Street corner beggars

Alfred

E. Deplorabus Unum
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I try to support charities with time and donations that are likely to make a difference for things I believe in. I'm sure most folks have a cause near and dear to their heart or a favorite way of helping.

But whats with the relatively recent trend of staking out an intersection , scribbling something on a sign and shaking down people passing through ? Some intersections have someone on all points of the compass like a tag team working their turf.

I must be a cold heartless pitiful wretch but it seems that standing in the hot sun on concrete all day, day after day trying not to get run over is kinda hard work, almost like a job ( that their sign says they cant work at.)

I'm sure my cynicism has me not handing money to some really needy folks and I will go straight to hell, but dammit there's one guy I saw who drives in, parks his van in a church parking lot and then walks over to his "spot" to resume panhandling for the day. :confused:
 
Outside of the charities I have and still donate to, I won't give anyone any money. If they tell me they're hungry, I'll buy them a meal. But I'm not giving cash to anyone.
 
Earlier this year my daughter and SIL saw a guy on a corner on Wendover Av. Then later that evening saw him get in a new BMW. I know for a fact that a friend of mine's BIL's car broke down and he was too lazy to go to a real job, got a cardboard sign a made the money to fix it in less than a day.
 
I have given them a bottle of water since standing in 95 degree heat is dang impressive but there is no way in hell is giving them a dime of my money. There are places they can go that will feed, cloth, shelter and help them get a job. If they chose not to take advantage of these benifits that is not my problem.
 
It’s not new. There was a guy 20 yrs ago or so that was doing this on Glenwood Ave. The local news went to do a piece on him and saw him getting into a newer car. When confronted, he said that he couldn’t get a job that paid him what he made panhandling. I want to say he claimed he pocketed $300-400/day doing it. That is when I stopped giving money to the panhandlers and only give to charities.

It sucks because I am sure there are legitimate needy people out there begging but the whole one bad apple ruins it for the rest kicks in. I used to stop at the same gas station every morning to get dip before work and got to know several of the homeless people that lived behind it. Some of the nicest people I have ever met but they never asked for money. They would ask instead for blankets or clothes and would actually start to cry when I would give them some. Those people I don’t mind helping one bit.
 
The ones that bring their kids along while they claim to be "homeless and hungry" really upset me.

A couple of times I have stopped and offered to get help for the kids ... by calling DSS to take the kids and put them in foster care. Nobody has been willing to take me up on that offer.
 
I would rob drug dealers before I would beg strangers. Go pick up trash in the parking lot at a large business, offer to tell a joke and if laugh, I give you a buck, or carve spoons out of pieces of pallet. If you have no job to work at all day, I need to see you put a little creativity in making money off strangers besides making the absolute crappiest sign and standing in one place for hours or hassling pedestrians that walk by your turf.
 
But whats with the relatively recent trend of staking out an intersection , scribbling something on a sign and shaking down people passing through ? :confused:

There are enough unfilled jobs that they can work. No money is given.

Now as for trying to shake me down, don't even think about it. A quick "I don't have any thing you want." If that doesn't work then they can see my Glock as I lay it in my lap.

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We had one guy on crutches w/o his leg at the corner of Capital Blvd and Spring Forest number of years ago,
at the end of the day a woman picked him up at the bank parking lot in a almost new Cadillac.

I worked second shift in IT data center when our fist daughter was born, parked cars at Hertz during the day and
then worked weekends at Best Buy selling computers and printers. I never asked anyone for handouts and don't give any out.

I believe there were twin ladies who were faking pregnancy and were busted for this but not in Raleigh.

At any Sheetz or McD, they are all over the place asking for money. Even inside the dining room.

"Hi, can I ask you a question"? Sure.
"Can I get a few bucks for gas...food......fill in the blank"?

My answer: "funny I was going to ask you the exact same thing, have a nice day".
Often they chuckle at me before they tell me something that is not very nice.
 
hoping to read a story from @DCGallim

I dont give them anything
Seen too many that are crooks (ie, the guy near HD in WS with a very nice pack and turns out he owns a home down the street...)
Now if I see someone in a parking lot/around town and can tell they really are in need - sure.
You can tell the difference.
-clothing
-on a bike with what appears to be all of their possessions in grocery bags
-no bs sign and cell phone (yep, I have seen that before)
 
Also - corner of Hanes Mall Blvd at HD - there's a guy with a dog there a lot of the time. He has a truck, it's typically at the Kohl's lot. You'll see it cause it's got the dog carrier in the back.
And he's got a woman friend who delivers him food daily, you can see him hiding in the bushes away from the road eating.
Screw that guy too.
 
When I'm in Vegas for work conferences I like to go for a run down the strip and sunrise. Nice to get outside of the conference center and enjoy the desert morning. Often you'll catch the panhandlers setting up in the morning; they try to hide their starbucks and phones as you run by.

The whole begging thing is pretty old news where I'm from. Sad to see it start here, but don't feel sorry for those guys. They're making plenty of money and it's all tax free. yea, it's hot outside and sometimes miserable, but then I've watched guys doing roofing in this weather. Now that's gotta suck.
 
a few years ago there was a bad snow storm probably snowed a foot that night. I was pulling duty at the jail and there was a homeless man that had been turned away from the homeless shelter because he had been drinking. I came in and saw him with old penny loafers and remembered I had a pair of old shoes in the back of my truck. So I went out got them and thawed them out and grabbed my extra jacket from my bad weather pack. I gave them to the guy and he must have had small feet because with 4 pair of socks on they fit him. Even though he had an okay couple jackets I gave mine to him and it wasn't something normal it had a unique color.
So about 3 weeks later there was a different homeless guy arrested for setting someone's house on fire. He was wearing my coat so I'm not sure if the guy traded it for booze or just got it taken.
 
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For many years there was a double-amputee on an old gurney who begged in front of the Bank of America Plaza building at Trade and Tryon in Charlotte. He normally did not say anything or have a sign - he just had a styrofoam cup for donations on the corner of the gurney. One morning I watched a young lady walk by his gurney and he knocked the donation cup off right behind her. Thinking she knocked the cup down, she stopped and picked up all of the money from the sidewalk and then dug into her purse to give him some folding money.
 
Outside of the charities I have and still donate to, I won't give anyone any money. If they tell me they're hungry, I'll buy them a meal. But I'm not giving cash to anyone.
This hits the nail on the head. I always offer to buy a meal if they ask for money. I can count on one hand how many times I've been taken up on it.
 
Sometimes I give them money, most times not.
 
Was impressive to see Marty Ravellette work. https://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2033593/
Generally speaking, if they can stand out in the weather, turn there neck in all directions and walk from median to car to car, I don't see why they can't work. Don't have to be a rod buster or a brain surgeon to earn a living. Reckon a lot of it has to do with where ones head is or isn't.
 
At one time I was in the food business - I sold food and supplies to restaurants, daycares etc
Anyway, one day Im over near Baptist in WS and I parked at a little Greek spot and was going to walk to another restaurant a 1/4 mile away afterwards. As Im going by this c-store this guy approaches asking for money for food. In his hand was a large, cylindrical shaped item in a brown paper bag that he kept putting to his mouth. Dude had a beer, a large one.
He said he was heading to rehab and was hungry, didnt like the food the hospital gave him.
I had a whole case of waters in my car, told him that if he had bought some food instead of booze I'd have helped him out, but he had made his choice and I wasnt going to give him anything
 
I was running a service call for a pizza joint when a man in a three piece suit approached pretending to be a preacher.He pointed to a church van across the street at a service station and said he needed money for his choir to pay the repair bill and get gas. I pulled out a twenty when the manager of the establishment came out and said don’t give him a dime that the van had been sitting there for over six months and he worked that scam on a daily basis. Guy laughed as I put the twenty back in my pocket. Told him he was headed straight to Hell upon death.
 
There is a guy that sits out by 15-501 going into Chapel Hill at the Cole Park Plaza. He holds his sign and smokes his cigs. His truck is sitting in the McDonald's parking lot full of firewood for sale. I worked in the shopping center and watched him do this for years. I have been at a new job for almost two years now and went by to visit my old co-workers the other day. Ole duder still standing out there begging. If you can cut a load of firewood you can work a job!
 
For many years there was a double-amputee on an old gurney who begged in front of the Bank of America Plaza building at Trade and Tryon in Charlotte. He normally did not say anything or have a sign - he just had a styrofoam cup for donations on the corner of the gurney. One morning I watched a young lady walk by his gurney and he knocked the donation cup off right behind her. Thinking she knocked the cup down, she stopped and picked up all of the money from the sidewalk and then dug into her purse to give him some folding money.

I saw that guy! It had to had been around 1990 or '91 when I stayed in Charlotte for the night. Lol.
 
I had a coworker that said his brother was a professional panhandler. He said the best money is made between noon and 3pm on Sundays.

I wonder why? Lol.
 
There are enough folks that I know personally that need help that I try to help. In the 70s the person that was head of the United Fund in Florence County aske if she could give her husband a birthday party at our home. I knew him from High School so I told her..sure! She brought in cases of half gallons of every kind of liquor I had ever seen. All of them marked on the top...Florence County United Fund.
 
It’s getting worse lately, or it seems that way. But it’s not as bad as it can get
Anyone visited one of the ultra-liberal cities who have rolled out the red carpet for them? Roseburg OR has packs of bums sleeping the day away in every city park and begging on every major corner. Nobody is making any pretense of looking for work, and the scent of ganja is heavy in the air.
 
Saw a fellow in Winston walking around the Hanes Mall Blvd area...appeared a bit confused.

Rolled down my window, asked what he was doing and if he needed any help. He said, "Nah...I walk the town and keep a-searchin' all around." I asked, "For what?" and he said, "My street corner girl."

I said, "Damn...hate to hear that." He said, "Yeah...I got a woman who wants to ball all day, won't be true and stays drunk all the time, but hey hey, what can I do? I got a little woman and she won't be true."

Told him, "Dude...you oughta write a song about that."
 
Saw a fellow in Winston walking around the Hanes Mall Blvd area...appeared a bit confused.

Rolled down my window, asked what he was doing and if he needed any help. He said, "Nah...I walk the town and keep a-searchin' all around." I asked, "For what?" and he said, "My street corner girl."

I said, "Damn...hate to hear that." He said, "Yeah...I got a woman who wants to ball all day, won't be true and stays drunk all the time, but hey hey, what can I do? I got a little woman and she won't be true."

Told him, "Dude...you oughta write a song about that."

I hope you get some kickback checks for that advice lol
 
I have given them a bottle of water since standing in 95 degree heat is dang impressive but there is no way in hell is giving them a dime of my money. There are places they can go that will feed, cloth, shelter and help them get a job. If they chose not to take advantage of these benifits that is not my problem.
I tried giving a guy a couple bottles of water on a hot summer day in CLT and he declined them saying he needed cash for a hotel room! I laughed said something smart out of disbelief and drove off.

Now on the other hand, at the Huntersville WM, I gave a guy a couple bottles of water and he was super thankful. When he saw that I had a case of water in my trunk, his eyes lit up, I asked if he wanted a few more and he couldn't say "Yes, please" fast enough.

I no longer find it worth my time to carry water in my trunk for the homeless/beggars, but that's about all I'll give them. I'd MUCH rather pay for someone's groceries when I see them digging for change and can tell that their kid is excited to be getting some food; even better if it's a vet.

Since my wife is a teacher, we have enough deserving kids to share our time, money, and hearts with. She even mentors a little girl with a terrible story but much brighter future. I'm guilty of going a little overboard for christmas for her haha.
 
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At least they haven't started washing your windshield and then demanding money like I've heard they do in other places.
That happened to me in Miami back in the 90's. I tapped on the windshield with my .357 and waved him off.

Homey don't play that game.
 
When I worked in NY City 1985, at Penn Station this big huge guy walked with a crutch and limping left leg,
all bandaged up in rags and old flannel shirts, head wrapped too, 6'8" big guy.
He would limp walk with huge Choc Full Nuts coffee can shaking the change he would collect.

I was on my way home early one day and being an IT guy I remember faces and more then that,
same guy walking down 7th Av without any limp and dressed better then I was, looked at him and he
gives me this Cheshire Cat grin. Yup. Another scammer.
 
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In Boston this guy got on the subway and had this pant leg up, a bunch of scars all over it, from what I dont know, but he was going on about needing money for surgeries etc
This lady piped up, with her thick Boston accent, and said, "Look at your shoes! Theyre nicer than mine and I bust my ass every day!"
We got a good chuckle and she then said something like, "I see him at least once a week on here with that bs sob story"
 
There was a guy at White Oak shopping center near Raleigh and his sign said something along the lines "Homless, hungry, dog hungry". I had some fries I was going to throw out and asked him if he wanted them. He looked the part (what I would consider a homeless look), sounds bad for judging but some people are wearing nice and too clean of clothes. Anyway he took them and he feed his dog most of them and he ate what little was left. Hit a cord so went bought a 10 pound bag of dog food and meal.
 
There was a guy at White Oak shopping center near Raleigh and his sign said something along the lines "Homless, hungry, dog hungry". I had some fries I was going to throw out and asked him if he wanted them. He looked the part (what I would consider a homeless look), sounds bad for judging but some people are wearing nice and too clean of clothes. Anyway he took them and he feed his dog most of them and he ate what little was left. Hit a cord so went bought a 10 pound bag of dog food and meal.

Nice gesture - when I sense its the real deal I don't mind helping them at all. Was at a Walmart last year and there was this guy alternating between sitting down on a curb and getting up and attempting to wobble walk across the parking lot. Sit stand wobble sit. Dude was a mess, dirty, torn clothes, obviously drunk as a skunk. One of the other people there recognized him from their church and we both started trying to get him to stay put so he didnt get nailed by a car. I grabbed waters from my truck to hydrate him and we got him calmed down a bit, the person from his church offered to take him there to get cleaned up and some food, so we half carried him to the car. Wasnt an ugly drunk, but a guy who was in that moment totally lost and grateful that we helped out.
 
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