Panhandlers

[Raphael]

Y'know, I do feel bad that some people are living on the streets, have no money coming in, and have to beg for money.  I even try to give them the benefit of the doubt when they say the money is for food, or coffee or bus fare. 

It's hard to be sympathetic when you see one texting, and quite easily (so this wasn't a new thing to him), on a cell phone that is better than the one I'm using, however.   

[Michaelangelo]

Yeah, I learned as a kid that things are not what they seem with those guys.  My mom made friends with one that was at a corner she'd have to go by all the time.  He was a window washer...  and learned his real story...

He had a job, a good job was bringing in money and such doing well.  His brother was a window washer, out there begging for money... one day his brother couldn't get to his corner and asked for him to fill in.  So he did, and was surprised to see he brought in more money doing this window washing than he was at his own job.  So he started to do this, and came down to the point that he was able to quit his real job and just do this full time, making more than he did at work. 

Because of this we don't give money to people asking for it, we give them drinks, my mom use to give him a can of diet coke when ever we'd go by there.  And that's what we do, if we see them and they come at our car and we just left a fast food place, we hand out the carry out boxes.

Another time I learned about this was when I would hang out at a gas station at night on 8 Mile road, not the smartest thing since I already knew someone who was killed in this gas station... but the person working it was a Karate student of mine.  So I swing in to talk with her... being on 8 mile she sees a lot of people who beg for money... and told me what they buy... they don't buy food... they buy beer and cigs.... that's their main sales to those people.

So yeah, want to help those people... give them food... see how they react, if they're real they'll be very happy with getting the food... if they're just there to get money... they'll be a bit disappointed.

[Raphael]

Yep, giving them money is a bad idea. If they really want the money for food/drink then that's the only way to handle it. The problem is that there are usually a number of them on some of the major streets around here, and if you give to one, the others expect it too.

It's actually against the law here to rush out into traffic and clean someone's windows. Gov't thought it was a tad too dangerous.

[BubblyShell22]

Mom and I see people with signs that say people need money for food by our Wal-Mart. We don't give them a thing because most of the time these people will scam you and use it for other things. What I don't understand is that they're out there with plenty of places that would hire them in a heartbeat, yet they don't apply there. If they really need the money, they should go where the jobs are. My uncle saw this guy who needed work, and my uncle said he'd get him a job, but the guy said he didn't want to work. Okay, all he wanted was a handout. That gets on my nerves.

[Raphael]

We had a guy approach us today, as we got out of the car in the hotel parking lot, looking for food. We ended up giving him what was left of a can of Pringles, which he was very appreciative of.  Didn't mind doing that...

[ResidentEvil7]

The evening I was heading back to the train from the Ninja Turtles tour in Chicago the first day, I was approached by a bumb who wants to know if I'm religious.  I said "yes" not to offend him if he really is a religious person.  And he aks me for $5 and when I told him I don't have any, he gave me that "uhh" body language, and I was off.  You know what even if I had money to give him, I wouldn't give it to him.  Where does it end?  If I gave $5 to every pandhandler I bumb into on the streets of Chicago, I would have to work hard just to make up a big loss.  And you know what I never feel sorry for those who are on the streets pennyless; they must of done something to get them to that destiny.  My best hint for these street bumbs is "get off your dead butt and get a job; it pays better!"  I don't fee like killing myself on a job just to take care someone who doesn't even want to do anything for themselves.  I understand it's not easy getting a job no-a-days, considering the visious cycle those internet applications create, but still get a job and get off the streets, they wouldn't have to beg for someone else hard work earnings.

[Wyrm]

Eh, when I was younger I felt bad for these guys and tried to give them something but as I got older I started to see their cons. Now, if they're really poor/hungry or whatever then I don't mind giving something out if it's for food or something like that. I was downtown one day and one guy asked for money and said he needed it to buy cigarettes....okay? why would you tell me that? Anywho, I don't feel sorry anymore. Everytime I walk by the train station or 7-11 I have to get harassed by these guys and I don't want to sound bad for saying this but they chose their own fate as far as I'm concerned. Some have legitimate problems and are forced into that situation while most are drug addicts and or drunks. For example, last night a friend and I walked to 7-11 to get a cup of coffee and there was some guy our age (about 18-22) who looked like a gangster and made us shady just by looking at him. He had his phone out and a tattoo on his face and he was begging everyone who walked in for money. He looked like he didn't need money but as we were making our coffee we saw him walking around stealing stuff and stuffing it into his pockets. He then asks us for change and we said we couldn't help him. So we go up to pay for the coffee and he's like right behind me looking at what I'm doing and is asking me for $5. I told him no, we walk out, and dude jumps into a car and drives away.......these dudes ruin it for everyone else...

[ResidentEvil7]

You know when ever someone asks for money so they can buy cigaretts or booz, then I say "to hell with you."  You don't need cigaretts or booz.  Food yes.  And this kind of reminded me of a time two years ago in my town where after enjoying the Festival of the Vines which includes wine tasting for free.  After that, I rode by bike a block down that same road and took a break on the train station platform on the bench.  There was a homeless bum sitting there, and he fell in love with my bike, go too close to me to the point he was making me uncomfortable and uneasy about if he'll steal my bike, since it looks a lot better than his.  I made a casual mentioning to this bum that the wine festinval is in town, and he got all excited and said that I'm going down there to get drunk.  I was very sickened by this homeless bum that doesn't want to work, but get drunk to the point I said to myself "there is NO WAY I'm going to turn out like this, I'm darn-well will get even more serious about looking for work and keep myself away from low-lifes like him." And I have been super serious about getting a job, but no matter what I do that first experience is that hard one to get, and it's taken me X amount of years.  But I will not stop nor give up, and I will not give up on my Best Buy career either, even though 4 interviews among 4 locations have failed this year.  There is always next year, and with the new research I'm doing on retailers, DVD/Blu-Ray/Video Game alternate recommondations and the do's/don'ts of job interviews, it'll be a matter of time before I get a job and one that will take me to Best Buy.  I'm not going to choose the fate of being a homeless bum like a worthless panhandler!  I'm better and more intelligent than that.

[BubblyShell22]

Yeah, same here. I've had a hard time getting a job, but I'm going to do online tutoring so I can put my degree to some use. I don't ever want to end up like these people you see. Most of the time, these people have good cars that are hidden away to make it seem like they're down on their luck. That's just the way they are.