Yeah somtimes I feel threatened like when a guy came up to me when i was getting a subway.
I gave him 5dollers so he would leave hopfully and go away.
It does seem like poeple on the street with signs think they are entitled to get free money from poeple. Well I geus it isnt free its work to sit stand on the street with a sign and probably stressfull to. But they probably figure its the only way.
I just saw a guy holding a sign near a restaurant. I couldnāt read what he wrote on. I know heās probably asking folks for money. The restaurant sells beer etc.
I donāt want to judge the guy. I donāt know what heās going through. I hope someone gives him some water or food or something.
Here cops are pretty attentive to the panhandling laws. But we do see alot of hitchhikers in the summer. I wish I could give them a ride, especially if your going anyway. But so many have drugs on them. Or have weapons. Both of which they are going to deny are theirs. Also some of them think they can buy there way with favors and Iām not that kind of guy. I know cops sometimes check them out and itās all clear they will hook them up with a ride.
I would never give a hitchiker a ride.
I dont like bieng around strangers in the first place, would never want one in my car with me.
There are no panhandlers where I live.
But I will sometimes give to charities in front of supermarkets.
I hardly ever have this happen anymore. When I lived with in Chicago it unnerved me so much that I accidentally gave a $10 bill of instead of $1. I never had a problem at that L station after, was always treated nice by the group of men that panhndled there even though I didnāt do that again. It was real hot that day and the man went inside the store under that stop to get a cold soda.
Oh. A toughie. This one panhandler wanted $5 but I noticed he was wearing a nice watch. I offered $5 for the watch. He was pissed as Popeye
Honestly I get stressed when strangers try to talk to me, especially if theyāre abrasive or have some kind of pitch or story. I never have any money on me anyway, but I always feel like Iām lying when I say so.
I do give to charity though.
Embarrassed and sad that I canāt help them. I donāt have any money either. (I do give cash when I have it and will buy folks food) And sometimes when I see that they are clearly wasted or on some sort of substance I feel sorry for them and even embarrassed for them.
I was living downtown just last year in a big city in California. I would see homeless people literally every day. I donāt mind giving a couple of bucks to someone who looks like they need it way more than I do. I lived downtown for a year and I used to see some of the same homeless people walking around the neighborhood, I was on friendly terms with several of them. I treated them good and they treated me good.
A few bucks several times a week didnāt break me, I wish I could have given more. When you walk out of the front door of your property and walk next door to 7-11 every day for a coke and you see some of the homeless sleeping or passed out on the sidewalk it tends to put things in perspective and I realized that lots of people have it way worse than me.
At least Iāve always had a roof over my head my whole life and never went hungry and I could take a shower when I needed to and Iāve had cars and other luxuries most of my life it tends to make me want to help someone else out. (I didnāt grow up rich by the way, far from it.)
Iāve been broke many times in my life and I know from experience what just two dollars can mean to someone who has nothing but the ragged, dirty clothes on his/her back. Two dollars sounds like nothing, right? Well if youāre homeless and you havenāt drank anything for 4 hours then two bucks to buy a nice drink on a 100 degree summer day is a big deal. Hell, I remember years ago being stuck miles from home in my car with no gas and just 33 cents to my name and putting that 33 cents in my gas tank and praying I could make it home. So I know what a few cents means.
Or maybe the homeless person has just been eating out of garbage cans for a month straight and someone gives him $5.00 to treat himself to some kind of good food to break up the monotony of eating week-old food out of dumpsters. You canāt give to everybody who asks because you canāt afford it but you can sure still make a difference for a few people.
I only gave money to some homeless people when I was on a trip with a bunch of kids my age. I gave some of them but at first only gave money to the musicians cuz I thought they were working for it. Then one of the other kids pointed out that not everyone knows how to play or has An instrument. So then I gave a little bit to some homeless people with just signs. I feel ashamed of myself but Iām too scared of everything and everyone to pass out money to the homeless. I pass by homeless people all the time and give them nothing. I feel so much shame every time and wonder if Iāll go to hell because of it. When I was working for my dad I donated money to charities online but I havenāt donated any money in a while. My mom kept trying to talk me out of it because I have like 30k of student debt in my name and she said I should be using it to pay back my debts. Every time I pass by them I tell myself that after I get a job Iāll pay back my debts and then donate to charities including a local food bank.
Once i climbed a fence to get to McDonaldās quicker, not a great move, but I injured the back of my hand on the fence and had to run to CVS minute clinic to get it treated (I was in shock and CVS was across the street). It was an awful wound and I was bleeding and I got asked for money by someone by the shopping center.
I was like, āIām injured and bleeding.ā She responded with something about how she broke her thumb when she was young. I managed to give her a couple dollars from my wallet and then went to CVS, they rushed me to the head of the line, gauzed it up and sent me to the hospital for stitches.
Only time Iāve ever been asked for money. Now that I have Sz, and have been homeless for a brief time, I am far more compassionate and would give whenever Iām asked.
I feel so sad, because a lot of homeless people are people with mental illness, most of them have schizophrenia. So when I see a homeless person I feel thankfull for having a house and for living a healthy and ordered life. And I look homeless people with respect because I know I could be one of them if I wouldnāt have been as lucky as I am.
I donāt usually do too well panhandling money for beer, but when I am down and out, dirty and hungry, and tired, people will give me 20ās, 10ās, and 5ās. I am grateful for it, too. There were times when I was hurting, and the money people gave me made me much more comfortable. I donāt have to ask for it. They just give it to me. There was this one guy who could always get money from other people to buy beer. I donāt know how he did it, but he would go up to people and ask them if they would give him a couple of dollars so he could get beer. One time he nearly approached a female cop and asked her to give him beer money, but I stopped him from that. There was some kind of parade going on about six blocks away, and all the police were up there, or we probably would have gotten in trouble for public drunk.
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