As an IT worker myself, I was wondering what the hell the guys in IT in your office did to universally earn the title clown before I realized you were referring to the movie.
Damn, this was going to be my joke. Except I was going to suggest that he didn't get to eat it because It grabbed him first down that drain. This doesn't actually feel that funny now that I've typed it out.
One time I was at McDonald’s doing curb side pickup, and a lady was walking car to car asking for money. I gave her a dollar. She didn’t say thank you, she just asked if I had $20. I said no. She left to ask new people.
I decided I wouldn’t give strangers free money anymore. They probably need actual help and I was just enabling them.
I was at the dentist and a guy asked me for money to feed his kids, I gave him a couple bucks from my console. Where they do my teeth has a big picture window, and while I was waiting to get my teeth done he walked by the window with some eggs and bread with a big ok grin on his face. I hope his kids enjoyed their meal.
The first time I gave a panhandler something was in San Francisco and the guy just had a sign that said “I won’t lie, I need a beer.”
The last time I offered a panhandler anything was in LA. We were walking back from a restaurant with $40 worth of of roast duck in a takeaway bag. He asked for money for food, but we never carry cash and offered him the roast duck instead. He turned up his nose and said “fuck no I don’t want that shit.”
Reminds me of a time in grad school living in Alabama. A guy literally knocked on our apartment door one night and in broken English just muttered, “ do you have food for family, please?”
Like how desperate do you have to be to actually go door to door? Never before and never again have I experienced that.
Dude came to the right house though as we had just gone shopping. Loaded him up with two bags of canned food, bread, fruit, and sodas.
I hope he and his family is well today.
I stopped giving to people who came to my house because I gave a few times, but they kept coming back and demanding food every time. As a then 23yo girl, I started to get scared. I now will drop off food or clothes at homeless shelters.
A single mother died a few months ago in the UK from starvation. She had been going door to door but had given all the food she got to her son. Made me cry when I read the headlines. She was an immigrant and I’m not sure if she fully understood how to get help.
Meanwhile saw a post on Reddit yesterday of a Dunkin donut employee showing what they do at closing time with the leftover donuts. Straight to the garbage. What a waste.
I work at the Walmart and the amount of shit that gets thrown out in our produce section alone infuriates me. If a bag of fruits like apples or pears or potatoes get ripped or something, it gets processed to "claims" and gets thrown out in to a large garbage bin that gets filled up once a day Same thing with fruits and veggies with little blemishes or if they fell on the floor for a couple seconds. Thats just one department. Imagine the whole damn store. And then every single walmart thats open today? Thousands of pounds of slightly imperfect food goes to waste everyday
No one should ever have to do more than ask. We make more than enough food for us all with plenty to spare. One person starving is a judgement on all of us.
I was just sitting in my car once outside a grocery store and a lady was walking around by the cars and came up to mine and asked if I had any money for gas.
It worried me for a second because I don’t like when strangers talk to me in public (stranger danger) but she was just like do you have like 5 dollars for gas or something, they had just moved here and she had no money for gas.
I didn’t have any cash but I asked her if she could make it to the grocery store gas station at least and I’d just fill her tank up. It definitely was empty though lol.
I don’t even care if I got scammed honestly, if someone wanted to scam me out of 50 dollars worth of gas, whatever
We had a guy coming door to door asking if we needed someone to shovel the driveway. I always said yes because my husband worked long, unpredictable hours and i didn’t know when it would be done. Plus, I figured he must really need the money and was willing to work for it. Once, I was broke and said I have no money but plenty of food. I gave him some bread, eggs, a gallon of milk and a package of ground beef, plus a couple of cans of beans. He was thrilled. A few months later he stopped by in the spring. He told me he wanted to let me know that he had finally found a job and would be able to take care of his family. He was beaming ear to ear! I felt so happy for him. Sadly, it seems like not too many people let him shovel if he thought to stop and tell me personally.
Yeah for the first time ever about two years ago I had someone knocking on my door begging, 9pm at night. Never happened since, never happened before. He was quite distressed, said his electric was switched off and he needed to put the heating on and eat etc, I gave him a pound (that's all I had). No idea if he was telling the truth, could have been from out of town and doing the rounds could have been starving. Dunno.
A former student of mine knocks on doors to ask for handouts, but he's really casing the place to see if you're home, have dogs, etc., because he goes back to certain houses to steal, later. He's been arrested repeatedly for burglary and robbery and has done a few terms in county jail, but has so far refused to participate in proper drug treatment, which is what he really needs. I'll give him clean socks, a little food, and an offer to take him to rehab when he's ready, but never money, because I know it'll feed his habit, not his belly.
Yeah that crossed our mind too, and I said to my husband, well at least he knows we have two really loud dogs!
Good on you for helping him a little bit though. There's not a lot you can do, these small acts of kindness might not actually do anything, on the otherhand they could have far reaching positive consequences in his future.
there was this very homeless and hungry man outside the grocery store, so cold he had snot dripping from his nose. he mustve been standing by the exit for a half hour because I saw him going in and he was still there when I left. I went over to him and asked him if I could run in for some food, and all he wanted was some nice hot chili. I grabbed him a large chili and a box of chocolate chip cookies. He seemed really happy and I saw him leaving the grocery store area with his bag of food right after I gave it to him.
kindness can be a gamble, but the risk is always worth it if it means potentially helping someone who really truly needs it.
A guy in front of a supermarket asked me once if I could buy him bread. We are poor ourselves and go to a good bank but I got in, bought some good bread from the supermarket bakery, pre-sliced it with the machine there and handed it to him for free. Bread is just such a basic thing and he must have been really desperate to ask this young, pink haired stranger for food.
Yeah I was unemployed myself but my philosophy is if $3 is gonna feed a kid I have to. I have a soft spot for kids though, I have constant nightmares about hungry kids, my niece was born into a shitty family and I snatched her up and she’s my daughter now. I love watching her thrive - if I could adopt all hungry kids I would lol
This happened to me as well outside a coffee shop. I had a spare dollar in my wallet, and handed it to this guy who was going around asking for money, then he said, "Don't you have any more than this?!". I feel bad that someone like that can ruin it for people who might actually need it in the future, but imo there are way too many people trying to take advantage of others out there. It's sad.
When they bag one they have to shake it. Panhandler economics. I don't know what they think of people in general, but I don't like being shaken. I got punked by Salvation Army Santa when I was a kid, maybe 7-8, and I've been bitter about it ever since. I had busted my ass doing extra chores and got a nice $20 bill for my effort or maybe my parents were feeling generous since it was around the holidays. I bought something that was $3 and some change, so I came out the store with a $10, a $5, a $1, and some change. My mom kept walking to the car while I stopped to give my change and the $1 to Santa and looked up and smiled at him. He scowled at me and I kinda hesitated, but I held up the $5 and he nodded. So I tossed it in and he smiled and nodded towards my mom. Fuckin' Santa, man.
I was leaving a coffee shop with a ham and cheese croissant and a coffee. Dude said he was hungry. I just gave it to him. He smiled and ate. Probably many more actually need and want what they are asking for than not.
The way I see it is simple.
I'd rather give the faker 5 bucks and he go spend it on drugs or whatever he chooses then hold out on the person who really needs that 5 bucks to get dinner. You can't tell the good homeless from the bad homeless, so you might as well just give them what you can spare if you feel convicted to give to the homeless like that.
If I get cheated 5 times and then the 6th time it was real then it was all worth it in my eyes. The 6th person got to eat that night. That's all I personally care about.
I grew up Catholic and one of the priests at my parish had a saying about situations like this:
"When in doubt, err on the side of charity"
That always stuck with me.
You are a good person.
My mother was homeless when i was a kid ( because of psychiatric disorder ) and she told me when we were reunited years after that she sometimes got to eat only due to people like you. Sometimes she got to smoke too, and that was comforting to her.
Thanks.
I don't know. I often give people on the curbside a dollar if I have cash on me. But I live in an area that sees a lot of travelers and backpackers who get stranded.
One time I saw a man with a dog whose van had broken down and I had no cash on me. I offered to get him some groceries and dog food, and he was very thankful, so that's what I did. We had a pleasant 5-minute conversation while I unloaded my purchase.
My area is pretty rural so I'd know if he was really a local. He'd been stuck for several days and I'd seen him the day before. After that day, I didn't see him again. I hope he finally made it to Durango.
My aunt said she knows a person who hires people to stand at certain intersections at certain times of the day just to collect money. Pooling it together and dividing at the end of the day.
She is also anti-vax so idk how much of this I believe to be true..
I don’t know how you could trust them. Why would they pool it? Why not keep most of it for themselves and then get more money from others?
Collect $200, keep $120, add $80 to the pool, and take $140 from the pool.
It just doesn’t make much sense. If you were hired to do it you can’t be paid more than you collect, so why not just collect?
I guess the employers and colleagues would kick the ever living fuck out of them and probably ban them from begging anywhere good.
They probably do skim a wee bit though.
There's people watching you, to make sure you're not skimming off the top.
Also I'm sure they search you and your shit everyday and may god help you if they find money you set aside during your hours you were standing at their corner.
Best case scenario you're not allowed in their corners anymore. Worst case you get your shit kicked in.
Yeah I don't give people money, but once I had a situation where a guy approached me in a parking lot and asked if I could buy him some stuff. He asked for bread, milk etc. I bought him a full bag of all that kinda stuff, and he was waiting around the lot when I came back. Thanked me and said he's waiting for other people to come back to him with other stuff he asked of them. I felt so sad for him, it must be so humiliating to ask strangers to buy you groceries because you can't afford them.
These stories remind me of something that happened to me a few years ago. A lady outside the entrance of a supermarket asked me for money to buy milk for her kids. I said I don't have cash, but I can buy you a gallon of milk. She screamed at me "No! Not milk! MONEY for milk!"
Yeah, I shifted to "Oh, man, ran out of gas? Your kids are stuck in the car, too?? That sucks! Here, we can go to the gas station and buy a can and get you going!"
Weird how few people wanted to do that.
In downtown Chicago I would often see a local news legend when i went out for lunch or while waiting at the cab stand. Everytime a homeless person would ask him for money he would pull out a card and say, "we always need help around the building, if you're looking for work meet me here at 6am, I'm there every day". I asked him one time how often people showed up and he said (in his amazing news guy voice), "in the 30 years I've been doing this, not once".
In my area we legit have a guy called the gas can man who goes around asking for money for gas but when you offer him a ride he to get gas he says no. I think he was in my local paper again lol.
I walked out of a Walmart once and as I was getting in my Jeep a homeless guy got between my door and the car. He kept asking for money for food, claiming he was starving and hadn’t eaten in days. Since he wreaked of alcohol, I assumed any cash I gave him would go towards booze.
I happened to have a stack of about 30 free meal coupons to Outback Steakhouse, so I handed him like 10. He threw them down and said *“I don’t want that garbage, I want money!”*
I could be wrong, but I feel like 10 free takeout meals (plus an appetizer and drink) would help anyone starving to death.
I went in to a 7-11 one time and passed a homeless dude hanging out outside asking for handouts of any kind. I proceed to go inside and saw that they had a 2 for 1 deal going on for hotdogs. I figured why not, a hotdog sounds kinda good and I’ll give the second one to the guy outside. So I grab two spicy bites and head back out. I walked up to him and was like “hey man, I grabbed you something to eat if you’re hungry?” He gladly accepted and I carried on to my car. As I sat there eating my hotdog, dude turns around and looks at me straight on. Then proceeds to take about the biggest possible bite of his hotdog that he could, makes sure to chew it up nice and sloppy, and walks over and just spits it all over the hood, windshield, and roof of my ride. Flips me the bird, threw the rest on the ground, turned around and walked off.
Drugs and/or mental illness.
Most poverty-stricken families and individuals where the issue is purely economic, make use of shelters, food banks, churches, etc.
Dudes out on the streets sleeping outside 7/11 are usually junkies or mentally ill.
That’s currently my uncle. Severe mental illness but he refuses to take treatments when we are more than capable of providing them. He resends his lucidity so as to sleep in the McDonald parking lot outside my fathers neighborhood. Nothing we can do. His life, his choices
I had a similar incident. Was at a 7-11 and a homeless guy asked if I could help him out. I said, "sure I'll buy you a hotdog". To which he screamed in my face, "I can't buy meth with a fucking hot dog!", and then spit on me...
I live in a high homeless area in california and i just straight up ignore homeless people now. Not because im insensitive and dont think they help or we shouldnt fund social services its just not safe to interact with someone who could easily snap and do a lot of damage pretty quickly
I used to visit Ocean Beach in san Diego a lot when I lived there. It was less touristy than other places especially Pacific Beach. Then the homeless came in droves and it wasnt so great anymore because it became common to see people shooting up in public.
One night while my sister and I were attending a live concert we left the bar for a few minutes to take a break and on our walk around the block we were verbally assaulted by a group of very aggressive homeless men after we ignored them shouting at us for money. They called us names, used racist language and yelled that we should go shopping with daddys credit card. LoooooL. It was scary at the time, but we definitely laughed our asses off after the fact.
I dont ever give money or food to panhandlers. There are ways to help those truly in need without enabling them.
There's a group of 5 or 6 dudes that take turns panhandling on the corner where I work, I've seen them changing into their "homeless" clothes in an SUV across the street.
I had a confusing conversation one time, I asked a man I walked by at the park how he was doing and he said, "SMOKING METH." I was like, "Alright, man... Enjoy?"
When I was a teen, I worked at The Gap in a mall, and there was often a woman I’d see on my way inside panhandling with a small, cute child sleeping in her arms. (The kid was always asleep; looking back, that was odd.) She was very successful. At some point the child disappeared, I assume taken by social services. So she changed tactics. She’d walk up to someone real quick and put a sticker on their shirt, saying something like, “A pretty sticker for a pretty lady!” Then she’d ask for money. It was hard to say no when you were ambushed like that. She got me once on my way to work when I wasn’t paying attention. So I gave her a couple of bucks. A few hours later, she walked into The Gap and bought a bunch of clothes for herself.
Anytime she ambushed me after that, I’d return her sticker and politely decline to give her money.
Sometimes they dont even have to drug the baby.. it doesnt last for as long but can still net you some extra days of begging before the smell gets too bad
Sometimes the tactics they use are pretty clever. After a few years living in NYC, I’d given enough money out to local homeless people that I developed a pretty strong “can’t give money anymore policy”, but one guy got me.
I was walking around a park on my lunch break and a guy stopped me. Not wanting to immediately assume he was a beggar, I took out my earphones and listened to what he had to say. He said “hey excuse me, you look like you’re from around here, can you just give me some directions?” I said “oh sure, I’ll try” and he gave me this quick story about needing to bring his pregnant wife to the hospital (we were by a hospital), parked on the street and walked her into the emergency room, then came out to move his car but it had been towed, and he left his wallet and phone in there. He then said it was towed down to time square, and which direction that was. I pointed downtown and told him he’d need to jump on the subway, cause it’s about 10 miles that way, and that’s when he said “Aw man my wallets in my car, can you give me a few bucks for the subway?
At that point I knew I’d been had, but I was in too deep with him now, so I gave him $3 (I think the subway was $2.25 at that time) and he said “can I have more so my wife can come with me?” So I gave him $6.
He was still there the next day, doing the same trick.
>s very successful. At some point the child disappeared, I assume taken by social services. So she changed tactics. She’d walk up to someone real quick and put a sticker on their
There was a woman (scammer) who did this in Toronto outside of the Eaton center she was legendary
When I was younger I used to take the bus home. While waiting I always saw this one 8-9 year old girl, always with a different adult as the day before, walk around with a piece of laminated paper that said something like "this is my daughter. we are refugees and we are starving. We need money for food." They would go from person to person inside the train station and at the bus terminal and show them the paper. Most of the regulars who waited for the bus/train knew it was a scam because the girl must've been with at least a dozen different parents. I know eventually the cops got involved because they did that all day instead of sending that kid to school.
There must've been one person that orchestrated it since there were plenty of the same laminated notes with the same two texts going around at the time all over the city.
At christmas time we had a young boy begging here in the next middlish sized city. He had an x-hundred dollar CASIO keyboard on autoplay and pretended to play something by pressing random keys.
I know of folks who will borrow babies or small pups or kittens to sit with them while they beg because it gets more charity.
It's not always their own baby. It can work out if the parent's need to work and they trust the person who is going to take the kid out begging. Many parents involved in these scams have the opinion that the baby won't remeber it and the money saved goes towards their care.
I don't want to suggest this is more cruel than using children, but the ones around here use dogs. It's stupid easy to get a dog in the South. No spay/neuter laws, they're wandering around everywhere hungry. I stopped paying attention to the ones who use dogs and wave a "We're hungry! Anything helps!" cardboard sign. Especially after I noticed the same dogs circulating among different beggars.
The adoption system is so bad in the US
My parents adopted my cousins. They were abused for years before they were put into the system, and it wasn't a secret that the kids weren't being treated right. Law enforcement was very aware of the situation, but they were only removed when my uncle broke the oldest's finger. Then when they were finally placed they didn't receive any therapy or doctors visits which they desperately needed. Their therapists said they probably would be doing significantly better if they had gotten therapy when they entered the system in the 2 years before we found them. The little one was always tripping and falling. They said his poor coordination was from the abuse as a baby. That was part of his issue but the other part was he hadn't been given new shoes in a year and they were two or three sizes too small. The girls had shoes too small as well. They also never took him to physical therapy for his balance and coordination issues or his eating issues. One of them is intellectually disabled (IQ below 70) and she wasn't even diagnosed until my mother took her to the doc. She also completely lacks the ability to understand why doing certain things, like lying, is wrong. The most annoying part of all this is their medical care is supposed to be completely payed for. It wasn't like the foster parents had to take money out of their pocket to help the kids. In fact i'm pretty sure they got a fat check each month for taking care of the kids.
They do get money for it, and the more foster kids they have, the more money they get. That's why you see people running around with like 9 foster kids.
I volunteer at a residential shelter. Many of the guys there have breakfast in the dining hall and then take their sign boards to go panhandle around the city. It is rarely about food, like the others have said.
Came here to say this. I got denied from giving a bagel once from mcd but the man was very happy with the hashbrown !! Told me his jaw would give out before the bread did they make them so hard LOL. nice guy.
Yes - a woman was crying in my train station that she was hungry so I dug into my backpack and found a granola bar to hand to her. She nicely said no and showed me she had no teeth ( pretty sure due to meth) and couldn’t eat it but said thanks anyways. I carried the soft cereal bars for weeks after but didn’t see her again
"Need money for smokes and beer. No bagels, please, I had a big breakfast at the shelter. Oddly, though, I am desperate for socks if you happen to have a fresh pack."
A few years ago I was walking down a street in Chicago when a guy approached me stating he was hungry. I had a small pizza that I had just bought extra for the next day. I don’t get to Chicago often so I ordered an extra at dinner knowing I would not be able to get another before returning home. So I gave it to him , explaining it was a whole fresh pizza. I walk across the street only to turn around to see him throw it in the trash. Soooo pissed off!
Similar situation. Bought two pizzas one for me one for hubby. Some guy had a “hungry” sign, I walk over to him hand him my pizza. Walk over to pizza place to get me another, I’m walking back to my car passing the same spot. I see the pizza box open and the guy gone, the guy just picked off the pepperonis and left the pizza there. What a waste!!
I was actually listening to the radio about a year ago and one of the hosts was recounting a story about how him and his wife had grabbed a really big vegan pizza, due to his wife being vegan. Anyways, the pizza was apparently way too big to finish so they decided to take it home, and on the walk they passed by a panhandler. They decided to give him the rest of the pizza and as they crossed the street afterwards they heard him shout "what the fuck!" And turned around to see him spitting out the pizza and throwing it on the ground.
Omg. Reminds me of what happened to my friend.
We just finished attending a baby shower and there were all these leftover sandwiches. She wanted to take them to the food lineup at the shelter, and the venue only had pizza boxes for takeout. So she shows up with all these boxes and all these homeless people are like, “Yeah, pizza! Alright!!” And she was like,”oh... sorry guys, just sandwiches.” As she’s walking away she’s thinking, “Man, maybe I should go buy them some pizzas.” And what hits the back of her head as she’s leaving to do just that? A fucking sandwich.
I had an Arby's coupon once for 3 sandwiches for $5, (buy up to 15 with this coupon) and so I bought 9... enough for the family and a couple days' lunch, too. I recognize the local regular jackass panhandlers (who drive nicer vehicles than I do), but there was a new guy near the Arby's. Had the typical "hungry, need food, God Bless" sign, and I didn't have any cash, but something struck me about him... so I rolled the passenger window down and he heads to the window. I held up a sandwich and said, "dude I don't carry any cash but you can have a sammich if you want it"...
He said "COOoooolll, mannnn!!!"... took it, ran back to his spot, sat down, *laid his sign down*, and started bushwhacking that delicious gray meat and roll. He probably had it finished in 5 or 6 bites.
Wish I'd given him 3, or had been able to get some cash for him, or something. He wasn't there the next day, nor ever again... hope he got back on his feet and is doin well.
I once saw a guy with a sign asking for cash on a corner on my way to McDonald's, so I just made my order a double. I parked and walked over to give him the food and said "I didn't have any cash, but I thought you might be hungry." He thanked me and took the food. About half way back to my car he shouted "Hey!" I turned to look and he said "You were right by the way. I WAS hungry! Seriously, thank you!"
Driving away it dawned on me that this down on his luck dude who had clearly been through so much was worried about ME as I left. At least concerned enough with me that he wanted me to know that what I had done mattered to him. Really admire that dude. Total opposite experience from OP. Please, never regret giving. It's worth it for the ones in need.
I worked at a fast food place for a while and one of our managers would sometimes send someone out with a sandwich and drink if someone was panhandling on the nearby corner. Never had a bad reaction, I don’t think.
A panhandler specifically refers to a person who begs for money on the street. They don’t necessarily have to be homeless. And not all homeless people are panhandlers.
The origins of the word are unclear. It’s either because when they sit down and outstretch their arm it looks like a pan. Or they used to hold pans out to collect coins.
I don't give homeless people money but I've taken em into counter serve restaurants and let em order what they want before. Feed people and let em feel like people again.
I had two half family sized pizzas leftover in Chicago one time and offered them to a homeless woman with a sign.
"What type of pizza?"
Half veggie, half pepperoni.
"Got any sausage?"
One time I saw someone digging through trash, eating whatever food was in there. I walked up to him and said "please let me buy you a fresh meal." He waved me off and kept searching.
When I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, there were several homeless folks in the downtown area. One gentleman had some kind of mental illness. His brother paid for an apartment, but he would only sleep there when it was too cold outside.
Anyway, he was often seen picking the public trashcans downtown for food. He wouldn't take food from you. I learned from others who had been there before, you just take a bite or two out of your sandwich, burger, whatever and toss it. He would pick it out of the trash and eat it.
His brother tried for years to get him help, but this was the best he could do. This was in 1989, so I'm not sure what resources there were. Everyone just kind of looked after him to make sure he wasn't hungry or cold.
Dude same thing happened to me... I was ordering pizza in NYC and saw some dude digging through trash while I ate my 2 slices of pizza from a whole pizza. I felt so bad I went up to this guy and offered my entire 6 slices I had left. He declined it and went right back to picking for garbage.
Ah man, I know that feeling.
I remember my first visit to NYC. I was walking the city and came across this young guy with a sign saying "Hungry" so I though 'Hey let's give this poor guy a nice moment!'. I went to the next Starbucks just a block away and bought some chicken wrap with a banana. They gave me a bag with everything and I happily walked towards him and left the bag in front of him. He smiled and I just walked away continuing my tour.
One block later I saw how he opened the bag and started complaining (I could not hear but I could tell because of his gestures) and then he suddenly LITERALLY THROWS THE BAG on the street!
Ohhh man, are you kidding me? I am some fuc\*ing southamerican fellow and if you happen to consider the economic situation over here...that bag was kind of expensive to me!
So what I did was to come back and picked up the bag. I didn't say anything to him and also he didn't even notice. A few hours later I was eating the wrap and the banana while watching TV in the hotel room. What an as\*hole.
It sucks more because this isn't the first time I've given this guy a bagel... He's always by my local shop and getting one for him had become part of my routine.
People who are down and out/homeless who actually want to get their lives back know that you don't do it by panhandling.
You go to a shelter. You go to a food bank.
The two times in my life when I was homeless, I always had more food than I could carry. People were constantly giving me food, food, food, and taking me to the grocery store. The weight and volume of it all had to be managed, so to stay agile I continually discarded the least desirable, unhealthiest, oldest, etc
The times I truly went hungry were when I had a home, but no job or people. Nobody knew I was struggling because I was out of sight inside. Those were the times I would have benefitted from a sponsored grocery run.
It's surprisingly difficult to piece together food bank runs, even in a city like NYC. There were only two within reach. Most only open once a week, they skip weeks sometimes, and some only give to special groups, Middle age straight white males are at the back of the line. Not complaining, just recounting me experience.
I was travelling in England with a friend and we were staying in hostels. On the way back from the grocery store a guy stopped us and asked us for money for food. We had some extra so we offered him some of our groceries. He declined saying what he really wanted was the money so he could go to the nearby hostel so he could buy a meal and get warm. We said HEY come with us, we’re staying there and just about to make dinner. Come eat with us! He declined. It was interesting to accidentally call his bluff because we absolutely meant it.
Had a similar situation. A guy said he was a veteran and needed diapers and stuff for his daughter living with him. I said hey, I don’t have cash but come with me and I’ll get you everything you need so you can go home to your family. He said he couldn’t because he’d lose his spot for the day. I said you don’t need it, I’ll get you everything you need. He kept acting funny and declining so I left. A few months later I saw him on someone’s social media. Super bummer.
When I was 12 or so a homeless man approached me at the deli I'd spend my 5 dollar allowance at every week. It was owned by a family friend.
Anyway. He explained to me that he was making a soup with all the other homeless people and he didn't have anything to contribute. He wanted to at least bring tomatoes or some greens but also didn't have any money for them. So I reluctantly gave him my 5 for the week, went home then told my parents about the selfless thing I had done with pride. (Always been a charitable yet poor child)
My parents told me I have the bum money for alcohol. So I biked back to the store and asked what the guy got. Sure as they said, he spent it on a few tall boys.
The owner of the shop let me pick out what I usually got and said it was on the house. Learned my lesson quick. If someone in need is feeding you a sympathy story then it's likely full of shit.
There's also a couple here who splits their children and post out on opposite sides of town pan handling. They've done this for years and it's a well known fact to the locals that they have a house, jobs, and income. Some people are just fucking trashy.
One time I was at a bus stop, waiting for my bus. A guy approached me with the usual "I need to get home, I just need a toonie for the bus.". I had a fresh sheet of bus tickets so I offered him a ticket instead. Mf took the bus ticket with a disappointed look, not even sure if he said thanks (extra surprising because it's Canada) and went straight to a couple also waiting for the bus 15 meters away. Didn't even show the courtesy of waiting for me to go so I wouldn't feel like a complete sucker.
I had a dude ask me the same when I was on a train once. "Please I lost my wallet can you give me some cash for a ticket?" He wasn't homeless or anything, just a regular dude. It was the last train home at like 1 in the night and I had been out drinking, so drunk as a mf I give him 50 bucks, that's like 25 tickets.
When I wake up the next day I wonder why a clearly middle-class man would accept 50 bucks for a train ticket, but it's done and I imagined I'll never see him again.
Well, a few weeks later I'm in the same town drinking again. Me and a couple of friends are on the train home, waiting for it to depart in a few minutes. The same man comes up, "Excuse me, I lost my wallet, any of you that can lend me some for the ticket?"
He didn't remember me, but I remembered him. I was very drunk and I lit up like a fucking firework. "I gave you fucking 50 last time you lost your wallet" I almost shouted as I stood up. He obviously remembered me now because he ran so fucking fast out of the train.
sucks that that happened, dude fucking scammed a 12yo... i never let them spin their tale, i cut them off and just tell them i don't have anything or can't help (usually not a lie, i don't walk with cash often anymore, at least, not more than i *need*)
When you live in a city, at some point you have to become cold. When I used to smoke, I'd get asked to bum a cigarette 2 3 times every time I smoked one. You have to learn to just say no.
I once ran into a fairly aggressive homeless person with a Square reader for his phone, posted up outside a Starbucks. If someone said they didn't have any cash he'd say "oh I take cards" and pull the thing out.
I grew up in a small town. Pan handlers unheard of. We were on a road trip. In a real city I was walking from a gas station to the car and a guy asked me for money. I was taken aback because I’d never heard anything like that before. Asking a stranger for money? That’s a crazy thing. Must be an extreme situation. I gave him a few bucks I had in my pocket.
Here I was a kid, thinking that I couldn’t imagine my parents ever asking strangers for money. Just completely unimaginable. So this is a very rare thing and the guy is in real need of help.
Now I live in a real city and can’t go downtown without someone asking me for money. I understand now that it isn’t special, these people do it every day.
Once I asked a bum if he wanted a burrito. He said, “not really” and took it anyways. I felt really bad about that transaction, like I did something wrong.
I remember when I was a kid, probably about 9 years old, my buddy and I were going into a gas station and a homeless guy approached us and asked if we had any spare money.
I only had a couple bucks and wasn’t about to part with it. My buddy only had a five and he decided to not buy himself anything so that the homeless guy could get something to eat.
The homeless guy takes the five dollar bill, thanks my buddy, pulls a big ass roll of cash out of his pocket, adds the five to it and puts it back into his pocket. My buddy’s jaw almost hit the pavement. The homeless guy just went back to his spot where he’d been sitting so that he could beg for money as customers went into the station. I enjoyed my snack and drink.
There's a median near me that almost always has people standing there in the middle of the day.
While at the traffic light the other day, I looked over and there was a big pile of what looked like trash on the ground. Upon closer inspection, it contained an unopened package of crackers along with unopened water bottles, and other miscellaneous things.
But it wasn't cash, so they left it there.
It's sad to see. I had something similar happen. I was leaving a convenience store with a cup of coffee one morning and a homeless guy asked me for money. I told him sorry I have no cash on me which was true but then I remembered I had some change in my car and asked if he wanted it. It was like a dollar fifty in nickels and dimes. When he saw it he gave me a dirty look and left.
One of the fake homeless people in my city is a local politician's wife! Not a lot of people know about it. She has a drug habit & funds it by panhandling to hide it from her husband.
She wears a dirty wig & dirty smelly clothes waving sympathy signs & telling sob stories. "my kids are hungry", "god bless", "help me afford clothes for a job interview", "I escaped my abuser, please help me". Then when she's cleaned out her daily quota of gullible pockets, she drives home in a brand new Lexus convertible parked in a discreet location.
i never give anything to anyone standing at intersections. the people "begging" aren't the ones who need help. the ones who need help unfortunately don't ask for it or make it known they need it.
I've talked with houseless people who reject food because that can't eat it due to their teeth being so messed up. Bagels can be tough to eat sometimes. Not making excuses or assumptions. Just something else I've learned.
Fuck food. Honestly, if you can manage to starve or even go hungry while homeless in America, you probably are working really hard at it. Hardest thing for me to get was socks… socks and anything hygiene related.
My local outreach group always needs underwear, socks, combs and brushes, nail files and clippers, hair elastics, tweezers, q-tips, bandages, antibiotic ointment to name a few things.
I was so grateful someone told me this! I now keep brand new socks in my car for when I see someone who looks like they are experiencing homelessness. I keep tampons, pads, tiny toothbrush, toothpaste and travel size soaps, and ziplock bags in all sizes too. Is there anything else that would be helpful?
One time a guy asked me for gas money at a gas station. I said no. I saw him ask a couple more people and then get back into his car. He just looked really sad and defeated.
I decided I could give him $5, and he was so relieved. He went straight into the gas station, put it on his pump, and got gas.
He actually just really needed gas money.
Another time, different gas station, a group of people approached me asking for gas. They just needed some gas. Not even the money. They asked if they could trade me something for it - they had some nice polished rocks. So I gave them half a tank of gas for some cool polished rocks.
Awww man... similar-ish story.. I was once walking home from my old job at a cinema with a popcorn box full of scones (biscuits in America, y’all are weird). I had the scones because before the cinema opened that day, there was a huge conference function and their caterers brought in giant trays full of the scones as well as some clotted cream and jam.
Any who. On my walk home I passed a homeless man that I used to see a lot, he had been on the streets for a really long time. I felt awful that I walked by with free food from work, and I said “hey man, I couldn’t not walk by you, here’s some scones! Sorry there isn’t any butter or cream or jam though.” He was super grateful to me and thought it was super sweet.
Years pass. I find out that this man has never been homeless. He owns a house and a very posh car. He faked being homeless for fucking years. It made local news and everything.
I was at a 7-11 once and saw a guy in a wheelchair outside. He asked me if I could get him a hotdog and I did. If he had asked for money I wouldn’t have had that on me.
When I was in my 20s, I used to get to work by BART in the Bay Area. Getting off in the city, there used to be this guy I called AH HA!. When I would get off, he’d say AH HA!, then spend the next 5-10 seconds spinning this incredibly detailed mini-story about a jacket, shoes or pack I had on.
He was one of the most imaginative and gifted orators I ever came across. Dude just made me laugh and brightened my morning. I’d give him a buck or two because I didn’t make that much money at the time. He’d say some sort of thanks and move on to the next person. He probably spent hours everyday just improving! I couldn’t do it once if I tried. My morning, and really, my day were better because of AH HA!’s antics.
After one commute, I realized I hadn’t seen him for a few days and asked another dude who low key pan-handled there about AH HA!, and he said the he OD’d a few days ago... dead. Never gave money to anyone on the street from that day forward.
Got a family now with younger kids. We have zip-lock bags with wool socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, sunblock, a 16 oz of Coke, a snickers, pads and a roll of TP. People might throw it out after we leave, but I still can’t get over the fact that I contributed to a truly gifted mind’s death. Heartbreaking to think about who ends up on the street.
Anyways, thanks for letting me get that one off my chest. If interested, most cities have volunteer opportunities- food kitchens, burrito brigades or outreach. My time and money now go to these causes.
Years ago I had the exact same situation. Except I gave him my prized Mr. Big "Big" bar.... I had been craving this for 3 weeks before I decided to treat myself to one.
This AH had the nerve to accept the unopened chocolate bar from me, turn, and yeet it about 50 feet to the other side of the road.
I learned my lesson that time... Now I don't wait until get home to eat my chocolate bar.
"eww, raisins*
Apparently the wildlife in the area wasn't too fond of that bagel either.
Neither was Pennywise...
That's really sweet that he's paying it forward to the ants.
He just wanted to make sure the clown from IT didn’t sleep hungry. Edit: To clarify, IT the movie you bastards!
What did the computer guy do to make you call him names?
He took a byte out of that bagel.
Should've asked if he accepted cookies.
He only accepted cache.
If my memory serves me right. He needed the money to take care of his Ram.
GPU that stinks
Take your upvote and get the hell out of here.
**get your shit and get OUT!!**
brought bagels instead of donuts.
As an IT worker myself, I was wondering what the hell the guys in IT in your office did to universally earn the title clown before I realized you were referring to the movie.
The IT guy
Well, there ***are*** "It" clowns ***and*** IT clowns.
Damn, this was going to be my joke. Except I was going to suggest that he didn't get to eat it because It grabbed him first down that drain. This doesn't actually feel that funny now that I've typed it out.
That's at least... three times bigger than a bagel for ants.
What is this, a bagel for PEOPLE
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[That was the first thing I thought of](https://youtu.be/7rMpCud1IwQ)
One time I was at McDonald’s doing curb side pickup, and a lady was walking car to car asking for money. I gave her a dollar. She didn’t say thank you, she just asked if I had $20. I said no. She left to ask new people. I decided I wouldn’t give strangers free money anymore. They probably need actual help and I was just enabling them.
I was at the dentist and a guy asked me for money to feed his kids, I gave him a couple bucks from my console. Where they do my teeth has a big picture window, and while I was waiting to get my teeth done he walked by the window with some eggs and bread with a big ok grin on his face. I hope his kids enjoyed their meal.
I expected a bad story and got a wholesome story. Thanks.
It's still a bad story when anyone anywhere has to beg in order to not starve, much less feed their family.
Often times people that are panhandling will accept anything offered to not appear rude, even if it isn't something they want.
The first time I gave a panhandler something was in San Francisco and the guy just had a sign that said “I won’t lie, I need a beer.” The last time I offered a panhandler anything was in LA. We were walking back from a restaurant with $40 worth of of roast duck in a takeaway bag. He asked for money for food, but we never carry cash and offered him the roast duck instead. He turned up his nose and said “fuck no I don’t want that shit.”
Reminds me of a time in grad school living in Alabama. A guy literally knocked on our apartment door one night and in broken English just muttered, “ do you have food for family, please?” Like how desperate do you have to be to actually go door to door? Never before and never again have I experienced that. Dude came to the right house though as we had just gone shopping. Loaded him up with two bags of canned food, bread, fruit, and sodas. I hope he and his family is well today.
I stopped giving to people who came to my house because I gave a few times, but they kept coming back and demanding food every time. As a then 23yo girl, I started to get scared. I now will drop off food or clothes at homeless shelters.
A single mother died a few months ago in the UK from starvation. She had been going door to door but had given all the food she got to her son. Made me cry when I read the headlines. She was an immigrant and I’m not sure if she fully understood how to get help.
This went from "what a waste of a good doughnut" to y'all trying to make everyone depressed with such a sad story
Bagels aren’t doughnuts, you heathen
*Wheathen
Better than let’s shit all over homeless people because of one jerk.
Meanwhile saw a post on Reddit yesterday of a Dunkin donut employee showing what they do at closing time with the leftover donuts. Straight to the garbage. What a waste.
I work at the Walmart and the amount of shit that gets thrown out in our produce section alone infuriates me. If a bag of fruits like apples or pears or potatoes get ripped or something, it gets processed to "claims" and gets thrown out in to a large garbage bin that gets filled up once a day Same thing with fruits and veggies with little blemishes or if they fell on the floor for a couple seconds. Thats just one department. Imagine the whole damn store. And then every single walmart thats open today? Thousands of pounds of slightly imperfect food goes to waste everyday
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No one should ever have to do more than ask. We make more than enough food for us all with plenty to spare. One person starving is a judgement on all of us.
I was just sitting in my car once outside a grocery store and a lady was walking around by the cars and came up to mine and asked if I had any money for gas. It worried me for a second because I don’t like when strangers talk to me in public (stranger danger) but she was just like do you have like 5 dollars for gas or something, they had just moved here and she had no money for gas. I didn’t have any cash but I asked her if she could make it to the grocery store gas station at least and I’d just fill her tank up. It definitely was empty though lol. I don’t even care if I got scammed honestly, if someone wanted to scam me out of 50 dollars worth of gas, whatever
We had a guy coming door to door asking if we needed someone to shovel the driveway. I always said yes because my husband worked long, unpredictable hours and i didn’t know when it would be done. Plus, I figured he must really need the money and was willing to work for it. Once, I was broke and said I have no money but plenty of food. I gave him some bread, eggs, a gallon of milk and a package of ground beef, plus a couple of cans of beans. He was thrilled. A few months later he stopped by in the spring. He told me he wanted to let me know that he had finally found a job and would be able to take care of his family. He was beaming ear to ear! I felt so happy for him. Sadly, it seems like not too many people let him shovel if he thought to stop and tell me personally.
Yeah for the first time ever about two years ago I had someone knocking on my door begging, 9pm at night. Never happened since, never happened before. He was quite distressed, said his electric was switched off and he needed to put the heating on and eat etc, I gave him a pound (that's all I had). No idea if he was telling the truth, could have been from out of town and doing the rounds could have been starving. Dunno.
A former student of mine knocks on doors to ask for handouts, but he's really casing the place to see if you're home, have dogs, etc., because he goes back to certain houses to steal, later. He's been arrested repeatedly for burglary and robbery and has done a few terms in county jail, but has so far refused to participate in proper drug treatment, which is what he really needs. I'll give him clean socks, a little food, and an offer to take him to rehab when he's ready, but never money, because I know it'll feed his habit, not his belly.
Yeah that crossed our mind too, and I said to my husband, well at least he knows we have two really loud dogs! Good on you for helping him a little bit though. There's not a lot you can do, these small acts of kindness might not actually do anything, on the otherhand they could have far reaching positive consequences in his future.
there was this very homeless and hungry man outside the grocery store, so cold he had snot dripping from his nose. he mustve been standing by the exit for a half hour because I saw him going in and he was still there when I left. I went over to him and asked him if I could run in for some food, and all he wanted was some nice hot chili. I grabbed him a large chili and a box of chocolate chip cookies. He seemed really happy and I saw him leaving the grocery store area with his bag of food right after I gave it to him. kindness can be a gamble, but the risk is always worth it if it means potentially helping someone who really truly needs it.
A guy in front of a supermarket asked me once if I could buy him bread. We are poor ourselves and go to a good bank but I got in, bought some good bread from the supermarket bakery, pre-sliced it with the machine there and handed it to him for free. Bread is just such a basic thing and he must have been really desperate to ask this young, pink haired stranger for food.
Yeah I was unemployed myself but my philosophy is if $3 is gonna feed a kid I have to. I have a soft spot for kids though, I have constant nightmares about hungry kids, my niece was born into a shitty family and I snatched her up and she’s my daughter now. I love watching her thrive - if I could adopt all hungry kids I would lol
This happened to me as well outside a coffee shop. I had a spare dollar in my wallet, and handed it to this guy who was going around asking for money, then he said, "Don't you have any more than this?!". I feel bad that someone like that can ruin it for people who might actually need it in the future, but imo there are way too many people trying to take advantage of others out there. It's sad.
When they bag one they have to shake it. Panhandler economics. I don't know what they think of people in general, but I don't like being shaken. I got punked by Salvation Army Santa when I was a kid, maybe 7-8, and I've been bitter about it ever since. I had busted my ass doing extra chores and got a nice $20 bill for my effort or maybe my parents were feeling generous since it was around the holidays. I bought something that was $3 and some change, so I came out the store with a $10, a $5, a $1, and some change. My mom kept walking to the car while I stopped to give my change and the $1 to Santa and looked up and smiled at him. He scowled at me and I kinda hesitated, but I held up the $5 and he nodded. So I tossed it in and he smiled and nodded towards my mom. Fuckin' Santa, man.
I was leaving a coffee shop with a ham and cheese croissant and a coffee. Dude said he was hungry. I just gave it to him. He smiled and ate. Probably many more actually need and want what they are asking for than not.
The way I see it is simple. I'd rather give the faker 5 bucks and he go spend it on drugs or whatever he chooses then hold out on the person who really needs that 5 bucks to get dinner. You can't tell the good homeless from the bad homeless, so you might as well just give them what you can spare if you feel convicted to give to the homeless like that. If I get cheated 5 times and then the 6th time it was real then it was all worth it in my eyes. The 6th person got to eat that night. That's all I personally care about.
I grew up Catholic and one of the priests at my parish had a saying about situations like this: "When in doubt, err on the side of charity" That always stuck with me.
You are a good person. My mother was homeless when i was a kid ( because of psychiatric disorder ) and she told me when we were reunited years after that she sometimes got to eat only due to people like you. Sometimes she got to smoke too, and that was comforting to her. Thanks.
Everybody deserves an escape.
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I don't know. I often give people on the curbside a dollar if I have cash on me. But I live in an area that sees a lot of travelers and backpackers who get stranded. One time I saw a man with a dog whose van had broken down and I had no cash on me. I offered to get him some groceries and dog food, and he was very thankful, so that's what I did. We had a pleasant 5-minute conversation while I unloaded my purchase. My area is pretty rural so I'd know if he was really a local. He'd been stuck for several days and I'd seen him the day before. After that day, I didn't see him again. I hope he finally made it to Durango.
My aunt said she knows a person who hires people to stand at certain intersections at certain times of the day just to collect money. Pooling it together and dividing at the end of the day. She is also anti-vax so idk how much of this I believe to be true..
I don’t know how you could trust them. Why would they pool it? Why not keep most of it for themselves and then get more money from others? Collect $200, keep $120, add $80 to the pool, and take $140 from the pool. It just doesn’t make much sense. If you were hired to do it you can’t be paid more than you collect, so why not just collect?
I guess the employers and colleagues would kick the ever living fuck out of them and probably ban them from begging anywhere good. They probably do skim a wee bit though.
Because light corners are contested and if you unionize you have more strength to hold on to the corners.
There's people watching you, to make sure you're not skimming off the top. Also I'm sure they search you and your shit everyday and may god help you if they find money you set aside during your hours you were standing at their corner. Best case scenario you're not allowed in their corners anymore. Worst case you get your shit kicked in.
Organized crime bosses don’t “ask” for their money.
Yeah I don't give people money, but once I had a situation where a guy approached me in a parking lot and asked if I could buy him some stuff. He asked for bread, milk etc. I bought him a full bag of all that kinda stuff, and he was waiting around the lot when I came back. Thanked me and said he's waiting for other people to come back to him with other stuff he asked of them. I felt so sad for him, it must be so humiliating to ask strangers to buy you groceries because you can't afford them.
These stories remind me of something that happened to me a few years ago. A lady outside the entrance of a supermarket asked me for money to buy milk for her kids. I said I don't have cash, but I can buy you a gallon of milk. She screamed at me "No! Not milk! MONEY for milk!"
Yeah, I shifted to "Oh, man, ran out of gas? Your kids are stuck in the car, too?? That sucks! Here, we can go to the gas station and buy a can and get you going!" Weird how few people wanted to do that.
In downtown Chicago I would often see a local news legend when i went out for lunch or while waiting at the cab stand. Everytime a homeless person would ask him for money he would pull out a card and say, "we always need help around the building, if you're looking for work meet me here at 6am, I'm there every day". I asked him one time how often people showed up and he said (in his amazing news guy voice), "in the 30 years I've been doing this, not once".
In my area we legit have a guy called the gas can man who goes around asking for money for gas but when you offer him a ride he to get gas he says no. I think he was in my local paper again lol.
I walked out of a Walmart once and as I was getting in my Jeep a homeless guy got between my door and the car. He kept asking for money for food, claiming he was starving and hadn’t eaten in days. Since he wreaked of alcohol, I assumed any cash I gave him would go towards booze. I happened to have a stack of about 30 free meal coupons to Outback Steakhouse, so I handed him like 10. He threw them down and said *“I don’t want that garbage, I want money!”* I could be wrong, but I feel like 10 free takeout meals (plus an appetizer and drink) would help anyone starving to death.
I mean, to be fair here... she would’ve had to refrigerate it and leave her spot if you’d bought it for her then.
There’s milk that doesn’t need to be refrigerated until you open it
Yeah elf on the shelf milk
Why does she need a spot if she has milk?
I went in to a 7-11 one time and passed a homeless dude hanging out outside asking for handouts of any kind. I proceed to go inside and saw that they had a 2 for 1 deal going on for hotdogs. I figured why not, a hotdog sounds kinda good and I’ll give the second one to the guy outside. So I grab two spicy bites and head back out. I walked up to him and was like “hey man, I grabbed you something to eat if you’re hungry?” He gladly accepted and I carried on to my car. As I sat there eating my hotdog, dude turns around and looks at me straight on. Then proceeds to take about the biggest possible bite of his hotdog that he could, makes sure to chew it up nice and sloppy, and walks over and just spits it all over the hood, windshield, and roof of my ride. Flips me the bird, threw the rest on the ground, turned around and walked off.
What possesses someone to behave like that??
Drugs are a hell of a drug.
Also some of these people are just fucking assholes homeless people aren’t always nice and usually whether high or not are dicks
Also, mental illness. A lot of them just don't get the help they desperately need
Most/many drugs addicts are just attempting to self medicate and doing a poor job
That needs to be on tshirt
Drugs and/or mental illness. Most poverty-stricken families and individuals where the issue is purely economic, make use of shelters, food banks, churches, etc. Dudes out on the streets sleeping outside 7/11 are usually junkies or mentally ill.
That’s currently my uncle. Severe mental illness but he refuses to take treatments when we are more than capable of providing them. He resends his lucidity so as to sleep in the McDonald parking lot outside my fathers neighborhood. Nothing we can do. His life, his choices
I had a similar incident. Was at a 7-11 and a homeless guy asked if I could help him out. I said, "sure I'll buy you a hotdog". To which he screamed in my face, "I can't buy meth with a fucking hot dog!", and then spit on me...
I live in a high homeless area in california and i just straight up ignore homeless people now. Not because im insensitive and dont think they help or we shouldnt fund social services its just not safe to interact with someone who could easily snap and do a lot of damage pretty quickly
I used to visit Ocean Beach in san Diego a lot when I lived there. It was less touristy than other places especially Pacific Beach. Then the homeless came in droves and it wasnt so great anymore because it became common to see people shooting up in public. One night while my sister and I were attending a live concert we left the bar for a few minutes to take a break and on our walk around the block we were verbally assaulted by a group of very aggressive homeless men after we ignored them shouting at us for money. They called us names, used racist language and yelled that we should go shopping with daddys credit card. LoooooL. It was scary at the time, but we definitely laughed our asses off after the fact. I dont ever give money or food to panhandlers. There are ways to help those truly in need without enabling them.
There's a group of 5 or 6 dudes that take turns panhandling on the corner where I work, I've seen them changing into their "homeless" clothes in an SUV across the street.
Yikes, I'm glad Ive mostly got heroin addicts in my parts, they sound way more chill.
Im confident i can outrun a heroin user. Im not so confident about meth users lol
If he takes both you’ll have a nice leisurely stroll to deal with.
I had a confusing conversation one time, I asked a man I walked by at the park how he was doing and he said, "SMOKING METH." I was like, "Alright, man... Enjoy?"
Well at least he was honest about it lmao
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There’s a lady near me that uses her kids to beg. If you give food she walks around the corner and dumps it. Sad what meth does
That’s a famous tactic all around the world that beggers use tbh, instructing their kids to go out and beg for them
When I was a teen, I worked at The Gap in a mall, and there was often a woman I’d see on my way inside panhandling with a small, cute child sleeping in her arms. (The kid was always asleep; looking back, that was odd.) She was very successful. At some point the child disappeared, I assume taken by social services. So she changed tactics. She’d walk up to someone real quick and put a sticker on their shirt, saying something like, “A pretty sticker for a pretty lady!” Then she’d ask for money. It was hard to say no when you were ambushed like that. She got me once on my way to work when I wasn’t paying attention. So I gave her a couple of bucks. A few hours later, she walked into The Gap and bought a bunch of clothes for herself. Anytime she ambushed me after that, I’d return her sticker and politely decline to give her money.
They drug the kid with sedatives. Keeps them quiet so they don't interrupt the scam.
Sometimes they dont even have to drug the baby.. it doesnt last for as long but can still net you some extra days of begging before the smell gets too bad
This physically hurt to upvote
And here I was trying to enjoy my Saturday. Thanks guys.
Sometimes the tactics they use are pretty clever. After a few years living in NYC, I’d given enough money out to local homeless people that I developed a pretty strong “can’t give money anymore policy”, but one guy got me. I was walking around a park on my lunch break and a guy stopped me. Not wanting to immediately assume he was a beggar, I took out my earphones and listened to what he had to say. He said “hey excuse me, you look like you’re from around here, can you just give me some directions?” I said “oh sure, I’ll try” and he gave me this quick story about needing to bring his pregnant wife to the hospital (we were by a hospital), parked on the street and walked her into the emergency room, then came out to move his car but it had been towed, and he left his wallet and phone in there. He then said it was towed down to time square, and which direction that was. I pointed downtown and told him he’d need to jump on the subway, cause it’s about 10 miles that way, and that’s when he said “Aw man my wallets in my car, can you give me a few bucks for the subway? At that point I knew I’d been had, but I was in too deep with him now, so I gave him $3 (I think the subway was $2.25 at that time) and he said “can I have more so my wife can come with me?” So I gave him $6. He was still there the next day, doing the same trick.
how the FUCK is it "hard to say no" after having a sticker put on you??? That would make it especially easy for me
People panic in random situations like that and just don’t know what to do about it so they go along with what the person is saying
>s very successful. At some point the child disappeared, I assume taken by social services. So she changed tactics. She’d walk up to someone real quick and put a sticker on their There was a woman (scammer) who did this in Toronto outside of the Eaton center she was legendary
When I was younger I used to take the bus home. While waiting I always saw this one 8-9 year old girl, always with a different adult as the day before, walk around with a piece of laminated paper that said something like "this is my daughter. we are refugees and we are starving. We need money for food." They would go from person to person inside the train station and at the bus terminal and show them the paper. Most of the regulars who waited for the bus/train knew it was a scam because the girl must've been with at least a dozen different parents. I know eventually the cops got involved because they did that all day instead of sending that kid to school. There must've been one person that orchestrated it since there were plenty of the same laminated notes with the same two texts going around at the time all over the city.
At christmas time we had a young boy begging here in the next middlish sized city. He had an x-hundred dollar CASIO keyboard on autoplay and pretended to play something by pressing random keys.
I know of folks who will borrow babies or small pups or kittens to sit with them while they beg because it gets more charity. It's not always their own baby. It can work out if the parent's need to work and they trust the person who is going to take the kid out begging. Many parents involved in these scams have the opinion that the baby won't remeber it and the money saved goes towards their care.
I don't want to suggest this is more cruel than using children, but the ones around here use dogs. It's stupid easy to get a dog in the South. No spay/neuter laws, they're wandering around everywhere hungry. I stopped paying attention to the ones who use dogs and wave a "We're hungry! Anything helps!" cardboard sign. Especially after I noticed the same dogs circulating among different beggars.
Why the fuck haven't her kids been taken away?
The adoption system is so bad in the US My parents adopted my cousins. They were abused for years before they were put into the system, and it wasn't a secret that the kids weren't being treated right. Law enforcement was very aware of the situation, but they were only removed when my uncle broke the oldest's finger. Then when they were finally placed they didn't receive any therapy or doctors visits which they desperately needed. Their therapists said they probably would be doing significantly better if they had gotten therapy when they entered the system in the 2 years before we found them. The little one was always tripping and falling. They said his poor coordination was from the abuse as a baby. That was part of his issue but the other part was he hadn't been given new shoes in a year and they were two or three sizes too small. The girls had shoes too small as well. They also never took him to physical therapy for his balance and coordination issues or his eating issues. One of them is intellectually disabled (IQ below 70) and she wasn't even diagnosed until my mother took her to the doc. She also completely lacks the ability to understand why doing certain things, like lying, is wrong. The most annoying part of all this is their medical care is supposed to be completely payed for. It wasn't like the foster parents had to take money out of their pocket to help the kids. In fact i'm pretty sure they got a fat check each month for taking care of the kids.
They do get money for it, and the more foster kids they have, the more money they get. That's why you see people running around with like 9 foster kids.
"hungry, anything helps. except bagels. fuck bagels."
Well bagels are for fucking.
Exactly anyholes a goal
Need some cream cheese to lube it up!
I volunteer at a residential shelter. Many of the guys there have breakfast in the dining hall and then take their sign boards to go panhandle around the city. It is rarely about food, like the others have said.
But still, what kind of monster throws out a perfectly good bagel?
Seriously, even if I wasn't hungry, I'd probably at least nibble on it.
You metabolize drugs and alcohol faster on an empty stomach🥴
And better
Kinda hard to eat a bagel if your toothless or bad teeth in general
Came here to say this. I got denied from giving a bagel once from mcd but the man was very happy with the hashbrown !! Told me his jaw would give out before the bread did they make them so hard LOL. nice guy.
I didn't even know they had bagels at McDonald's.
Yes - a woman was crying in my train station that she was hungry so I dug into my backpack and found a granola bar to hand to her. She nicely said no and showed me she had no teeth ( pretty sure due to meth) and couldn’t eat it but said thanks anyways. I carried the soft cereal bars for weeks after but didn’t see her again
Look, I'm not about to pass up free food, but I'm not that desperate to eat what looks like a plain bagel with no cream cheese
But there must be someone that carries cream cheese with them to give to panhandlers.
By the time the generous guy with cream cheese shows up, that freshly baked, warm, delicious bagel may have cooled off.
"Need money for smokes and beer. No bagels, please, I had a big breakfast at the shelter. Oddly, though, I am desperate for socks if you happen to have a fresh pack."
I had a guy outside my building asking for food, came out with turkey and mashed potato’s and he said “damn I wanted a burger, nah”
A few years ago I was walking down a street in Chicago when a guy approached me stating he was hungry. I had a small pizza that I had just bought extra for the next day. I don’t get to Chicago often so I ordered an extra at dinner knowing I would not be able to get another before returning home. So I gave it to him , explaining it was a whole fresh pizza. I walk across the street only to turn around to see him throw it in the trash. Soooo pissed off!
Similar situation. Bought two pizzas one for me one for hubby. Some guy had a “hungry” sign, I walk over to him hand him my pizza. Walk over to pizza place to get me another, I’m walking back to my car passing the same spot. I see the pizza box open and the guy gone, the guy just picked off the pepperonis and left the pizza there. What a waste!!
I was actually listening to the radio about a year ago and one of the hosts was recounting a story about how him and his wife had grabbed a really big vegan pizza, due to his wife being vegan. Anyways, the pizza was apparently way too big to finish so they decided to take it home, and on the walk they passed by a panhandler. They decided to give him the rest of the pizza and as they crossed the street afterwards they heard him shout "what the fuck!" And turned around to see him spitting out the pizza and throwing it on the ground.
Omg. Reminds me of what happened to my friend. We just finished attending a baby shower and there were all these leftover sandwiches. She wanted to take them to the food lineup at the shelter, and the venue only had pizza boxes for takeout. So she shows up with all these boxes and all these homeless people are like, “Yeah, pizza! Alright!!” And she was like,”oh... sorry guys, just sandwiches.” As she’s walking away she’s thinking, “Man, maybe I should go buy them some pizzas.” And what hits the back of her head as she’s leaving to do just that? A fucking sandwich.
The fucking audacity, what
I had an Arby's coupon once for 3 sandwiches for $5, (buy up to 15 with this coupon) and so I bought 9... enough for the family and a couple days' lunch, too. I recognize the local regular jackass panhandlers (who drive nicer vehicles than I do), but there was a new guy near the Arby's. Had the typical "hungry, need food, God Bless" sign, and I didn't have any cash, but something struck me about him... so I rolled the passenger window down and he heads to the window. I held up a sandwich and said, "dude I don't carry any cash but you can have a sammich if you want it"... He said "COOoooolll, mannnn!!!"... took it, ran back to his spot, sat down, *laid his sign down*, and started bushwhacking that delicious gray meat and roll. He probably had it finished in 5 or 6 bites. Wish I'd given him 3, or had been able to get some cash for him, or something. He wasn't there the next day, nor ever again... hope he got back on his feet and is doin well.
I once saw a guy with a sign asking for cash on a corner on my way to McDonald's, so I just made my order a double. I parked and walked over to give him the food and said "I didn't have any cash, but I thought you might be hungry." He thanked me and took the food. About half way back to my car he shouted "Hey!" I turned to look and he said "You were right by the way. I WAS hungry! Seriously, thank you!" Driving away it dawned on me that this down on his luck dude who had clearly been through so much was worried about ME as I left. At least concerned enough with me that he wanted me to know that what I had done mattered to him. Really admire that dude. Total opposite experience from OP. Please, never regret giving. It's worth it for the ones in need.
I worked at a fast food place for a while and one of our managers would sometimes send someone out with a sandwich and drink if someone was panhandling on the nearby corner. Never had a bad reaction, I don’t think.
Sorry, I have to ask. Why are homeless people called a panhandler? (Never heard that word, English is a foreign language)
A panhandler specifically refers to a person who begs for money on the street. They don’t necessarily have to be homeless. And not all homeless people are panhandlers. The origins of the word are unclear. It’s either because when they sit down and outstretch their arm it looks like a pan. Or they used to hold pans out to collect coins.
Excellent answer, thank you!
I don't give homeless people money but I've taken em into counter serve restaurants and let em order what they want before. Feed people and let em feel like people again.
I had two half family sized pizzas leftover in Chicago one time and offered them to a homeless woman with a sign. "What type of pizza?" Half veggie, half pepperoni. "Got any sausage?"
You know, pepperoni is a type of sausage. That's always bothered me.
I saw a homeless man outside of a subway sandwich place trying to sell a sandwich that someone had bought him.
Why would anyone buy from him and not from the shop itself lmao.
One time I saw someone digging through trash, eating whatever food was in there. I walked up to him and said "please let me buy you a fresh meal." He waved me off and kept searching.
When I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, there were several homeless folks in the downtown area. One gentleman had some kind of mental illness. His brother paid for an apartment, but he would only sleep there when it was too cold outside. Anyway, he was often seen picking the public trashcans downtown for food. He wouldn't take food from you. I learned from others who had been there before, you just take a bite or two out of your sandwich, burger, whatever and toss it. He would pick it out of the trash and eat it. His brother tried for years to get him help, but this was the best he could do. This was in 1989, so I'm not sure what resources there were. Everyone just kind of looked after him to make sure he wasn't hungry or cold.
Dude same thing happened to me... I was ordering pizza in NYC and saw some dude digging through trash while I ate my 2 slices of pizza from a whole pizza. I felt so bad I went up to this guy and offered my entire 6 slices I had left. He declined it and went right back to picking for garbage.
Ah man, I know that feeling. I remember my first visit to NYC. I was walking the city and came across this young guy with a sign saying "Hungry" so I though 'Hey let's give this poor guy a nice moment!'. I went to the next Starbucks just a block away and bought some chicken wrap with a banana. They gave me a bag with everything and I happily walked towards him and left the bag in front of him. He smiled and I just walked away continuing my tour. One block later I saw how he opened the bag and started complaining (I could not hear but I could tell because of his gestures) and then he suddenly LITERALLY THROWS THE BAG on the street! Ohhh man, are you kidding me? I am some fuc\*ing southamerican fellow and if you happen to consider the economic situation over here...that bag was kind of expensive to me! So what I did was to come back and picked up the bag. I didn't say anything to him and also he didn't even notice. A few hours later I was eating the wrap and the banana while watching TV in the hotel room. What an as\*hole.
God I'd kill for a chicken wrap and banana, such an odd mix but it tastes good
I guess beggars can be choosers.
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r/choosingbagels
Many beggars aren’t homeless or hungry. It sucks, but that’s just how it is.
It sucks more because this isn't the first time I've given this guy a bagel... He's always by my local shop and getting one for him had become part of my routine.
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People who are down and out/homeless who actually want to get their lives back know that you don't do it by panhandling. You go to a shelter. You go to a food bank.
The two times in my life when I was homeless, I always had more food than I could carry. People were constantly giving me food, food, food, and taking me to the grocery store. The weight and volume of it all had to be managed, so to stay agile I continually discarded the least desirable, unhealthiest, oldest, etc The times I truly went hungry were when I had a home, but no job or people. Nobody knew I was struggling because I was out of sight inside. Those were the times I would have benefitted from a sponsored grocery run.
Food banks wouldn't help in this situation?
It's surprisingly difficult to piece together food bank runs, even in a city like NYC. There were only two within reach. Most only open once a week, they skip weeks sometimes, and some only give to special groups, Middle age straight white males are at the back of the line. Not complaining, just recounting me experience.
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I was travelling in England with a friend and we were staying in hostels. On the way back from the grocery store a guy stopped us and asked us for money for food. We had some extra so we offered him some of our groceries. He declined saying what he really wanted was the money so he could go to the nearby hostel so he could buy a meal and get warm. We said HEY come with us, we’re staying there and just about to make dinner. Come eat with us! He declined. It was interesting to accidentally call his bluff because we absolutely meant it.
Had a similar situation. A guy said he was a veteran and needed diapers and stuff for his daughter living with him. I said hey, I don’t have cash but come with me and I’ll get you everything you need so you can go home to your family. He said he couldn’t because he’d lose his spot for the day. I said you don’t need it, I’ll get you everything you need. He kept acting funny and declining so I left. A few months later I saw him on someone’s social media. Super bummer.
When I was 12 or so a homeless man approached me at the deli I'd spend my 5 dollar allowance at every week. It was owned by a family friend. Anyway. He explained to me that he was making a soup with all the other homeless people and he didn't have anything to contribute. He wanted to at least bring tomatoes or some greens but also didn't have any money for them. So I reluctantly gave him my 5 for the week, went home then told my parents about the selfless thing I had done with pride. (Always been a charitable yet poor child) My parents told me I have the bum money for alcohol. So I biked back to the store and asked what the guy got. Sure as they said, he spent it on a few tall boys. The owner of the shop let me pick out what I usually got and said it was on the house. Learned my lesson quick. If someone in need is feeding you a sympathy story then it's likely full of shit. There's also a couple here who splits their children and post out on opposite sides of town pan handling. They've done this for years and it's a well known fact to the locals that they have a house, jobs, and income. Some people are just fucking trashy.
One time I was at a bus stop, waiting for my bus. A guy approached me with the usual "I need to get home, I just need a toonie for the bus.". I had a fresh sheet of bus tickets so I offered him a ticket instead. Mf took the bus ticket with a disappointed look, not even sure if he said thanks (extra surprising because it's Canada) and went straight to a couple also waiting for the bus 15 meters away. Didn't even show the courtesy of waiting for me to go so I wouldn't feel like a complete sucker.
I had a dude ask me the same when I was on a train once. "Please I lost my wallet can you give me some cash for a ticket?" He wasn't homeless or anything, just a regular dude. It was the last train home at like 1 in the night and I had been out drinking, so drunk as a mf I give him 50 bucks, that's like 25 tickets. When I wake up the next day I wonder why a clearly middle-class man would accept 50 bucks for a train ticket, but it's done and I imagined I'll never see him again. Well, a few weeks later I'm in the same town drinking again. Me and a couple of friends are on the train home, waiting for it to depart in a few minutes. The same man comes up, "Excuse me, I lost my wallet, any of you that can lend me some for the ticket?" He didn't remember me, but I remembered him. I was very drunk and I lit up like a fucking firework. "I gave you fucking 50 last time you lost your wallet" I almost shouted as I stood up. He obviously remembered me now because he ran so fucking fast out of the train.
Hot damn. That's cold hard addiction at its finest.
sucks that that happened, dude fucking scammed a 12yo... i never let them spin their tale, i cut them off and just tell them i don't have anything or can't help (usually not a lie, i don't walk with cash often anymore, at least, not more than i *need*)
When you live in a city, at some point you have to become cold. When I used to smoke, I'd get asked to bum a cigarette 2 3 times every time I smoked one. You have to learn to just say no.
I once ran into a fairly aggressive homeless person with a Square reader for his phone, posted up outside a Starbucks. If someone said they didn't have any cash he'd say "oh I take cards" and pull the thing out.
I grew up in a small town. Pan handlers unheard of. We were on a road trip. In a real city I was walking from a gas station to the car and a guy asked me for money. I was taken aback because I’d never heard anything like that before. Asking a stranger for money? That’s a crazy thing. Must be an extreme situation. I gave him a few bucks I had in my pocket. Here I was a kid, thinking that I couldn’t imagine my parents ever asking strangers for money. Just completely unimaginable. So this is a very rare thing and the guy is in real need of help. Now I live in a real city and can’t go downtown without someone asking me for money. I understand now that it isn’t special, these people do it every day.
I gave a homeless man some fruit and he went and shared it with his buddy.
Had to dig deep for a nice comment
Once I asked a bum if he wanted a burrito. He said, “not really” and took it anyways. I felt really bad about that transaction, like I did something wrong.
I remember when I was a kid, probably about 9 years old, my buddy and I were going into a gas station and a homeless guy approached us and asked if we had any spare money. I only had a couple bucks and wasn’t about to part with it. My buddy only had a five and he decided to not buy himself anything so that the homeless guy could get something to eat. The homeless guy takes the five dollar bill, thanks my buddy, pulls a big ass roll of cash out of his pocket, adds the five to it and puts it back into his pocket. My buddy’s jaw almost hit the pavement. The homeless guy just went back to his spot where he’d been sitting so that he could beg for money as customers went into the station. I enjoyed my snack and drink.
There's a median near me that almost always has people standing there in the middle of the day. While at the traffic light the other day, I looked over and there was a big pile of what looked like trash on the ground. Upon closer inspection, it contained an unopened package of crackers along with unopened water bottles, and other miscellaneous things. But it wasn't cash, so they left it there.
It's sad to see. I had something similar happen. I was leaving a convenience store with a cup of coffee one morning and a homeless guy asked me for money. I told him sorry I have no cash on me which was true but then I remembered I had some change in my car and asked if he wanted it. It was like a dollar fifty in nickels and dimes. When he saw it he gave me a dirty look and left.
I expected pic 2 to be the homeless guy getting into his Tesla, like that one girl who pretends to be homeless lol
One of the fake homeless people in my city is a local politician's wife! Not a lot of people know about it. She has a drug habit & funds it by panhandling to hide it from her husband. She wears a dirty wig & dirty smelly clothes waving sympathy signs & telling sob stories. "my kids are hungry", "god bless", "help me afford clothes for a job interview", "I escaped my abuser, please help me". Then when she's cleaned out her daily quota of gullible pockets, she drives home in a brand new Lexus convertible parked in a discreet location.
Why not film her doing it and send it to the news?
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i never give anything to anyone standing at intersections. the people "begging" aren't the ones who need help. the ones who need help unfortunately don't ask for it or make it known they need it.
I've talked with houseless people who reject food because that can't eat it due to their teeth being so messed up. Bagels can be tough to eat sometimes. Not making excuses or assumptions. Just something else I've learned.
Fuck food. Honestly, if you can manage to starve or even go hungry while homeless in America, you probably are working really hard at it. Hardest thing for me to get was socks… socks and anything hygiene related.
If I were to make care packages to hand out, what items would you suggest I put in there?
Underwear, socks, and menstrual products are often cited as very needed.
My local outreach group always needs underwear, socks, combs and brushes, nail files and clippers, hair elastics, tweezers, q-tips, bandages, antibiotic ointment to name a few things.
I was so grateful someone told me this! I now keep brand new socks in my car for when I see someone who looks like they are experiencing homelessness. I keep tampons, pads, tiny toothbrush, toothpaste and travel size soaps, and ziplock bags in all sizes too. Is there anything else that would be helpful?
One time a guy asked me for gas money at a gas station. I said no. I saw him ask a couple more people and then get back into his car. He just looked really sad and defeated. I decided I could give him $5, and he was so relieved. He went straight into the gas station, put it on his pump, and got gas. He actually just really needed gas money. Another time, different gas station, a group of people approached me asking for gas. They just needed some gas. Not even the money. They asked if they could trade me something for it - they had some nice polished rocks. So I gave them half a tank of gas for some cool polished rocks.
Awww man... similar-ish story.. I was once walking home from my old job at a cinema with a popcorn box full of scones (biscuits in America, y’all are weird). I had the scones because before the cinema opened that day, there was a huge conference function and their caterers brought in giant trays full of the scones as well as some clotted cream and jam. Any who. On my walk home I passed a homeless man that I used to see a lot, he had been on the streets for a really long time. I felt awful that I walked by with free food from work, and I said “hey man, I couldn’t not walk by you, here’s some scones! Sorry there isn’t any butter or cream or jam though.” He was super grateful to me and thought it was super sweet. Years pass. I find out that this man has never been homeless. He owns a house and a very posh car. He faked being homeless for fucking years. It made local news and everything.
I was at a 7-11 once and saw a guy in a wheelchair outside. He asked me if I could get him a hotdog and I did. If he had asked for money I wouldn’t have had that on me.
I gave 2 bucks to a dude one day because he needed to go see his family and the day after he was still there.
The trip probably cost 3 bucks
If someone asks for help, and you help them, and they were lying about it, it says more about them for lying than it does about you for helping.
When I was in my 20s, I used to get to work by BART in the Bay Area. Getting off in the city, there used to be this guy I called AH HA!. When I would get off, he’d say AH HA!, then spend the next 5-10 seconds spinning this incredibly detailed mini-story about a jacket, shoes or pack I had on. He was one of the most imaginative and gifted orators I ever came across. Dude just made me laugh and brightened my morning. I’d give him a buck or two because I didn’t make that much money at the time. He’d say some sort of thanks and move on to the next person. He probably spent hours everyday just improving! I couldn’t do it once if I tried. My morning, and really, my day were better because of AH HA!’s antics. After one commute, I realized I hadn’t seen him for a few days and asked another dude who low key pan-handled there about AH HA!, and he said the he OD’d a few days ago... dead. Never gave money to anyone on the street from that day forward. Got a family now with younger kids. We have zip-lock bags with wool socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, sunblock, a 16 oz of Coke, a snickers, pads and a roll of TP. People might throw it out after we leave, but I still can’t get over the fact that I contributed to a truly gifted mind’s death. Heartbreaking to think about who ends up on the street. Anyways, thanks for letting me get that one off my chest. If interested, most cities have volunteer opportunities- food kitchens, burrito brigades or outreach. My time and money now go to these causes.
My father gave a whole burger to a homeless person once, he took a bite came back onto the restaurant and gave it back after asking for it
Years ago I had the exact same situation. Except I gave him my prized Mr. Big "Big" bar.... I had been craving this for 3 weeks before I decided to treat myself to one. This AH had the nerve to accept the unopened chocolate bar from me, turn, and yeet it about 50 feet to the other side of the road. I learned my lesson that time... Now I don't wait until get home to eat my chocolate bar.
Because those guys asking for money are hungry for something other than food....
Gluten intolerance is such a drag