In manhattan it happened a couple times. In Westchester just once but the guy gave me great directions and was helpful so I gave him a dollar. Never any other times.

On a side note while in Chicago on business I got asked about 4x a night

 

I guess I started something....

I forgot to add the part where he didn't ask anyone else at the gas station for money. He just asked me and took off, so I do think it was the car. In fact I almost yelled at him as to why he didn't ask anyone else. LOL

 

+1

Where the hell do you guys live? I live in a pretty prominent area, really don't have people wondering begging for money.

 

Don't we have a politics section for this kind of pontificating?









To the OP - we have beggars all over Seattle as Kev has mentioned. Sad.

I have had more than a few losers hit me up with some kind of sob story while filling my tank. "I ran out of gas money and I have to get home blah blah blah..."

I don't encourage that kind of behavior by giving them money.

 

They don't go the poorer areas to ask for the hand out they go to the prominent areas in hope that you give them gas money so they get out of your area. The best one that I saw last week was the guy had a 1 gallon gas can & got someone to fill it for him. When he put the full one in the bed of the truck he had about 20 more cans.

 

Yes. I live in Hollywood and I get asked 75% of the time and I absolutely hate it. I guess I am not a saint like some of the guys on the board. We in LA get asked for money 7 DAYS A WEEK and that is not an exaggeration. I give money some of the time. I give away extra food all the time. I once got asked for a Hundreds dollars. I was like excuse me??? He says to me with a strait face "Hey... give me a hundred dollars"!! In stead of telling him to go fu*k himself I just ignored him. My wife has already seen two people get shot dead right in front of her this year I didn't want to make it three. A day in the life of Los Angeles. GO Lakers!

 

Be careful about giving money in these situations. They may just want to see how much cash you are carrying & you never know if it's a set up. I'm not talking about being paranoid, but just be aware/careful. Furthermore, I do not give money to street beggars, since I never know if they are going to buy food, alcohol or drugs. Instead, I regularly donate money to reputable, charitable institutions. You can research them on the internet or www.charitynavigator.com. Hope this helps.

 

California seems to be the standard bearer for crappy ordinances with respect to pan-handling. In typical bleeding-heart fashion it both wants to appear to be sympathetic to the pan handlers AND understanding of the rights of others. So places like San Fran create definitions for "aggressive pan-handling" vs."non-aggressive pan-handling". San Fran isn't the only municipality, because all the other wannabees fall in line shortly thereafter. That's how all that ridiculous crap makes it to the heartland (eventually). t

Meanwhile it's an INVITATION to pan-handlers (organized or not) to set up shop in their towns. It has become industry, and towns all over the US now charge permit fees to these folks/groups/individuals/businesses.

"If it sucks, it's genesis is probably CA." -this isn't my quote, I read it elsewhere, btw.

 

It's never happened to me. I'm thinking it has something to do with the image... I think people usually perceive me to be some punk kid who is probably driving their parents' car. Or a drug dealer.

 

a local news station did a story on a "begger" that always hit up one of the busiest intersections in the town where I went to grad school. turns out the "poor begger" COMMUTED 50 min each day to beg and then went home, pulling in 50K/year tax free.

 

This happened to me a few weeks ago, but the lady was carry a 2 yr old child. She said they were out of gas and needed money. Her husband also came up to me and asked for some money. They drove a minivan and it was parked near the pump. There was also another young child in the back of the mini van that opened the sliding door to say something to the mother as I was speaking to the dad trying to figure out why they were 100 miles away for there home. Apparently, the father came for a job, that fell through for whatever reason and they were trying to get back home. I did ask him why he brought his wife and kids when he didn't have the means to support them on the trip, but his English was bad. So, I gave him enough money for five gallons of gas and he promptly went inside, paid the cashier and proceeded to put gas in the tank. This happened at a Chevron off the main freeway in an affluent part of town. Did I fall for a scam? If it weren't for the children, I would have probably said no.

 

I think a country which has as much as we do has no excuse for not taking care of its sick, invalid, retarded, and handicapped. That being said, if you are able to work, you should. So, if I see someone in genuine need, I help them as much as I can, including giving a lot money to my church, St. Jude, and Ronald McDonald House.

I won't however, give cash to some bum on the street who just wants it for drugs, alcohol, or simple laziness. If you do that, you are only keeping them in that situation.

Rant off.

 

Is it awful that I am entertained by lying to with beggers? I'll say stuff like:
"Do you have a wife?... They you realize that I'm poor and she's rich." (btw im not married) If they pointed out I dont have a ring, I give them a mischievous look and let him make his assumptions
They're annoying, but I found that a little humor is the quickest way to get them to leave you alone.

 

Yeah it's troubling. I'm constantly being asked for money as I walk around Philadelphia. Here's a telling recent piece on the sad state of affairs!

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/02/19/...-income-taxes/

 

My wife and I adopted a 2 y.o. boy from Bangkok Thailand last year. I tried my hardest to not be fleeced by every person begging for money but the children just tear at your heart... I found out that the parents put the kids out there for that very reason and even make them look more destitute to improve their performance. Shame.