Insistent panhandler

[Ben]

Many years ago I was in DC for something, and was walking up to a metro (panhandlers used to really congregate around the metro; still do, but not as much anymore, I think many have moved to street corners).

I can't remember which stops anymore, but man, I remember it used to be really bad at the metro with the aggressive panhandling, especially at night. I can't help but think much of that was enabled by people like my liberal girlfriend at the time who lived there and acted like paying them was as normal as paying your electric bill. Sometimes it was easier just to take the damn taxi. 

[K Frame]

I can't remember which stops anymore, but man, I remember it used to be really bad at the metro with the aggressive panhandling, especially at night. I can't help but think much of that was enabled by people like my liberal girlfriend at the time who lived there and acted like paying them was as normal as paying your electric bill. Sometimes it was easier just to take the damn taxi. 

Du Pont Circle was particularly bad. I think that's where that incident might have happened, because I think I was down there on a job interview or visiting a friend who worked in the area at the time.

Woodley Park, the one for the National Zoo, was also quite bad, as the panhandlers figure they're hitting up families on an outing, and the last thing Mom and Dad want to do is be aholes in front of their little ones...

[Declaration Day]

I've been to DC twice in my life, once on a middle school honor roll trip, and again on a solo trip just over two years ago.  I remember panhandlers EVERYWHERE on the first trip.  They lined the national mall, most of them shaking cups with change.  I only encountered  handful of them on my second trip.  One lady just kept repeating "penny for a sandwich?" to passersby.  I responded "Lady, if sandwiches cost a penny here, I'm moving!"  I didn't give her anything.  I did give some pocket change to a beggar in a wheelchair, but only because my phone was brand new and I didn't want the coins to scratch it.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I won't give them money. A few times I've considered doing the whole homeless person kit (little ziplock baggie with useful items for hygiene and such) and around Christmas I got some Starbucks giftcards and almost stopped to get coffee and just hand it out as I went down the road, but since I have no interest in having hot coffee thrown back in my face or something like that, I decided not to.

Besides, I'm not exactly that much higher on the financial totem pole and I really don't have a few bucks to spare anyway.

As far as I can see, there are resources out there (at least around here) and if they want real help to actually get out of their situation utilizing those resources is going to get them much further than asking for money on the street corner. If I give them money, I enable their behavior. It's their right to live the way they want and make the choices they make, but I don't have to support it.

[230RN]

Declaration day remarked,

"I didn't give her anything.  I did give some pocket change to a beggar in a wheelchair, but only because my phone was brand new and I didn't want the coins to scratch it."

There, see?  Enlightened self-interest.

There were times in my life where any given beggar's net worth was probably bigger than mine.

[Monkeyleg]

Years ago a guy came up to me in downtown Milwaukee. He told me he had been a teacher, but lost his job, his wife and family, all because of his drinking. He said that if I gave him money, he would use it to go and drink. I thought that was novel, so I gave him a couple of bucks.

I've read that panhandlers can make pretty good money.

I remember just a few years ago the San Francisco city council was debating a bill to give panhandlers credit card terminals so they could get more money.

[K Frame]

the San Francisco city council was debating a bill to give panhandlers credit card terminals so they could get more money.

 

[makattak]

I'm reminded of the Sherlock Holmes story where a rich man turns out to be a beggar because he made so much more money doing that than his "respectable" job.

The scamming is, apparently, an old problem.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[230RN]

Westword, a fairly decent weekly hereabouts did a survey about ten years ago and found an average income from panhandling was about 30 grand.  So that's about 40K nowadays, less a guessed 10% bragging factor, that makes 34 K for nowadays.

Taaaaax freeeeeee.

[K Frame]

Then you hear the stories about the panhandler who leaves his "station," walks a couple of blocks, and gets into a luxury car to drive home.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2832002/Mercedes-Benz-beggar-confronted-panhandling-time-carrying-newborn-child-DENIED-owning-luxury-car.html

[K Frame]

This one's even better...

http://pix11.com/2014/10/03/man-goes-off-on-elderly-panhandler-after-seeing-her-get-into-new-car/

Hey, she's got a permit! She's not doing anything wrong!

And that, folks, is why I'll help organizations, but not individuals.

[LadySmith]

The last time I was approached by a beggar, I didn't have to say a word. It was late at night at a gas station. He came walking up to me and I gave him a look warning him not to get any closer. He stopped and said he was just going to ask for money to put gas in his car because blah-blah-blah. I looked at my car (old beat-up but reliable work horse), I looked at his car (a lot newer and shinier), and then I looked at him. He slunk away.
I also don't believe in giving panhandlers money, but I will feed them if I feel like it...and their dogs too, if they have one. I've yet to run into a beggar with a cat.

[230RN]

Yeah, there was one at the intersection of Kipling and I-70 every day.  One day it started to rain as I waited at a traffic light and he packed up his sign and walked toward the parking lot and got in a tricked-out shiny new pickup truck.

As I said, I ain't smart enough to tell the difference between the genuinely needy and the grifters, so I don't give anything to panhandlers any more.

[grampster]

Panhandlers used to be part of the quirkiness of KW.  The city established two spots in the city where they can beg.  Cops began arresting them for panhandling and one of them sued the city for violating his constitutional right to beg as it was an abridgement of his free speech.  The court agreed so the city created the Designated Begging Zone.  Another diminishing of the KW flavor but creating another.

One guy used to walk around in a huge box with holes cut out for arms and legs.  He wrote across the front of the box...."Will work for clothes."   Another guy used to sit on the curb with a sign that said, "I ain't gonna kid ya, I just want the money for beer."   Another guy used to sit in the alcove of a doorway of a closed store with a bowl and a sign asking for money.  One day, he slid back deeper into the doorway and was eating a sub sandwich.  I guy walked up and threw a couple bucks into his bowl.  The beggar yelled at the guy, "What the hell do you think your doing, can't you see I'm on my lunch break?"

[Hutch]

Couple of years ago I was heading home from work outside the metro when this probably 20 something kid claiming to be a college student hit me up for cash. Said his father had had a heart attack and he needed to get back to his dorm.

Just didn't ring true to me (I'm a skeptic), so he asked to use my phone... Nope, sorry, it's a government phone. I did give him a cigarette.

About a month later I was heading home and was at a different metro stop in Virginia, and he hits me up again, with the EXACT SAME STORY.

He didn't recognize me at all. I told him his father should ask the doctors why he was having a heart attack a month, and if he was really on that kind of schedule, maybe the son ought to put some money away for heart attack travel day...

Panhandler in the parking area of a gun show did the same thing on consecutive days to me.  I told him his story was better the first time.  I have resolved to nevereverever give a dime to anyone I don't know.

[K Frame]

Panhandlers used to be part of the quirkiness of KW.  The city established two spots in the city where they can beg.  Cops began arresting them for panhandling and one of them sued the city for violating his constitutional right to beg as it was an abridgement of his free speech.  The court agreed so the city created the Designated Begging Zone.  Another diminishing of the KW flavor but creating another.

One guy used to walk around in a huge box with holes cut out for arms and legs.  He wrote across the front of the box...."Will work for clothes."   Another guy used to sit on the curb with a sign that said, "I ain't gonna kid ya, I just want the money for beer."   Another guy used to sit in the alcove of a doorway of a closed store with a bowl and a sign asking for money.  One day, he slid back deeper into the doorway and was eating a sub sandwich.  I guy walked up and threw a couple bucks into his bowl.  The beggar yelled at the guy, "What the hell do you think your doing, can't you see I'm on my lunch break?"

Assuming KW is Key West?


The "quirky" panhandlers are at least entertaining.

There was a guy panhandling outside the Foggy Bottom metro (stop for George Washington University and the Department of State) a couple of years ago when I was heading home from work.

"WHO CAN SPARE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS? ANYONE? HOW ABOUT A MILLION? WHO CAN SPARE A BILLION DOLLARS TO HELP A POOR MAN OUT TODAY?"

He was at least amusing.

Then there are the ones who would ambush you while you were on the metro, completely captive.

It got to the point for awhile that I'd always carry headphones with me and stick them in my ears and plug them into my phone whether I was actually listening to them or not (most often not).

Then I'd close my eyes and count the stops until I had to get off.

Worked 99% of the time.

[Hawkmoon]

Then there are the ones who would ambush you while you were on the metro, completely captive.

It got to the point for awhile that I'd always carry headphones with me and stick them in my ears and plug them into my phone whether I was actually listening to them or not (most often not).

Then I'd close my eyes and count the stops until I had to get off.

Worked 99% of the time.

You're lucky one of them didn't just grab your phone while your eyes were closed, and boogie.

[MechAg94]

I don't think I have any good stories.  I would just say that most every time I have given more than spare change directly to someone begging I have regretted it because I either knew or figured they were lying.  These people make a profession of begging and doing whatever it takes to get people to part with money.  I would rather give charity to groups like the Salvation Army or Texas Children's Hospital.  I have more confidence they will do something worthwhile with it even if the same panhandlers are hitting them up also.

On the beggar pimps, from what I have heard nearly all the panhandlers around Houston are dropped off in the morning and picked up in the evening.  I imagine they are rotated around a bit also.

[MechAg94]

I seem to remember almost thinking the same thing a while back when I drove through a very small town near my parent's home.  There were Lion's Club (?) guys at the cross roads (no stop lights in that town) asking for donations.   

[makattak]

Last time I gave money to a beggar, I had to applaud his technique. I'm quite impressed at how adept they become at manipulating people. (He started off with a veiled accusation that I was racist: "You don't have a problem with black people, do you?" GREAT way to put the mark on the defensive without outright accusing them. I was seriously in awe of how useful that tactic must be.)

I have to wonder if it's instinct or if it's taught to them.

[K Frame]

You're lucky one of them didn't just grab your phone while your eyes were closed, and boogie.

Never held it in my hand. Kept it in my messenger bag or my pocket.

[K Frame]

Last time I gave money to a beggar, I had to applaud his technique. I'm quite impressed at how adept they become at manipulating people. (He started off with a veiled accusation that I was racist: "You don't have a problem with black people, do you?" GREAT way to put the mark on the defensive without outright accusing them. I was seriously in awe of how useful that tactic must be.)

I have to wonder if it's instinct or if it's taught to them.

Oh, I've gotten that line before.

I just ignore it and walk on.

Let's be realistic... if he starts going on about what a racist I am for not giving him money, no one is going to give a *expletive deleted*it because:

1. Chances are good they know he's a begger and

2. They're just glad that someone else is the center of attention.

[MechAg94]

"Yes, I am" and keep going.  Do you really care what he thinks?  I think that would just tick me off.

[makattak]

Oh, I've gotten that line before.

I just ignore it and walk on.

Let's be realistic... if he starts going on about what a racist I am for not giving him money, no one is going to give a *expletive deleted*it because:

1. Chances are good they know he's a begger and

2. They're just glad that someone else is the center of attention.

Oh, I'm aware of the proper response, but I was still impressed by it, as it was the first time I'd encountered it. Good psychological manipulation for ensuring the mark listens a little longer.

It loses it's value as the mark is exposed to it more, but for the unsuspecting (I'm assuming these beggars aren't betting on repeat "business"), it's quite effective.

[HeroHog]

These leaches would hang around the bus station near the base where bootcamp was and hit up the fresh boots with the "help a vet" tact. I had one get all up in my face and threaten me when I called his *expletive deleted*it. He never touched me. It probably had something to do with being a large, fit 18 year old who was smiling the whole time like he thought a fight would be fun. Yes, at the time, I was hoping he'd make the first move.

I'm feeling MUCH better now. Meds and life will do that for you...