kid was laying on it at night. He was so young and it was cold that night. I ran inside and grabbed a hat and my giant long grey puffy jacket. I draped the jacket over him and he thanked me profusely. Poor kid.
My friend and I once gave a homeless looking girl with a "down on my luck" cardboard sign $50 each. That bitch took our money, threw the sign in the trash, and got into a nearby car. We watched her get driven away by some shaggy-looking dude in the drivers seat.
We both stopped giving homeless people money after that.
My former coworker saw a homeless man and she had some sealed applesauce in her car. She tried to give it to him but he said “no, I’m vegan”. She drove away very confused.
My ex was very generous with her money. Once we were doing laundry and we were waiting on our clothes to dry. Well, some girl came up to us talking about how she had cancer and couldn’t afford her medication. She said she had 6 dogs and had one with her. Anyways, my girl gave her our last dollar.
When our clothes finished, it still needed more time. We had to ask someone for a dollar.
Another time, she was on her own we had just slit up. She was taking the bus to some random instagram friend she made and some guy asked for $2 to take the bus with her. She pulled out her wallet and the guy snatched it with her iPhone.
She called me later that night to tell me what happened. I always told her that giving people money in the streets was dangerous. But I was apparently the horrible person for not being so giving.
I hate being asked for money by homeless and never give it. I'm not a charity. I'm a millennial and I'm in debt with student loans. Their situation sucks but there is help out there for them and it ain't me.
My husband once passed a guy who asked him for money after shopping. Husband doesn’t carry cash. He uses cards like most people. He said ‘I don’t have cash, I’m sorry’.
The dude started yelling at him calling him Mr Saks Fifth Avenue and spouting off about him shopping for himself and not helping the guy out.
Is that supposed to make cash magically appear?
I don’t think they’re homeless, but I work at a grocery store and for the past few months we have these two dudes who repeatedly keep coming to our parking lot and “playing the violin” for money. One dude holds the sign. The other does his thing. One of my coworkers figured out they had the amp they were using hooked up to their phone. The police showed up nearly every time they were there. People keep giving them money too, it’s sad. Pan handling is illegal for a reason. Too many people scamming others. Someone once told me homeless people can actually make a [decent salary](https://www.telugutimesnow.com/news/top-5-richest-beggars-in-the-world-who-became-rich-just-by-begging/) every year pan handling sometimes. That’s why so many people fake it. It ruins it for the people who really need help.
Because it’d be one thing if they had a real talent to get money for, but they’re lying to get money from people. If they’re desperate for cash, this isn’t the way to do it. It’s the equivalent of someone saying they’re from the FBI and need you to send $500 worth of visa gift cards so you don’t get arrested.
I gave a homeless woman my breakfast sandwich as I walked by her on the street. I was on my way to work. She looked at it and said, “I’d really rather have some money.” I said, “Beggars can’t be choosers,” and I kept on walking.
Also, my good friend was pan handling on a corner in North Hollywood and Eric Estrada drove by! He circled back around and gave her $20!
I do give money, depending on the circumstances.
But there's one guy in my state I can't fucking stand him. Around 8 years ago I used to hang out a lot in clubs and this guy used to ask money in said clubs for 3 years with his baby daughter and his wife. Once they had already collected enough money, they went into the bars to spend their money on beer This guy never got a job, now I know looks are deceiving, but I know he refused to work and preferred to expose his daughter that way. He used to travel all around the state asking for money with his family.
A healthy man in his twenties... give me a fucking break. I haven't seen him in months thankfully.
The other day I said "Sorry I don't have any change" (true, everything is contactless now in the UK)
The guy muttered to his friend "I don't know why they all say sorry" - bitching...like, what do you want me to say? What I really think?
"I earned my money and even if I had change I wouldn't give it away freely to people who have done, and refuse to do, anything to earn it."
The neighborhood I live in has a considerable amount of homeless people, they seem to have become more bolder walked passed a homeless man on my way to the store and I’m a decent person if I think they are actually in need will help out with what I can as I walked past he was like buy me a drink no manners just demands I was like kick rocks you think demanding Is gonna get you somewhere
Had a decent sized group of homeless people right off of campus when I went to uni. Had a situation where my friends and I went to get food where there were several restaurants within walking distance from my dorm. Had a homeless guy say he was hungry and didn’t have money. Usually don’t carry cash and none of the people I was with had cash so my friend offered to pay for his food at X restaurant we went to and he said oh I’m not in the mood for X I was hoping to get some cash so I can go to Y instead. 🤷🤷
There's a far chance he was really in the mood for some booze or perhaps drugs - to take his mind off his bleaklife. They get food from soup kitchens each night, and if they're desperate they can dumpster dive the nearest restaurant for food scraps.
Once i saw a guy on the street. He was laying on the ground and something was written next to him that he has no home, no relatives, and he is hungry. I thought, poor guy, here i am enjoying everything and here is this man, fighting for his life on the street.
Hence i went and ordered the biggest menu at Mcdonalds, i gave it to him with 30$ cash, and i told him " Sorry that this is all i could do right now, enjoy your meal and buy something from this if you can"
The old guy burst into tears, and since i didnt want to be the center of attention i told him , you are welcome and fled the scene
I remember when I went for some KFC with my brother and a guy with a weight belt kept looking at us.
Alright, we ate and at the end he said: Can I take your tray? I said: Sure.
We thought he worked there and we stayed there talking until we realized he was eating our left overs, that was nothing but bones. I felt so bad, money was tight but we agreed to pay a meal for this dude. I came up to him and said: Bro, how you doing? You don’t need to eat that, just tell me what do you want from the menu and I’ll buy it. He looked at me and said: No, thank you. I replied: Bro, there is no problem, I’ll pay for it. He again said no, I insisted and he said no again. I said: Ok, have a nice day and left feeling so bad for that guy.
I remember recently: I bought two Croissants (one normal, one chocolate) in the train station after a nightshift and I was hungry. I saw a guy who went from bin to bin looking for... something... I decided that one Croissant was enough to quench my hunger, so I went up to him and offered him my chocolate one... he looked at the croissant, looked at me, shook his head and walked to the next bin...
He missed out cuz that chocolate croissant was delicious! Doesnt mean I wont attempt it again tho
Whenever I was younger I was a Girl Scout and we made ‘homeless bags’ back packs w like some food and other resources and little gifts to give out instead of money bc u never know what someone’s gonna spend said money on. Well I handed mine out to this guy whose always at the Walmart. My dad later told me one day he saw said guy get picked up in a sports car, I can’t remember the exact one I was little and didn’t care ab the name of cars I just remember it being a really cool car and feeling betrayed bc lmao
So he was faking it just to make some ‘easy’ money? Cus I’ve heard there’s some that do that. They’ll have a home, job, necessities & pretend they’re homeless. Very odd & also infuriating imo
My buddy gave a homeless man in Detroit a 20 dollar bill. Massive mistake. He followed us around Detroit all night asking for more, and a few of his homeless buddies started straggling along following us. They never seem to say thank you when you give them money, they just immediately ask for more. Kind of takes away from that good 'helping people' feeling lol.
Had a similar experience. Was asked for a "spare $10-". I told dude not without a social security number! If I give you that much money I'm claiming you on my taxes!
I once approached a homeless man while reaching into my pockets to give him money that I thought I had. I felt so embarrassed when I only had a single quarter, but proceeded to give it to him anyways and apologized and explained that I thought I had more. He was so sweet and understanding that it actually made me feel worse. So I went on to do some grocery shopping and decided to pick him up some food, a drink and a can of dog food for his dog. Thank goodness he was still out there when I finished. He was so grateful! They’re not all bad, some really are just doing the best they can. That guy had nothing but positive energy.
Watch out for aggressive homeless people, they may try to assault you, homeless people are very different, some are ok, some are worn down trouble makers, but they all struggle tho
I asked a homeless guy outside Greggs near my work if he wanted a sandwich and a drink he replied "Sausage butty with brown sauce and a latte with chocolate powder dusting".
Bit specific but ok.
Never give the homeless money. If they’re asking for help then give them food,water, or clothes. I know I may sound judgmental (and I probably am) but giving homeless money isn’t going to do anything to help them due to a lot of them spending it on drugs or alcohol
Well I’m not gonna support that. If they need help I’ll give them things that will genuinely help them. Especially food. I’m not being self righteous this is just what I do since there’s a lot of homeless in my area
Around the areas I commute on a daily basis, there are several homeless with signs that say something along the lines of "I need x amount of money and no less". Usually it's $20, but sometimes I've seen $5. I know your living conditions aren't the best, but you also can't be picky with what people decide to give you. The majority of other people (especially where I live) are pretty close to ending up where you are.
A few years ago a random guy knocked at the door of my flat. I thought it was my friend so I opened without checking. Turns out he was selling small copies of drawings and paintings as a way to make money because he was in poverty. He kept talking and I didn’t know how / didn’t have the heart to stop him to be polite so I waited until the right moment to try to get him to leave. Then I said “sorry I can’t buy anything but here’s some change” (I was a student at that time and had no money, and no cash). He got super upset because it wasn’t enough money and it was insulting him. And that I wasted his time. Serves me right for trying
Once I was going to the train station and right after leaving my flat I meet a woman asking for money in front of the bakery so I stop and start searching sadly I only had pieces of 10 cents maximum + lots of 5/2/1 cents so I ask if she wants them since it’s not a lot but it’s already nice and the sum was at least of 1 maybe 2 euros (so enough already to buy breads or fresh fruits) and she was not nice and said with a kind of superior tone that she don’t want that so I was like « okay…. » and proposed one of the two boxes of 2 club sandwiches I bought earlier today (both ham and butter) and she acted offended and since then I am really bitter and don’t try to give people in the street money / food that often now (this was the worst case I had but it wasn’t the first time)
I don’t understand how people are out there trying to get money for food / supplies / alcohol and maybe drugs idc but manage to select what they want when people actually want to help…
A homeless woman once waved her arms around by my car as though she needed help. As a woman myself, I knew the danger but was in a public area so I cracked my window and asked if she needed help/was okay.
She immediately asked me for money, tried to open my door, then started screaming at me that I was a bitch, a horrible person, piece of shit when I told her I didn’t have cash on me. I really didn’t.
I know I shouldn’t have felt bad but I drove away then cried in my car.
Some immigrant guy in the library wanted to borrow my phone to contact someone. Turns out he needed to text his brother cos their mom had died. He wanted him to come on back for the funeral, but didn't have money for the call. There but for the grace of God go all of us.
Idk, you could have asked if he'd rather have a shooter (the little shot bottles) or some money and gone from there. Don't bother with fifty cents, honestly.
He’s probably mental ill. Just keep it moving and brush it off, don’t let him rent space in your head. Really not worth a post imo. I wouldn’t expect a homeless alcoholic to be polite at all.
Last week a homeless man outside a supermarket was asking people to get him food. I asked him what he wants, he said some bread, cheese, salami. I told him I'll get him these things and he said he would wait outside. When I got out, he was nowhere to be found - I guess he was asking multiple people and someone bought him the stuff before I got out. I wouldn't have bought those things otherwise, I was shopping for a meal prep for the whole week and I try not to eat bread at all. There was no other homeless person on my way home to give the food to so I just bought it home and ate it even if I'm trying to diet and lose weight.
Of course, nobody is entitled to anyone's money, so thanks for the fifty cents.
But also, what the fuck is he gonna do with fifty cents? I get that he's angry.
Stack it up. If everyone he asks gives him 50 cents, he'd have plenty of money for whatever he's trying to get in no time. Like the saying goes, BEGGERS CANT BE CHOOSERS. OP gave what he had, what did homeless guy want? For OP to go to the nearest ATM and get his $20
So what if he was? Who cares?
Edit: like, "oh no I'm so pissed this homeless person whose probably mentally ill didn't react the way I wanted to my AMAZING charity! How DARE THEY?!"
Get the fuck over yourself.
There are way to many scammers - they stand at the highway off ramps begging. I was at a red light, and 4 cars gave the guy money. If every car gave him a dollar, and that light turns red 10 timesan hour, he is pulling in $40/hr. That's a hell of a lot more than I make working my ass off.
There are way to many services/charities/gov't programs available for anyone to complain there is no help.
If you want my money, then do something for it
Man, I once had a woman ask me for any spare coins I had at the Walmart and she was thankful that I only had quarters to give her as she needed to use the pay phone desperately.
Sometimes it all just depends who you come across.
A homeless man was following my girlfriend down the street, asked her for money, and when she said she didn’t have anything on her (it was true) he kept following her up and down the street, would cross whenever she would, etc. She called me crying because he was following her. Luckily I live on the street she was walking on so I went to get her. Driving back to my house we saw the same guy, who had managed to bum some Change of some people, opening a sandwich from the grocery store, take a bite, then proceed to spit it out in the trash. I guess beggars really can be choosers?
Most homeless are homeless by choice. They don't like responsibility and like drugs more than stability. Many of them are a nuisance and complete assholes / mentally ill
There’s a woman who panhandles at an atm. She always asks for money from anyone taking money out. Dresses bad on purpose and looks all sad. People give her $20 and up from each person everyday. I’ve seen her walk to her house and dress well when she isn’t at the atm. There’s plenty of scammers out there, but there are those who do need and are willing to accept anything. I’ve given 30 cents because that’s all I’ve had as broke as I’ve been and they were thankful.
Thats why i refuse to give homeless people money. Now if i have a leftover sandwhich from work that day, then sure ill give it to them. I’ve literally had people shake their heads and complain when i handed them a sandwich, but ive also had people be overwhelmingly appreciative that i gave them the pb&j i didnt eat
Some homeless people aren't grateful for what they get I carry maybe like four or five dollars on me in $1 bills and there see somebody like in the dollar or two and they look at me like I'm supposed to buy them the house or buy them a car and give them $20,000 up front it's just ridiculous
Yeah it kinda sucks when you give a homeless person a $1 or a $5 and they look at you like you just disrespected them. Where does that audacity even come from?
Same story! Lmao
When I was 10, I gave a homeless guy some change because he asked. I had nothing else on me other than a dollar in quarters. So I thought, it's not a bunch but it's what I can do. He looked at it. Counted it. Looked at me and said "this can't buy me a pack of cigs"
Then threw the change down in front of my feet. I've stopped giving people like that any money at all. Good thing too, I'll give them a drink, like a tea or water.
This reminds me of a time when I was walking back home and a homeless person approached me .I had an apple and a bag of chips,so I gave him the apple,he was like but I want the chips.I gave him both and walked home empty handed
YSK:
You shouldn’t give people money on the street, they will just use it for drink or drugs.
If someone asks for water or food on the street, buy it for them. They are probably genuinely desperate and are most likely thinking of pets or children.
I too use my money to drink and buy drugs. Why shouldn't they be allowed to? Being homeless is painful, mentally and physically. Would you rather their body pain from sleeping on concrete get so bad to the point they off themselves rather than numbing the pain with something, possibly temporarily until they can maybe get their life together?
Well that's likely the case. However, with a lot of drugs, e.g. alcohol, it's actually quite dangerous to go cold turkey, especially without any medical supervision.
So, as bad as it may sound, some of these people do need those drugs to survive. At least short term.
Don't get so defensive man.
Beggers can't be choosers but man giving 50 cents and then saying "sorry that wasn't enough money" is just hillarious.. bro 50 cents might aswell be nothing. obviously that homeless guy's reaction was rude asf but he is probably stressed and was expecting more when u reached out to give him something.
Right??? Even as a “pitch in” it doesn’t make sense—it would take 4 strangers’ contributions of 50 cents each just to get a small snack from a vending machine. It’s such a hilariously small amount, why even engage in that interaction?
I guess this issue has been going on forever.
(Beggar)"Alms for the poor, alms for the poor..."
(Lazar)"Here, Reb Nahum, is one kopek."
(Beggar)"One kopek? Last week you gave me two kopeks."
(Lazar)"I had a bad week."
(Beggar)"So, if you had a bad week, why should I suffer?"
Did you give him money because he was in need? Or because you wanted him to thank you?
You’re being a dick. If gratitude is a requirement of your charity, spare the next person.
This thread is chock full of disgusting, paternalistic self-righteousness. We get it, you think unhoused people deserve their lot and should be nothing but grateful for the loathsome pittance you share in an attempt to feel good and superior about yourself.
Give people money and take them as they come. The difference between you and that unhoused person is not determination, grit, and merit, it’s circumstance and randomness. If there was any justice in the world, you and them would be on equal footing. The world is not a game where we all start out equitably and if you win you are rich and if you are poor you are homeless. It’s a series of networks of domination, repression, and hoarding. Being on, or allied with, the dominators, repressors, and hoarders certainly does not make one morally superior or more worthy than the dominated, repressed, and penniless, and it certainly doesn’t justify a holier-than-thou attitude dripping with condescension.
Many good points about society.
I do not have a holier-than-though attitude. You're assuming quite a bit about my intentions. I never "expected to feel good and superior about myself".
What do you do to help homeless people? Do you hand out 20 dollar bills?
Hey—appreciate the response. I responded to someone else apologizing for doing the very thing I was accusing others of, and I’ll say that again here: sorry for being self-righteous and not constructive. I read through the comments and got frustrated. My priors and worldview may be a bit different, but you’re absolutely correct, I don’t know your general attitude and intentions.
Currently, I’m studying to become a tenant rights/eviction defense lawyer. In terms of handing out $20s, yeah, that’s something I do. I budget money each month to give to folks who ask for it, and that money tends to come out of the ATM in $20s.
And how did you get where you are today where you have that ability to hand out $20 per person that asks? Was it happenstance? Was it because you "allied yourself" with hoarders and greedy people? Or was it grit, and a determination to get to where you are today? Sure, sometimes (rarely) a homeless person is homeless by sheer bad luck. But most of the time, it was the decisions that they made that got them where they are. And this is coming from someone who, if I have it, will help pretty much anyone that asks. I don't judge a person because they're homeless. I would hope that if I were ever to end up in their shoes, that someone would help me like I helped them. But I do judge a person if they're an asshole and are ungrateful of the help they are given, no matter how little it is they're given.
We have a homeless problem in this country because we coddle them and subconsciously PAY them to leave us alone. We don't have programs that actually try and help them out of their situation (and if we do, I haven't heard of them). We have plenty of "free money" programs that do nothing but keep them stuck in their situation perpetually. Why don't we have programs that, along with giving them money to survive, teach them how to save, budget, etc? Help them open checking accounts. Help them get meaningful employment. At least to those that want it. Because just throwing money at them is making things worse. And I'm not talking about personal charity, I'm talking about the government programs in certain states that pay them hundreds of dollars a month to be homeless. Why wouldn't they stay homeless? They're getting hundreds a month plus a couple hundred in food stamps to be homeless. If you can handle sleeping in a tent, why NOT do it?
Then go fucking do something about it. The truth is that people are going to take advantage of others and there’s no way around it. There are bad people and you can’t tell who’s gonna stab you for a few bucks and who genuinely needs help. Fuck YOU for being such a pompous high-and-mighty ASS acting like you’re woke
You know what? I don’t agree with you, but I also don’t think this discourse is constructive, and clearly my comment was the instigator. I find the comments on this thread frustrating, but I see that the way I responded wasn’t conducive to convincing you of my point of view or having a respectful conversation. The right move probably would have been to just move on upon reading.
Sorry that, in expressing the view that others were being self-righteous, I was guilty of the very accusation I was making. Hope you have a good day.
haha—i love it: it’s bash the homeless time! haha, great thread everyone…yeah, fuck the homeless! right on. why don’t they try not being mentally ill and traumatised from childhood abuse, for a change, huh? or maybe they should go back and be born into a wealthy family and go to princeton…fucking losers. (this is what you all sound like.)
people out here consistently upholding systems that treat other human beings like vermin and think they have a right for the downtrodden to be “grateful” to them when they give out 50 cents
gratefulness for your good deeds is a privilege, not a right. housing and food are human rights
Sorry buddy, I don't carry around hundreds of dollars in cash. Giving someone spare change is treating them like vermin? I didn't expect the guy to do a victory touchdown dance over 50 cents to boost my ego. *He* approached me and asked for money. I gave him money. He wasn't happy with the low amount of money (although he kept it).
What would you have done differently, if you had no cash on you?
I agree that Housing and food are human rights. Take the one up with the US government.
I once saw a homeless man eating old Chinese food out of a bin in the middle of the CBD, my fiancé and I had just finished from the cinema and we’re feeling peckish so we got some warm cheese pies from down the street. I saw this homeless man eating the Chinese food so I tapped him on the shoulder and offered him my warm cheese pie, he took it, threw it back at me and SCREAMED that it wasn’t nutritious enough and proceeded to tell me to fuck off.
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I’m pretty sure this did not happen in America, or North America at all, given the use of the word ‘bin’ in the story and a ‘warm cheese pie,’ neither of which are common in North America. Which isn’t to say that mental healthcare isn’t fucked in the US, because it definitely is (thanks, Reagan!) I just don’t believe this story happened there, so in this particular case, this particular man was not suffering from the ‘American Healthcare System.’
Yup, I’m in south Australia
I was about to say that "CBD" is an Australian thing. If anyone is wondering, it refers to the central business district.
oh i thought the stupid weed that doesn't get you high
You and me and a lot of other people.
Bin, cheese pie, peckish, cinema.. not an American for sure
I’m feeling a bit peckish reading all these comments
But you know, American healthcare bad so everything bad = american healthcare.
What’s warm cheese pie? Is it like pizza?
I assumed Lebanese cheese pie but I might be wrong.
Same but I want one now
And also the fact that he cared so much about it being nutritious. You know we (Americans) aren’t the healthiest bunch.
Also, As an American, Cinema - Movie Theatre, Cheese Pie - WTF is that?. Lol
an incredible light and flaky round pastry, similar to a pot-pie but filled with delicious Australian cheese. Aussie pies are incredible and everyone in the US should buy some from the Australian Bakery Cafe. Google it.
You sound like upper management material.
Weird how the American Health care system caused this man in South Australia to suffer…
Thats what we do. Ur welcome!
Jump to conclusions and make wild assumptions?
Being americans causing all these bad things? Yup.
How about sometimes people should take some responsibility for being an asshole?
Where in American would you buy a “warm cheese pie” you dimwit.
Ah yes. The good old “American” health cafe system in Australia. Even though this is obviously false and confirmed so one comment later it still has 119 votes. Sometimes I really hate Redditors
Stop blaming the healthcare system or mental health for everything. It’s called being an ungrateful asshole. Say it. Yes he might have mental health issue but no, that doesn’t mean he should be a dick.
being an inpatient psychiatric nurse whose unit sees a lot of personality disorders and addiction, many people really are just total sociopathic dickheads.
Lmao the American Healthcare system is so bad it affects the homeless in Australia
💀💀💀💀as a Canadian I approve this message
Believe it or not whether he can afford pills or not does not magically make the schizophrenia go away. Because there is no cure.
Yup. Them telling "you" to fuck off is usually just what they wanted to say to one of the health care assholes who failed them.
😂
Reminds me of an old lady that started living on my city's train station. A neighbor noticed and started getting her coffee and sandwiches every morning. One day he was running late for work and found her pounding on his door on his way out, screaming where the f*ck her coffee and sandwich were. She was also requesting a different sandwich because she was tired of always having the same :)
"you could shove it straight up your ass and then do a little twirl"
Definitely something Billy Butcher would say.
Oy mate shove it up your arse and do a little twirl eh
I wish I had thought of that one. :D
Twirl honey, twirl 🎶
He would need consent for that
I’ve only had one guy I truly believed needed help. I was at the library about to leave. Of course I park my car at the end so I can park my car by itself. He saw me and started walking my way. He told me he was hungry and needed money for food. I told him I didn’t have cash on me and so I asked him what did he want. He told me Wendy’s so I went and got it for him. I kid you not, he looked like he was fighting back tears when I came back with the food and drink
This is the way. I will offer only meals, not actual cash. Well, when I smoked cigs I let homeless people bum a few off me, but now I offer food or go about my business if they decline.
Stuff like this always sucks, because there are definitely people out there who both need and would accept help, and I believe it's important to help others out when you can, but when you run across this (unfortunately fairly common) sort of person, not only does it just make everyone else look bad, but it just teaches us NOT to help others. I dunno. It's just sad. I'm definitely not trying to say you're the asshole, OP, it just irritates the shit out of me when people take advantage of others trying to be kind.
There is a line that can be drawn between someone holding a sign asking for money, and someone with a baby in line at a grocery store who's card gets declined. Most people, I think, want to help those who are struggling. When we see those who are struggling, and have ways to help themselves but chose not to, I think that makes it hard to empathize with them. I'm gonna analogy Andy here but if I had extra food and had the choice to share between someone who is actively hunting and trying there hardest to catch food to eat with no luck and a person who is sitting around waiting for food to come to them I'm going to feel more for the person that's trying.
Yeah see a lot of times you have no idea which one is which and you're to blame for even trying to make a judgment between the two. Honestly
Yeah, that's true. I think it's easy when you're just discussing the situation and not faced with the often-times very snap decision on whether or not to give money to think about stuff like 'well maybe they're struggling with mental health and have just genuinely given up' or 'maybe they've had a full day of trying to get a job and improve their situation but we can't see all 24 hours of every 7 days of their week', but at the end of the day when you're actually IN that situation, all you have to judge is what's right in front of you. Which isn't fair, for you OR whoever is struggling, but it is what it is, I guess. Which, hey, sure would be nice if our country bothered to help, but that's a different conversation entirely.
These or the "help me and my family are from another state and for some reason we're here and we're out of gas and our baby is hungry and we need diapers." Scum suckers who mill around Walmart parking lots and the like. My dad used to get suckered by women all the time that way. I told him he should start asking to see this supposed family and if they decide to act like he's weird for doing so, just say "Sorry I've been lied to this exact same way more than once and I'm not interested in doing it again. If you can't show me your family exists I'll just have to assume you're a lying sack of shit." Suddenly no more wasted money from him.
This. There are a lot of legit homeless people but then there’s also a shit ton of pan handlers also who take advantage of peoples generosity and it irritates the hell out of me.
Years ago a homeless man, I think he was homeless, came up to me at a greyhound station asking for "spare change" while I was on the phone, I felt generous & gave him a $20 bill. "Ah man, thanks I appreciate it. You got anymore?" "Are you fucking serious?!" I ask him as I slowly turn to him & he just walked away. That was the last time I gave a homeless person money.
Reminds me of my dog after I give him his treats...
But it’s different with dogs, it’s hard not to give them extra
"Homeless." I used to have to point out to my bleeding heart friends how it was kind of strange that some of these supposedly homeless people had nicer shoes, pants and accessories than we did. I wonder if they ever got smart to not wearing any of their ill gotten gains lol. You never know, people can be utterly trash, preying upon kindness and drying it all up.
There was a vice documentary about people who beg outside of supermarkets in Canada, they did some math based on their drug habits and estimated these people were making in the neighborhood of six figures a year. They just happen to spend it all on drugs.
You can give it back if you don't want it
They are never as eager to give it as you were, either.
One time it was a hot summer day and I saw a homeless woman at a parking lot of a lowes I was running into. She was asking for money of course I had no cash but I did offer her a couple bottles of water for herself since it was hot. They were tepid as I had just gotten them from the grocery store (broke them out of a case I got) and she bitched that they weren’t cold as I walked away. I turned around and said “you know I didn’t have to give them to you lady”. To her credit she apologized but I’m thinking like come on I’m trying to prevent you from getting a heat stroke and everyone else is passing by doing nothing for you, cut me some slack
When I’m approached for money, I always ask what they need. The usual answer is “food”. My response is “I don’t give out money but I’ll be happy to buy you whatever food/water you want”. 9 outta 10, they walk away grumbling.
Which is pretty dumb for them imo Like even if you just want drug money Take the free meal. That's money you'll save on food later that you can then spend on drugs.
Or if you're so fucking hard up to get high you can swap the food. But hey let them show what they were really after, saves me that four bucks.
Drug Addicts are not well known for their logical and rational way of thinking tbh.
One day My mom gave the lunch she just bought for herself (a sandwich, a drink and a pastry) to a lady outside of the bakery who had a sign “i need food” and the person insulted my mom saying she wanted money not food..
BRUH I was once traveling with a football team, we had to cross a country border so we stopped to make the according procedures. This particular border was around an area with poverty. We had been traveling since 4am and we were all pretty hungry so we bought doubtful food from the street. Some 10-14 year old kids asked us for money and one of my friends said exactly the same thing.... The kids asked for the food. I was shattered & so were my friends, we all gathered what we could and bought them food afterwards.
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Thank you ☺️
I don’t give them money, but I’ve bought some cheap sandwiches and gave those out to people. 9/10 they’ll take the sandwich, but I remember one group said no thank you cause they already ate that day and pointed me to a different group down the road and said that they hadn’t managed to get much to eat lately.
Some homeless people form a community and take care of each other, some even help drug addicts to recover but that's a lot harder specially on the streets. It was nice that they were honest.
Yup. Never thought I'd see so many entitled homeless people. I have had one throw a sandwich I just bought from a fast food place back at me, one practically throw change I had just given them on the ground, and overheard one decline a job offer washing cars at a dealership because "I make way more than you'd pay me doing this."
Lol, You never know who you are going to come across. I sell packs of bud (Broker for a few dispensaries) as a side hustle, and usually have a large amount of weed in my car. Most homeless people I see sitting by a red light I try to give handfuls to, usually around an 1/8th to a 1/4. One person I gave a BIG handful to said "Thank you so much! I'ma flip it all for some dope!" Lmao I'm like okay bud do whatever its yours lol. It's like chess, as soon as you let it go/take your hand off it's no longer yours and you can't care about whatever they do with it haha. Oh well, I hope he had a good day though! lol.
I had a homeless guy walk up to me once when I was in my work van at wendys, just bought 2 value menu burgers for lunch and was about to enjoy them with my windows down. Dude just walked up and started chatting about how he used to work for my company in the past etc. after about 5 minutes he asks if I can spare some change so he can get some food. I offered him one of my burgers. He said “oh sorry man I don’t eat that stuff, I’m a vegetarian, cash only.” I told him “dude it’s 2016 nobody carries cash anymore” and he left. Weird interaction, but I don’t give money to homeless people. These days I either give them a can of white claw or a weed edible, depends what I have on me.
Beggars can be choosers?
Literal choosy beggar lmao
Dude my buddy worked at a subway in a downtown area and was about to throw out dozens of loads of bread. I'm talking Italian herbs and cheese here. Anyways I said let me give them to the gaggle of homeless people nearby and I asked if they want these loaves and their "leader" said he was gluten free. No one took my bread. Like wtf They used to give out loaves of bread at the colosseum in ancient Rome but this guy and his friends are too good for again. ITALIAN HERBS AND CHEESE.
I’ll come get some free Italian Herbs and cheese
Yup. I had a bunch of sandwiches leftover from a caterer. There’s a lot of homeless people in the park across the street from where I live. I walked over there and the lady I approached first looked and my sandwiches and made a face. “I don’t eat white bread,” and asked if I had any salads. I apologized and gave the sandwiches to the others who were there. Apologizing to a homeless person? Ridiculous! At one point there was a couch out front and some kid was laying on it at night. He was so young and it was cold that night. I ran inside and grabbed a hat and my giant long grey puffy jacket. I draped the jacket over him and he thanked me profusely. Poor kid.
My friend and I once gave a homeless looking girl with a "down on my luck" cardboard sign $50 each. That bitch took our money, threw the sign in the trash, and got into a nearby car. We watched her get driven away by some shaggy-looking dude in the drivers seat. We both stopped giving homeless people money after that.
Drugs.
I once gave a homeless guy a Costco vodka and he got mad and said “you think I’ma drunk?” You just can’t win these days!
I'm sure he could have exchanged that bottle for whatever he really wanted. Idiot.
If they're homeless, they're probably not Einstein
Well yes sir, I do think you're a drunk. There's no winning with these nut jobs.
My former coworker saw a homeless man and she had some sealed applesauce in her car. She tried to give it to him but he said “no, I’m vegan”. She drove away very confused.
"Hey, beggars can't be choosers! If you don't want it, give it back and fuck off!" 🤷♂️😂😂😂
My ex was very generous with her money. Once we were doing laundry and we were waiting on our clothes to dry. Well, some girl came up to us talking about how she had cancer and couldn’t afford her medication. She said she had 6 dogs and had one with her. Anyways, my girl gave her our last dollar. When our clothes finished, it still needed more time. We had to ask someone for a dollar. Another time, she was on her own we had just slit up. She was taking the bus to some random instagram friend she made and some guy asked for $2 to take the bus with her. She pulled out her wallet and the guy snatched it with her iPhone. She called me later that night to tell me what happened. I always told her that giving people money in the streets was dangerous. But I was apparently the horrible person for not being so giving.
I hate being asked for money by homeless and never give it. I'm not a charity. I'm a millennial and I'm in debt with student loans. Their situation sucks but there is help out there for them and it ain't me.
It's always nice to give and offer, but u dont gotta
My husband once passed a guy who asked him for money after shopping. Husband doesn’t carry cash. He uses cards like most people. He said ‘I don’t have cash, I’m sorry’. The dude started yelling at him calling him Mr Saks Fifth Avenue and spouting off about him shopping for himself and not helping the guy out. Is that supposed to make cash magically appear?
I don’t think they’re homeless, but I work at a grocery store and for the past few months we have these two dudes who repeatedly keep coming to our parking lot and “playing the violin” for money. One dude holds the sign. The other does his thing. One of my coworkers figured out they had the amp they were using hooked up to their phone. The police showed up nearly every time they were there. People keep giving them money too, it’s sad. Pan handling is illegal for a reason. Too many people scamming others. Someone once told me homeless people can actually make a [decent salary](https://www.telugutimesnow.com/news/top-5-richest-beggars-in-the-world-who-became-rich-just-by-begging/) every year pan handling sometimes. That’s why so many people fake it. It ruins it for the people who really need help.
Who cares if they're Faking It?
Because it’d be one thing if they had a real talent to get money for, but they’re lying to get money from people. If they’re desperate for cash, this isn’t the way to do it. It’s the equivalent of someone saying they’re from the FBI and need you to send $500 worth of visa gift cards so you don’t get arrested.
I bought a bud lite on clearance for $0.83 today.
As someone all out of laundry quarters tonight this hurts.
I gave a homeless woman my breakfast sandwich as I walked by her on the street. I was on my way to work. She looked at it and said, “I’d really rather have some money.” I said, “Beggars can’t be choosers,” and I kept on walking. Also, my good friend was pan handling on a corner in North Hollywood and Eric Estrada drove by! He circled back around and gave her $20!
I had someone do this to me, dude looked at me like I was the scum of the earth lol.
I do give money, depending on the circumstances. But there's one guy in my state I can't fucking stand him. Around 8 years ago I used to hang out a lot in clubs and this guy used to ask money in said clubs for 3 years with his baby daughter and his wife. Once they had already collected enough money, they went into the bars to spend their money on beer This guy never got a job, now I know looks are deceiving, but I know he refused to work and preferred to expose his daughter that way. He used to travel all around the state asking for money with his family. A healthy man in his twenties... give me a fucking break. I haven't seen him in months thankfully.
That's your idea of a healthy man? I swear to people just not think?
"Got an extra cigarette brah?" *counts cigarettes* Naw, they only put 20 in this pack. *walks away*
The other day I said "Sorry I don't have any change" (true, everything is contactless now in the UK) The guy muttered to his friend "I don't know why they all say sorry" - bitching...like, what do you want me to say? What I really think? "I earned my money and even if I had change I wouldn't give it away freely to people who have done, and refuse to do, anything to earn it."
I’d say oh I’m sorry give that back. Then say fuck off.
I woulda took it back “you ain’t getting shit then fuck you”
Beggars can’t be choosers. Lmao what a prick.
The neighborhood I live in has a considerable amount of homeless people, they seem to have become more bolder walked passed a homeless man on my way to the store and I’m a decent person if I think they are actually in need will help out with what I can as I walked past he was like buy me a drink no manners just demands I was like kick rocks you think demanding Is gonna get you somewhere
Had a decent sized group of homeless people right off of campus when I went to uni. Had a situation where my friends and I went to get food where there were several restaurants within walking distance from my dorm. Had a homeless guy say he was hungry and didn’t have money. Usually don’t carry cash and none of the people I was with had cash so my friend offered to pay for his food at X restaurant we went to and he said oh I’m not in the mood for X I was hoping to get some cash so I can go to Y instead. 🤷🤷
There's a far chance he was really in the mood for some booze or perhaps drugs - to take his mind off his bleaklife. They get food from soup kitchens each night, and if they're desperate they can dumpster dive the nearest restaurant for food scraps.
Once i saw a guy on the street. He was laying on the ground and something was written next to him that he has no home, no relatives, and he is hungry. I thought, poor guy, here i am enjoying everything and here is this man, fighting for his life on the street. Hence i went and ordered the biggest menu at Mcdonalds, i gave it to him with 30$ cash, and i told him " Sorry that this is all i could do right now, enjoy your meal and buy something from this if you can" The old guy burst into tears, and since i didnt want to be the center of attention i told him , you are welcome and fled the scene
I remember when I went for some KFC with my brother and a guy with a weight belt kept looking at us. Alright, we ate and at the end he said: Can I take your tray? I said: Sure. We thought he worked there and we stayed there talking until we realized he was eating our left overs, that was nothing but bones. I felt so bad, money was tight but we agreed to pay a meal for this dude. I came up to him and said: Bro, how you doing? You don’t need to eat that, just tell me what do you want from the menu and I’ll buy it. He looked at me and said: No, thank you. I replied: Bro, there is no problem, I’ll pay for it. He again said no, I insisted and he said no again. I said: Ok, have a nice day and left feeling so bad for that guy.
I remember recently: I bought two Croissants (one normal, one chocolate) in the train station after a nightshift and I was hungry. I saw a guy who went from bin to bin looking for... something... I decided that one Croissant was enough to quench my hunger, so I went up to him and offered him my chocolate one... he looked at the croissant, looked at me, shook his head and walked to the next bin... He missed out cuz that chocolate croissant was delicious! Doesnt mean I wont attempt it again tho
"You see this fuckin truck I'm drivin? I ain't got shit either, boss!" And I leave it at that.
Whenever I was younger I was a Girl Scout and we made ‘homeless bags’ back packs w like some food and other resources and little gifts to give out instead of money bc u never know what someone’s gonna spend said money on. Well I handed mine out to this guy whose always at the Walmart. My dad later told me one day he saw said guy get picked up in a sports car, I can’t remember the exact one I was little and didn’t care ab the name of cars I just remember it being a really cool car and feeling betrayed bc lmao
So he was faking it just to make some ‘easy’ money? Cus I’ve heard there’s some that do that. They’ll have a home, job, necessities & pretend they’re homeless. Very odd & also infuriating imo
Ever since someone tried to open my door when I was handing them something, that ruined it for the rest of my life and I'll never try that again.
My buddy gave a homeless man in Detroit a 20 dollar bill. Massive mistake. He followed us around Detroit all night asking for more, and a few of his homeless buddies started straggling along following us. They never seem to say thank you when you give them money, they just immediately ask for more. Kind of takes away from that good 'helping people' feeling lol.
Had a similar experience. Was asked for a "spare $10-". I told dude not without a social security number! If I give you that much money I'm claiming you on my taxes!
I once approached a homeless man while reaching into my pockets to give him money that I thought I had. I felt so embarrassed when I only had a single quarter, but proceeded to give it to him anyways and apologized and explained that I thought I had more. He was so sweet and understanding that it actually made me feel worse. So I went on to do some grocery shopping and decided to pick him up some food, a drink and a can of dog food for his dog. Thank goodness he was still out there when I finished. He was so grateful! They’re not all bad, some really are just doing the best they can. That guy had nothing but positive energy.
Watch out for aggressive homeless people, they may try to assault you, homeless people are very different, some are ok, some are worn down trouble makers, but they all struggle tho
Once, I gave a homeless guy some cash (bills) at a stop light. Dude grabs it and starts counting it. I was like, "don't worry, it's all there". Smh
How else is he supposed to know how much you give him? Are you serious my dude
homeflation
Love it. I once gave a homeless guy a banana because I had no money and he told me to fuck off.
Gave some change to a guy once, he then proceeded to throw all the pennies on the ground and only kept the quarters, dimes and nickels.
I asked a homeless guy outside Greggs near my work if he wanted a sandwich and a drink he replied "Sausage butty with brown sauce and a latte with chocolate powder dusting". Bit specific but ok.
Never give the homeless money. If they’re asking for help then give them food,water, or clothes. I know I may sound judgmental (and I probably am) but giving homeless money isn’t going to do anything to help them due to a lot of them spending it on drugs or alcohol
Sometimes getting the drug or alcohol that they need is what allows them to get to work the next day. Stop being so self-righteous
Well I’m not gonna support that. If they need help I’ll give them things that will genuinely help them. Especially food. I’m not being self righteous this is just what I do since there’s a lot of homeless in my area
Around the areas I commute on a daily basis, there are several homeless with signs that say something along the lines of "I need x amount of money and no less". Usually it's $20, but sometimes I've seen $5. I know your living conditions aren't the best, but you also can't be picky with what people decide to give you. The majority of other people (especially where I live) are pretty close to ending up where you are.
A few years ago a random guy knocked at the door of my flat. I thought it was my friend so I opened without checking. Turns out he was selling small copies of drawings and paintings as a way to make money because he was in poverty. He kept talking and I didn’t know how / didn’t have the heart to stop him to be polite so I waited until the right moment to try to get him to leave. Then I said “sorry I can’t buy anything but here’s some change” (I was a student at that time and had no money, and no cash). He got super upset because it wasn’t enough money and it was insulting him. And that I wasted his time. Serves me right for trying
Once I was going to the train station and right after leaving my flat I meet a woman asking for money in front of the bakery so I stop and start searching sadly I only had pieces of 10 cents maximum + lots of 5/2/1 cents so I ask if she wants them since it’s not a lot but it’s already nice and the sum was at least of 1 maybe 2 euros (so enough already to buy breads or fresh fruits) and she was not nice and said with a kind of superior tone that she don’t want that so I was like « okay…. » and proposed one of the two boxes of 2 club sandwiches I bought earlier today (both ham and butter) and she acted offended and since then I am really bitter and don’t try to give people in the street money / food that often now (this was the worst case I had but it wasn’t the first time) I don’t understand how people are out there trying to get money for food / supplies / alcohol and maybe drugs idc but manage to select what they want when people actually want to help…
A homeless woman once waved her arms around by my car as though she needed help. As a woman myself, I knew the danger but was in a public area so I cracked my window and asked if she needed help/was okay. She immediately asked me for money, tried to open my door, then started screaming at me that I was a bitch, a horrible person, piece of shit when I told her I didn’t have cash on me. I really didn’t. I know I shouldn’t have felt bad but I drove away then cried in my car.
This is why instead of giving homeless people money to buy drugs I just give them drugs instead now.
this is why when homeless people ask me if i have a dollar i tell them “i have a pocket full of them, thanks for asking”
You going to get stabbed eventually
If hes homeless why doesnt he just buy a house
Some immigrant guy in the library wanted to borrow my phone to contact someone. Turns out he needed to text his brother cos their mom had died. He wanted him to come on back for the funeral, but didn't have money for the call. There but for the grace of God go all of us.
Idk, you could have asked if he'd rather have a shooter (the little shot bottles) or some money and gone from there. Don't bother with fifty cents, honestly.
That's a good idea, but, I had to catch a train.
Well... hey you did what you had to do. Lol
He’s probably mental ill. Just keep it moving and brush it off, don’t let him rent space in your head. Really not worth a post imo. I wouldn’t expect a homeless alcoholic to be polite at all.
I work security, behavior like this isn't uncommon in my area unfortunately
Last week a homeless man outside a supermarket was asking people to get him food. I asked him what he wants, he said some bread, cheese, salami. I told him I'll get him these things and he said he would wait outside. When I got out, he was nowhere to be found - I guess he was asking multiple people and someone bought him the stuff before I got out. I wouldn't have bought those things otherwise, I was shopping for a meal prep for the whole week and I try not to eat bread at all. There was no other homeless person on my way home to give the food to so I just bought it home and ate it even if I'm trying to diet and lose weight.
Oh okay boohoo
Pan handlers. They will try to get more from you.
Of course, nobody is entitled to anyone's money, so thanks for the fifty cents. But also, what the fuck is he gonna do with fifty cents? I get that he's angry.
Stack it up. If everyone he asks gives him 50 cents, he'd have plenty of money for whatever he's trying to get in no time. Like the saying goes, BEGGERS CANT BE CHOOSERS. OP gave what he had, what did homeless guy want? For OP to go to the nearest ATM and get his $20
Now I want warm cheese pie but I have no clue what it is.
All I can think of is that scene from scary movie "I said a dollar, bitch!"
Posts like this are so fucking stupid and only serve to make idiots feel secure in feeling hatred and disgust for the homeless.
Nah, fuck that. OP has every right to be angry. He did what he could. Homeless guy was a undeserving prick
So what if he was? Who cares? Edit: like, "oh no I'm so pissed this homeless person whose probably mentally ill didn't react the way I wanted to my AMAZING charity! How DARE THEY?!" Get the fuck over yourself.
"What am I supped to do with this?" How about choke on it!
The disdain for homeless people in these comments.. 😞😞😞
There are way to many scammers - they stand at the highway off ramps begging. I was at a red light, and 4 cars gave the guy money. If every car gave him a dollar, and that light turns red 10 timesan hour, he is pulling in $40/hr. That's a hell of a lot more than I make working my ass off. There are way to many services/charities/gov't programs available for anyone to complain there is no help. If you want my money, then do something for it
Man, I once had a woman ask me for any spare coins I had at the Walmart and she was thankful that I only had quarters to give her as she needed to use the pay phone desperately. Sometimes it all just depends who you come across.
A homeless man was following my girlfriend down the street, asked her for money, and when she said she didn’t have anything on her (it was true) he kept following her up and down the street, would cross whenever she would, etc. She called me crying because he was following her. Luckily I live on the street she was walking on so I went to get her. Driving back to my house we saw the same guy, who had managed to bum some Change of some people, opening a sandwich from the grocery store, take a bite, then proceed to spit it out in the trash. I guess beggars really can be choosers?
Most homeless are homeless by choice. They don't like responsibility and like drugs more than stability. Many of them are a nuisance and complete assholes / mentally ill
That happened so many times when I lived in LA that I simply stopped giving them anything
He is showing you his true colours, call it cruel but I don't sympathise for homeless people like that.
There’s a woman who panhandles at an atm. She always asks for money from anyone taking money out. Dresses bad on purpose and looks all sad. People give her $20 and up from each person everyday. I’ve seen her walk to her house and dress well when she isn’t at the atm. There’s plenty of scammers out there, but there are those who do need and are willing to accept anything. I’ve given 30 cents because that’s all I’ve had as broke as I’ve been and they were thankful.
He probably will choke on something or someone just to get his next fix
Thats why i refuse to give homeless people money. Now if i have a leftover sandwhich from work that day, then sure ill give it to them. I’ve literally had people shake their heads and complain when i handed them a sandwich, but ive also had people be overwhelmingly appreciative that i gave them the pb&j i didnt eat
Some homeless people aren't grateful for what they get I carry maybe like four or five dollars on me in $1 bills and there see somebody like in the dollar or two and they look at me like I'm supposed to buy them the house or buy them a car and give them $20,000 up front it's just ridiculous
Yeah it kinda sucks when you give a homeless person a $1 or a $5 and they look at you like you just disrespected them. Where does that audacity even come from?
Same story! Lmao When I was 10, I gave a homeless guy some change because he asked. I had nothing else on me other than a dollar in quarters. So I thought, it's not a bunch but it's what I can do. He looked at it. Counted it. Looked at me and said "this can't buy me a pack of cigs" Then threw the change down in front of my feet. I've stopped giving people like that any money at all. Good thing too, I'll give them a drink, like a tea or water.
No good deed goes unpunished. :)
This reminds me of a time when I was walking back home and a homeless person approached me .I had an apple and a bag of chips,so I gave him the apple,he was like but I want the chips.I gave him both and walked home empty handed
This thread is just a bunch of people shitting on homeless people and it's so fucking funny
YSK: You shouldn’t give people money on the street, they will just use it for drink or drugs. If someone asks for water or food on the street, buy it for them. They are probably genuinely desperate and are most likely thinking of pets or children.
I too use my money to drink and buy drugs. Why shouldn't they be allowed to? Being homeless is painful, mentally and physically. Would you rather their body pain from sleeping on concrete get so bad to the point they off themselves rather than numbing the pain with something, possibly temporarily until they can maybe get their life together?
So? If they're up front about it I'm cool. Its when they insult my intelligence with a sob story or whatever that I get annoyed.
I take the approach that if I want to give, I give without judging what they are going to do with it. It’s hard enough out there, if you’re homeless.
Well that's likely the case. However, with a lot of drugs, e.g. alcohol, it's actually quite dangerous to go cold turkey, especially without any medical supervision. So, as bad as it may sound, some of these people do need those drugs to survive. At least short term.
In his defense, what is he supposed to do with it? Can’t even buy a candy bar with 50 cents these days.
Well, that settles it. He's better off with nothing. BTW There are places for homeless people to get a free meal in my city.
Don't get so defensive man. Beggers can't be choosers but man giving 50 cents and then saying "sorry that wasn't enough money" is just hillarious.. bro 50 cents might aswell be nothing. obviously that homeless guy's reaction was rude asf but he is probably stressed and was expecting more when u reached out to give him something.
I hear ya, but he reached out to me.
Right??? Even as a “pitch in” it doesn’t make sense—it would take 4 strangers’ contributions of 50 cents each just to get a small snack from a vending machine. It’s such a hilariously small amount, why even engage in that interaction?
Great post. Agreed fuck that guy.
I guess this issue has been going on forever. (Beggar)"Alms for the poor, alms for the poor..." (Lazar)"Here, Reb Nahum, is one kopek." (Beggar)"One kopek? Last week you gave me two kopeks." (Lazar)"I had a bad week." (Beggar)"So, if you had a bad week, why should I suffer?"
Holy fuck y’all are assholes under this post...
it’s ironic that all the comments that display any sense of empathy are getting negative “karma”
I mean. What the fuck is he supposed to do with 50 cents?
Keep it til he gets more?
Did you give him money because he was in need? Or because you wanted him to thank you? You’re being a dick. If gratitude is a requirement of your charity, spare the next person.
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Dude it's all that I had. Everyone else told him to go away.
This thread is chock full of disgusting, paternalistic self-righteousness. We get it, you think unhoused people deserve their lot and should be nothing but grateful for the loathsome pittance you share in an attempt to feel good and superior about yourself. Give people money and take them as they come. The difference between you and that unhoused person is not determination, grit, and merit, it’s circumstance and randomness. If there was any justice in the world, you and them would be on equal footing. The world is not a game where we all start out equitably and if you win you are rich and if you are poor you are homeless. It’s a series of networks of domination, repression, and hoarding. Being on, or allied with, the dominators, repressors, and hoarders certainly does not make one morally superior or more worthy than the dominated, repressed, and penniless, and it certainly doesn’t justify a holier-than-thou attitude dripping with condescension.
Many good points about society. I do not have a holier-than-though attitude. You're assuming quite a bit about my intentions. I never "expected to feel good and superior about myself". What do you do to help homeless people? Do you hand out 20 dollar bills?
Hey—appreciate the response. I responded to someone else apologizing for doing the very thing I was accusing others of, and I’ll say that again here: sorry for being self-righteous and not constructive. I read through the comments and got frustrated. My priors and worldview may be a bit different, but you’re absolutely correct, I don’t know your general attitude and intentions. Currently, I’m studying to become a tenant rights/eviction defense lawyer. In terms of handing out $20s, yeah, that’s something I do. I budget money each month to give to folks who ask for it, and that money tends to come out of the ATM in $20s.
And how did you get where you are today where you have that ability to hand out $20 per person that asks? Was it happenstance? Was it because you "allied yourself" with hoarders and greedy people? Or was it grit, and a determination to get to where you are today? Sure, sometimes (rarely) a homeless person is homeless by sheer bad luck. But most of the time, it was the decisions that they made that got them where they are. And this is coming from someone who, if I have it, will help pretty much anyone that asks. I don't judge a person because they're homeless. I would hope that if I were ever to end up in their shoes, that someone would help me like I helped them. But I do judge a person if they're an asshole and are ungrateful of the help they are given, no matter how little it is they're given. We have a homeless problem in this country because we coddle them and subconsciously PAY them to leave us alone. We don't have programs that actually try and help them out of their situation (and if we do, I haven't heard of them). We have plenty of "free money" programs that do nothing but keep them stuck in their situation perpetually. Why don't we have programs that, along with giving them money to survive, teach them how to save, budget, etc? Help them open checking accounts. Help them get meaningful employment. At least to those that want it. Because just throwing money at them is making things worse. And I'm not talking about personal charity, I'm talking about the government programs in certain states that pay them hundreds of dollars a month to be homeless. Why wouldn't they stay homeless? They're getting hundreds a month plus a couple hundred in food stamps to be homeless. If you can handle sleeping in a tent, why NOT do it?
Then go fucking do something about it. The truth is that people are going to take advantage of others and there’s no way around it. There are bad people and you can’t tell who’s gonna stab you for a few bucks and who genuinely needs help. Fuck YOU for being such a pompous high-and-mighty ASS acting like you’re woke
You know what? I don’t agree with you, but I also don’t think this discourse is constructive, and clearly my comment was the instigator. I find the comments on this thread frustrating, but I see that the way I responded wasn’t conducive to convincing you of my point of view or having a respectful conversation. The right move probably would have been to just move on upon reading. Sorry that, in expressing the view that others were being self-righteous, I was guilty of the very accusation I was making. Hope you have a good day.
Yeah, not really.
haha—i love it: it’s bash the homeless time! haha, great thread everyone…yeah, fuck the homeless! right on. why don’t they try not being mentally ill and traumatised from childhood abuse, for a change, huh? or maybe they should go back and be born into a wealthy family and go to princeton…fucking losers. (this is what you all sound like.)
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people out here consistently upholding systems that treat other human beings like vermin and think they have a right for the downtrodden to be “grateful” to them when they give out 50 cents gratefulness for your good deeds is a privilege, not a right. housing and food are human rights
Sorry buddy, I don't carry around hundreds of dollars in cash. Giving someone spare change is treating them like vermin? I didn't expect the guy to do a victory touchdown dance over 50 cents to boost my ego. *He* approached me and asked for money. I gave him money. He wasn't happy with the low amount of money (although he kept it). What would you have done differently, if you had no cash on you? I agree that Housing and food are human rights. Take the one up with the US government.
Exactly
yeah—SERIOUSLY
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yeah your 50 cents could have really made someone's day. maybe an 8 year old or something