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do you ever give homeless people money?

I only refuse giving money to begging rings run by organized crime, not sure if that actually does anything about the problem instead of just making it change form if/when it stops being profitable. It's a ruse, the people are lucky to keep even a fraction of the amount they manage to collect before someone comes in a brand new car and collects it from them.. These people can be very aggressive in their tactics too, like forcing your attention and "gifting" you a flower while holding a baby with a sad face. If someone comes and just asks for booze money or whatever then why not. It's not like I have plenty of spare either, I fall into the poorest income class here but it's not like I have to give away a fortune either. You could ask me why and I'm not exactly sure either, it's just that I guess I like the idealistic notion that it would be nice to live in a world where someone - maybe once in a blue moon - would pay for my bus ticket too when I forgot the wallet at home or counted coins incorrectly. So it's a lead by example thing and who am I to judge who deserves it and who doesn't or how should they use this small amount of money so I try to keep it to a minimum.
 
harmacologist said:
money isn't a need for humans, we existed just fine without it.

I clearly want money more than a bum because I toil to acquire it.

The bums are welcome to go live in the woods and eat moss and squirrels and live without things bought and sold with currency if they choose not to get jobs.
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First thing, if you think the majority of homeless choose their way of life, maybe you should have told me that at 12 when one of the local homeless and his dog froze to death over night by the river on a -40C night...I'm sure he chose that outcome for selfish reasons.

Secondly, do not believe for a second that work done for money is somehow more difficult and thus deserving of a reward, than the work it takes to survive without any assistance.

To follow, I rarely give money to people who ask for it unless they are a little friendly, a little sociable, a little more intriguing. For the locals I always buy the guys smokes and coffees when I'm out working. But I also spend a lot of time on East Hastings Street in Vancouver, British Columbia while visiting friends, and I must say the thing most appreciated by people is when they are treated as equals. I once sat down on the cold sidewalk to share a cigarette with an old crippled man at 3AM...we ended up chatting and joking for hours.

No matter our path in life, all men just want to be treated with the respect they deserve.
 
I can't believe this thread is still going on. I hope the homeless are making some converts to giving out a little cash from time to time. Some of them are very decent folk who had a ton of undeserved shit fall on them. If a homeless has a dog for company and the dog likes them and doesn't show fear or abuse you've found a good person IMO. Dogs know better than humans who is decent.
 
Sure I will spare a dollar for homeless people. i don't like the aggressive types though... apparently there's a "Homeless Crisis" happening here. its all over the news and it really does make me feel for them.
 
It just depends on the situation. I get approached my homeless people asking for money quite often, and many times, shockingly often, they'll be talking about how they need money for food and are hungry. I have leftovers from where I just ate and no cash (I don't usually carry cash), and I say no, but I have food here you can have. And then they'll be like, nah man, and sometimes even get an attitude. In that case, no I'm not giving them money even if I do have cash at the time. But sometimes they'll be like, thank you so much, bless you, or whatever, and then the whole interaction feels great. Sometimes I give people money too, it just depends on how I judge the individual situation. I'm not trying to give a guy money to get booze or drugs, but for food or clothing, absolutely I would and do help someone out.

My good friend had a bank error happen recently, resulting in a negative balance, which he didn't realize when he rolled into a gas station with his car sputtering from running out of gas. His phone was also dead, so he had to ask people for a few dollars of gas so he could get home. He said it was such a degrading and demoralizing experience, because the vast majority of people would get this look of judgment and disdain and blow him off and mutter to themselves and shit, treating him like a sub-human. He finally got someone to be nice to him and do it, but he had to go through a half hour of degradation first. There is a huge problem with how people regard homeless people in the US at least, maybe everywhere. They're fellow humans with different circumstances, not detestable shitty sub-humans.
 
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Ok I give money to them. Don't give a crap what they do with it.

But I wasn't always like this. Being raised by a mom who was like "don't make eye contact, keep walkin!"
i grew up thinking they were to lazy and just wanted to get drunk. Then without paranoid mom, I begin feeling differently. If I have some money and can spare it. I will

but the one guy gets me everytime. He knows i love cats I think. He has trained this cat to sit relaxed on his shoulders while asking for money off i20. I feel other people probably are mean to him and maybe throw beer bottles that him and his cat in that makes me really sad. Because there something different about this dude, his wife is under the shade trees over there. And I don't think he wants his life to change. He's fine living this way. I respect that. I gave him $20 once and he yelled out to his wife "hey honey $20 more bucks and we will have us a hotel to stay in tonight. So I was like is the cat going to be sharing this room? And old
dude said "yeah he's my buddy" and I gave him $40 more. I don't know why. I just was so thankful he loved animals
But the way to my heart is thru an animal. Any animal. I see animal with homeless person "here ya go $50- now make sure that animal gets fed too!

Yeah im pretty crazy

It's sad to me but at the same time beautiful that we all so beautifully human

treading threader said:
i don't care what they do with it, if i have a little extra money that i don't NEED for something specific i'll give it to a homeless person. i'd hope for the same if i was in that position, but wouldn't expect it. i think the only time i turned down someone asking for money was in baltimore - and only because i'd been hit up so many times on the walk prior to then that i literally had nothing left. he did ask for me to take money out of the ATM, but i had to draw the line somewhere.
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^^^RIGHT ON!!!!^^

i feel the exact same way....
and yeah I would have had to drawn the line there myself (ATM withdrawal thing)
 
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If I have enough money I'll give homeless people cash on occasion, but sometimes I just don't. I'll also give them food and chat with them every once in a while.

I will say that I am FAR more likely to drop some cash into a busker's guitar case. I love it when people are playing music on the sidewalk.
 
If I have some change, I will give it to them.
It's a dog eat dog world, and I know the feeling of struggling.
Some of these people don't have addictions to feed, they made some mistakes and it's impossible for them to find a job.
Usually, someone loses everything, they become homeless.
They have no phone, no ID, no clean clothes.
How do you expect them to get a job?
Even shelters (around my area) require an ID to stay there.
It's a vicious cycle.

Hell, even if they have an addiction. I will still give them money.
I have been there once, and it's not fun.
I would rather them ask me for money, then break into my house or car to get it.
 
alasdairm said:
you sound like a nanny-state liberal, tbh.
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droppersneck said:
tumbleweed200.jpg
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thought so.

alasdair
 
I have a number of times but I don't usually carry cash and if I do it's just a couple bucks. Some say you should only give to shelters and such other wise you are only feeding their addiction (if they have one). I personally don't care if they spend it on food, clothes or drugs. Being an addict myself I can relate on needing a something to either feel better physically, emotionally or both. So if my small donation can help make their day suck just a little less then I'm happy to help.
 
The local gypsies have taken to using animals as props for their begging. They spend the day camped on every street corner with a puppy or a baby rabbit. At the end of the day, the beggar master comes around and collects their money, and they pack up the animals and take the metro back to their trailers. The whole operation is organized and professional, and each beggar is like a business franchise owned by the beggar master who keeps all the money, of course.
Sometimes I give a piece of fruit or candy to the beggar childern but never money because that is the only thing you can give to any beggar that they will be allowed to keep for themselves.
MocCozmiK said:
Ok I give money to them. Don't give a crap what they do with it.

But I wasn't always like this. Being raised by a mom who was like "don't make eye contact, keep walkin!"
i grew up thinking they were to lazy and just wanted to get drunk. Then without paranoid mom, I begin feeling differently. If I have some money and can spare it. I will

but the one guy gets me everytime. He knows i love cats I think. He has trained this cat to sit relaxed on his shoulders while asking for money off i20. I feel other people probably are mean to him and maybe throw beer bottles that him and his cat in that makes me really sad. Because there something different about this dude, his wife is under the shade trees over there. And I don't think he wants his life to change. He's fine living this way. I respect that. I gave him $20 once and he yelled out to his wife "hey honey $20 more bucks and we will have us a hotel to stay in tonight. So I was like is the cat going to be sharing this room? And old
dude said "yeah he's my buddy" and I gave him $40 more. I don't know why. I just was so thankful he loved animals
But the way to my heart is thru an animal. Any animal. I see animal with homeless person "here ya go $50- now make sure that animal gets fed too!

Yeah im pretty crazy

It's sad to me but at the same time beautiful that we all so beautifully human



^^^RIGHT ON!!!!^^

i feel the exact same way....
and yeah I would have had to drawn the line there myself (ATM withdrawal thing)
Click to expand...
 
If I've got change on me I'll give them some - after going through heroin addiction / mental health problems I can see how easy it is for people to end up on the streets. I don't care if they spend the money on drugs or booze, I hate it when people give them money along with a lecture on what they're allowed to spend it on. So much for true generosity / altruism.

Alternatively I will get annoyed if a beggar won't leave me alone and I've really got nothing to give them or they're far too aggressive in their begging. There is a limit.

One time a beggar looked at me and my friend in disgust when he was asking us for money and my friend said 'mate we're junkies we're just as skint as you' he walked off looking so pissed off, as if somehow we'd wasted his time and were beneath him as drug addicts...
 
I never carry cash the $10 I had was a friend who rented my inner tube while I was taking a piss
I bought her lunch which was more than $10 instead
giving mood
 
socko said:
The local gypsies have taken to using animals as props for their begging. They spend the day camped on every street corner with a puppy or a baby rabbit. At the end of the day, the beggar master comes around and collects their money, and they pack up the animals and take the metro back to their trailers. The whole operation is organized and professional, and each beggar is like a business franchise owned by the beggar master who keeps all the money, of course.
Sometimes I give a piece of fruit or candy to the beggar childern but never money because that is the only thing you can give to any beggar that they will be allowed to keep for themselves.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. But not surprising. I'm a sucker for animals and so are a lot of people. I guess the homeless picked up on that fast.

But I would still give that dude money if I see him..
 
I'll give change or maybe a dollar or two from time to time. I used to hit the spot then head to either kfc or Burger King to get right, I'd buy an extra sandwich or something cuz just off the exit this guy used to be there everyday, but he wasnt just begging he had these little pictures he'd painted. I probly bought like 10 of them over time, lol, but if I didn't have the extra cost of his art I'd give him the food. He was always grateful for anything given
 
yo seeing people struggling make me wanna hustle harder. i can fuck with some, like the woman sold me some hand made craft shit, other dude was trying to start a shirt hustle... ok take some change bruh.

like right now it's okay, you got at most... i give a $1, and i got motivation to hustle harder. cuz FUCK BEING BROKE!

not tripping if getting lied to or if they just gonna buy drugs/alcohol. that buck that bought the bottle could of struck the lotto. be down with it, let the chips fall where they may. out of sight out of mind.
 
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today i was standing on the corner with a crack user and his acquaintance. not sure what the acquaintance's deal was, but he was certainly in poverty. he was trying to off meth and laughing at himself for buying the wrong drug for the wrong city.

again, these two are in poverty. maybe not sleeping-in-the-alley homeless, but significant poverty. "street people" poverty. a drunk walks up trying to do the ID ruse, asking for $2. acquaintance and crack user are a minority race. drunk is white. the acquaintance instantly smiles, says, "i got you, don't worry about the ID, i'm just paying it forward," and gives the guy two singles. guy says, "thanks so much, i'll get you back if i ever can, i just need a beer so bad." acquaintance says, "don't worry about it; i totally understand that feeling, you enjoy that cold one." giving money away doesn't do much to improve my opinion of a person, but holy smokes. what a good guy. the poor widow.
 
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