Do you give homeless people money?

I voted No, but I have on occasion. Very seldom occasions.

 

Yes, but only if I feel a spiritual conviction.

The first one I ever gave money to, when I was filling up with petrol, she said she needed a coke. I gave her a couple bucks for a coke, and she walked away, going around the store.

I had one ask for some money while exiting WalGreens. I asked what for, he said he was stranded on this side of town and needed bus fare and to eat. There happened to be a KFC across the street, so we went in and I bought him a meal. I had to 'force' him to get a little more than a piece of chicken and a side. He was pretty nice, and was grateful.

I was filling up a year or so ago, and there was an older ragged out mini-van. They didn't ask for 'money', instead they tried to sell me a rap album. They were musicians, rappers. I hate rap, but I bought one of their cd's. They were nice guys, talked respectfully, so I was surprised that they were a 'gang rap' or whatever you call it. One of the songs was F the police. lol Didn't like it.

 

Who was the comedian that said:

"If you cant make it in America, where the hell are you gonna go? Homeless in South America would beat your ass to be homeless here."

 

Volunteering for something like Frontline is a better way to give.

 

I gave a homeless man a job once. I fronted his rent near his place of work and gave him $3 above minimum wage to sweep a warehouse floor, he still works at the same building but with a forklift license and I didn't tell anyone but the floor manager why/how he was hired.

The only downside is I can't walk into that building anymore, he makes eye contact and rushes over to me every time and I find it annoying.

 

What do you expect?

I would do that too if you saved my life, which -to him- you doubtlessly did.



Sadly, my homeless employment experiments all ended in disaster.

 

Around here, the experiments don't make it beyond the curb when you tell a guy with a "Will work for food" sign you actually expect him to!

 

Living in Detroit I get approached multiple times a day. I no longer give out money.

 

My area does not have homeless, only well dressed, groomed career beggars with their Caddy or BMW parked on the other side of the shrubs. These people have some gall. The homeless are downtown near the shelter. It's a rare day when I ever get downtown, let alone see them, so no.

 

That is pretty much what happened here, too.

Except in one case, I concluded that the ones I tried to help... did not want to be helped. They would rather live on the street than work for a "better" life.

 

My guy wasn't on the street long so I guess he was "saveable".

 

Not usually. I like to know the money is going to really be used for a good purpose. I've paid for something to eat etc.

 

I've done that too but actually brought the food out and handed it to the guy.

 

Some of the beggars downtown could be entertaining, and I'd give them something every now and then. But the beggars on the North Side are tough to deal with. One woman will spend over an hour trying to fish a quarter out of a parking meter. I see her doing it all the time--funny thing is, a lot of them are broken and don't have any money in them! I wonder if I offered her a job at the sky-high rate (relatively) of $.50/hour what she'd say?

 

This is the only guy I've ever given money. I was so intrigued by his sign, I pulled over and went to talk to him. I gave him a couple bucks, he had a pretty believable story about being a broke,minor league hockey player who had a career ending massive knee operation that he was trying to rehab... he was pretty athletic looking, had a fresh surgical star and a canadian accent. I'm not saying I believed him, but at least he had an original bit.

Here is the sign he was holding. I didn't make him do the pushups.
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Usually buy them food, don't want to give them the money and have them use it for other things.

 

Like an education?

 

Wait wait wait. The actual group that sang that song was selling albums out of their trunk and you bought one? You know who that is right?

 

I have before but not normally. I normally don't carry much cash with me since I don't have to. Also, I'm not going to say they are all going to spend it on drugs or whatever, but you never know. Apparently there was a guy around here who was just pretending to be homeless in the day and actually made a lot of money haha. I do, however, feel really sad for them. I feel very bad because of everything I have that I take for granted everyday. It wakes me up. I don't like to judge them either. A lot of people harshly say they deserve it or they messed their life up. Maybe whatever they did is why they are homeless, but we don't know everyones story...

 

Im sure they were bootleg CDs or something to that effect... NWA wasnt selling CDs out of a van...lol

 

I have a couple trains of thought on this subject.

If I see an older person that is disabled in some way i will usually give them something.

If its one of those younger 'fun loving' homeless that are dancing around and straight up honest that they need some more booze...Ill also usually give them something.. its their lifestyle choice and I respect the honesty and they make me laugh.

The rest of them I usually give the Jim Carey answer. When they say 'can you spare some change?' I reply ' YES! I CAN !" and simply keep walking.

I was once at a traffic light and a homeless guy came up to me and said he hadnt eaten in X amount of days and couple I spare a couple bucks... I happened to have about $30 worth of leftovers from the restaurant I was coming home from. I handed them to him. I coupld instantly see in his eyes thats NOT what he wanted. He tried to hand it back and said he couldnt eat all that food and a couple bucks would be fine. i said 'no no...keep it' and he got pissed and threw it on the ground.

 

once a homeless guy came up to me and and asked for money saying he hadn't had a bite in a week. so i bit him. (rim shot) couldn't get the taste out of my mouth all day. thank you, i'll be here all week.

 

I'll occasionally give money to a guy that's missing a limb and looks like he's had a real hard time of it...the Vietnam vet types.

A few times I've given money to able-bodied panhandlers when with my wife and accosted in a parking lot, just of get rid of them.

Dallas outlawed panhandling around 2000, and it's dropped off to almost nothing, but I can still spot them and take evasive action.

 

lol ok, I am not a rap fan, so it all sounds alike. It's not the f the police of yesteryear. Something about pass the popo and give him the finger, something like that. Sounds like f the police to me.