In sheer dollar amounts, the big corporations, oil companies and so on are a lot worse than the dirty street beggars.

They are just a little bit less OBVIOUS about it.

And they are PEOPLE, too; the US Supreme Court ruled in "Citizens United"or whatever that case is, that they are.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

THAT's a different subject, Jim......

THAT IS POLITICAL CRONYISM.......practiced by BOTH parties!

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Corporeal - The Body Made up of the Parts. If I say the moon is made of green cheese, does it make it so?

You gotta give NY some credit for cleaning up, right?

I had a grandmother that I would always visit in Brooklyn growing up. Whenever we went there, our windshield was covered in soap by uninvited strangers.

Now I go there, and I don't even see anyone loitering at all really.

The area I live in now is far worse.... people on every high traffic corner..... they make more than I do.

Surprisingly, not much more than most other places................get one at a coffee shop or diner for about $7.50 give or take.

Definitely.

NYC tolerates very little of the homeless crowd begging for money. The police move them along or cart them off to the homeless shelters................they don't remain there...............and the process repeats itself.

perfect.

I feel bad for not giving (during the moment), but it is justified.

Plenty of money goes into providing resources for those who seek it. I worked with an immigrant a few weeks ago, his wife had kidney problems and needed dialysis twice a month - clinic - covered - good.


.......I have no problem with that. This guy waits all day on a corner hoping someone will come by and give him a few hours of work. All the guys waiting on the corners holding cups are Caucasian; and, yes, I am.

You do what your feelings dictate.

Personally, with over $100. of Zabars food in the shopping bag, I'd feel like crap if I don't give these guys a buck or two............especially in the winter when it's obvious that they are hurting.

The amount is insignificant to me and if it can help them for just a little bit, I'm fine with that.

Sure, the "get a job" crowd has a valid point but many of them (the one in the OP excluded), couldn't hold a job due to health and/or emotional issues.

The local SA (Sally or Salvation Army) Shelter has rules.
They get followed or you're out. Period.

Then...we have (for the 3rd year in a row...)

Right off the WB I-90, Exit 3, is a 4-way stoplight, with a left-turn only lane for the EB/SB traffic. Both of those islands have beggers (for the past 4 weeks, M-F) hitting up the Stop&Go. On the WB/NB turn lane, another begger works that S&G. 3 beggers, working the 3rd poorest county in Western Wisconsin wage-earners. (They keep their cars parked a respectable distance away from where they work their islands...in the local Walgreens' parking lot...)

They got interviewed last year...they made about $100-$150/day, depending on traffic flow and if it was payday for the workers in town.

No one has called the IRS to come on down and check 'em out or do a "due-diligence" on any of them.

Now that we're finally into the crispy cool 20° and 30° mornings, that cup or two of BurgerKings' blackest ain't keeping them too warm waiting for a rolled-down window offering alms for their poor, cool hands. I'm expecting them to head down south, to Illinois, before the real winter hits up here.

Either that, or they might have to abide by the rules at the local Sally.

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

The incident with the 60 year old, well spoken, dressed decently woman, in the Chase Bank / Chili's parking lot, a tad over ideal weight, with a running vehicle - showed no interest in going to the church for help, just 2 miles away that I have attended for 24 years - even with the simple three turns directions.

Giving them money A) does them no good, and B) keeps them on the street. Of those two things you can be certain.

Try hauling one of these guys to a county welfare office and sheperd them for an afternoon, if you can get 'em in your car - or better yet, bring 'em home for a few days and see how that goes, if you really want to help them out. Get involved in the nuts and bolts of their lives 24/7 for a week or more seems like a reasonable plan of action. After all, you want to help them, don't you??

I had a thought earlier Saturday about this homeless gig/routine. I'm going to start packing my camera in the front seat area of my MB and coach, take some pictures of them to prove how well-dressed these Dallas, Texas bums are. The ones out in the adjoining suburbs are across the board the most well heeled of all I see in my travels. Almost all of them are vastly younger than I am, and able bodied as they work the islands next to the 6-lane parkways. It'll be interesting to see their reactions to being photographed. I'll bet some will get all freaked-out, and may exhibit signs of belligerence. In which case a quick call to 911 dispatching a uniformed cruiser to the location will be made. Dangerous streets are not a place these truly needy people should be.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Easy.

Knocking down the equivelant of $50K to $60K in tax free dollars is routine for these guys.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

I only read this post and not the rest of the thread.

The funny thing about this is that what the begger suggested is what I INSIST on! I will NEVER give a begger money. I will buy them food and in rare cases I have bought them gas, but I will NEVER, EVER give them money! This doesn't mean that I will necessarily sit down with them and join them.

The money can easily go for drugs and such, but if they're truly needy, then food or maybe warm clothing (which I've never bought or given them) is what they need.

Now, all that said, it sounds like your situation was different because a dollar won't buy a sandwich and he was basically saying that a dollar wasn't enough. I, like you, would not have reacted well to that.

In July I was at a conference in Milwaukee. I stayed at a pretty nice hotel downtown for several days. The last morning I was there I checked out and had my bags and went to breakfast. After breakfast I headed into the large restroom down stairs and was headed into a stall. A VERY LARGE guy stepped in the door near the sinks and asked for money for a cup of coffee. I lied to him, telling him that all I had was credit cards.

I went in the stall and then heard an authoritative voice telling him "Ok, Let's go!" This guy was plenty overweight enough that he obviously was not going hungry. Even if he was, how would coffee help him.

Had he been obviously hungry, I had enough extra time I would have somehow gotten him some food, but would NOT have given him money.

One of the worst thing about todays beggers is that I'm sure that there are some folks that are indeed in need and I would like to help them, but how do you know which ones are legit?

Abouit twenty years ago, an extroverted and eccentric friend of my BIL told about putting on some old clothes and standing on a corner in downtown Fort Worth with a coffee can. It was nothing but a social experiment. I don't remember the exact number, but I think he said that in an hour he had $50 in the can.

Directions to the Church is similar to what my wife has done a few times. About ten years ago it became quite common for people to approach you on a parking lot with a story about their car being broken down and they needed a certain amount of money for a water pump or something. My wife kept the 800 number of Social Services or whatever it is, and she would write it down for them. She had confirmed that a stranded traveller can call them and get the money.

I never saw anybody very relieved when they were offered the phone number.

I just remembered this event and I just have to share it in this thread:

About 12 or 15 years ago when we were going to a very small and remotely located church in our boondocks area, there was a woman named Judy who was born deaf. She had learned sign language as a child, but gained a limited amount of hearing later and learned to speak.

About halfway through Church service one morning, a lady and her daughter walked in the back of the Church interrupting the service. My family and I were sitting toward the back and the girl, probably about 7, came straight to my wife with a note. The note said that her Mother was deaf and that they needed money to make it to Texarkana, which is over a hundred miles away. Church service ended normally and several people gathered to see if they could help the woman.

We took her into a room and asked Judy to join us. Judy began "signing" to the woman and you should have seen the look on the woman's face. It was the classic look of a child caught with their hand VERY DEEP in the cookie jar. Judy just looked up and said "she doesn't sign."

We found out soon after that she had been pulling the same scam in small Churches all over the area.

So, therefore, similar to the nanny state, we cannot let the beggar decide for himself how he will spend the money that we give to him? We must determine where and how that money should go by forcing him to buy food with it?

No personal responsibility for beggars?