I broke one of my rules today.
 

I broke one of my rules today.

Yesterday I was at a stoplight and saw a mom with two young girls holding up a sign asking for money to buy gas and food.

Today I saw a man with two young boys asking for money for food and gas. My heart broke thinking to be in that situation. After not doing anything yesterday, I had some money in my truck and when I got to him, I rolled down my window and handed it to him. Both he and the kids said thank you.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1677203535.jpg

First off - good for you, Rocket. An absolute sign of humanity.

I think for many of us who have worked all their life for everything they have and have gone through some very tough times......it's a hard thing to do to get past that - and just give.

They show up here mostly at our Walmart Supercenter at the entrance/exits.

Common sight coming into the US from Mexico. Appeal to emotion using the children as pawns.

In Phoenix there's a popular hustle of funeral expenses pan handling. Organized and they'll have 4 people at each corner of a busy intersection. Those had thicc eastern European accents. Others will get aggressive and walk into the street and stare you down in your car or truck. I drive old stuff so they don't bother with me, but it is kinda entertaining when they go up to the new Escalades and literally just point at their sign and stare into the truck.

You have a good heart, but I can’t help but notice the pre-printed “no food, no gas” sign. The kids have nice clothes and shoes and they are sitting on a cooler. Something tells me this is the guys day job. The kids are a nice touch.

I mentioned this in the miniskirt thread - that Latinos seem to have a better sense of fashion than others.

Perhaps that also carries over to other aspects of their lifestyle - like art work (on a sign they make).

And while other panhandlers are directing their limited funds towards indulges like alcohol and drugs - these people are prioritizing their appearance.

I dunno - just offering a different perspective to your commentary, Kurt.

That all look clean and well dressed. And if they don't have money for food how could they afford those two recent haircuts

Hard to know. Maybe pride? It can't be easy for a man to go begging with his sons at his side, I don't care who you are.
Poor people can't catch a break. If they clean themselves up and pick up the trash they are suspect. If they live is squalor they ARE trash. P.J. O'Roake had something to say about this, but I can't remember the exact quote.

Seeing people beg is heart breaking. You'd think solving problems like this would be easy.
Paid work and some hope for the future?

My parents (immigrants) worked hard for everything they had.
Nothing was ever given to them & they never asked for anything except an opportunity.

I would pay that guy $25 to $30 an hour if he had good attention to detail and could sand window frames and fans & housings. $20 if he could clean and media blast parts.

Aren’t there tax-funded social programs for folks down on their luck? Especially where young kids are involved? How likely is it that the day’s take will be reported as income on April 15?

Hate to be cold but there are lots of avenues to support your family that we fund via the taxes we pay. And the after tax dollars you give will likely not go where you think they should.

If you don 't belong to a pimp or handler here in L.A. and go out on the street, the guy running the group will remove you and not at your request. I have seen some genuine panhandlers but they are not the norm. Most have nice clothes, clean shaven, good shoes. All have the same sign which folds in half when a cop car is spotted.

I gave one of the real ones a fresh orange I had. He just looked at it with disdain. Didn't have any alcohol or drugs in it. This guy wouldn't/couldn't stand up, he just sat in sort of a daze. He didn't look good and disappeared in less than 3 weeks.

You pick and choose the best you can but I hate the syndicates doing this.

One time when I was on a road trip in my 911 I was unloading the the luggage and a couple of total Meth Heads came over and asked for 5 bucks to get enough gas to get home in their POS car he pointed at at the end of the lot. My smallest bill was a $10 and I gave it to him, and said all I ask is you not park back here, just get home or camp out somewhere else. They did. I really did not want to have to call the cops to keep my car safe. They left and I never saw them again. I chalked it up to a parking fee.

There was a guy that "his corner" was an off ramp I went through every day commuting home. He was standing there rain or shine, in 100+ degree heat and in freezing temps. Standing there all day long. He had to be tough. I would rather work at something like ditch digging than just stand there all day. The same guy evidently would fight off any other panhandler at "his" spot. I saw some interlopers try to move in on his corner, and never for long. I never gave him anything. He likely made a lot of cash.

skinny dog would improve his take..

Rika

About a month ago I was at a local diner at 7 am. As I was eating my breakfast this young girl, maybe 18 years old, came in and sat in the booth closest to the door. Obviously homeless. Far too lightly dressed for the 20 degree weather. The waitress must of had past dealings with her since she never approached the girl for an order.

She had a huge mess of hair that would have been really beautiful if brushed. As she sat in the booth she was focused on her hands and fingers.

As I was passing by her booth on the way out she softly spoke up.

"Sir do you have any spare change?"

I looked down at her and saw she had a half dozen scabs on her face. Good chance of a meth head. I asked if she was hungry.

No mention of hunger in her reply. "It was really cold last night. The last two nights."

I turned and went back to the waitress, gave her $20, and asked that she feed her. She said she would. On the way out I told the girl to order whatever she wanted.

It was really sad. I am not usually bothered by such encounters. It was just that she was so damn young and would have been really pretty if cleaned up. I hope she rids herself of her demons.

Dollars to donuts she was sexually abused by a stepdad for years and won't be able to turn her life around without a lot of help.

When I was in college I cooked at a French restaurant. Cute emo girl, dirty, rough, was sitting out front with a sign for money. I made her a nice meal, put it in a paper bag and left it with her. It was still there at 11PM when I went home.

For all I know the waitress may have never went to get her order and pocketed the 20. Or, the girl didn't want food. I didn't stick around, got in my car and left.

This really cuts to the chase.

How horrible it is when a healthy man with health boys feel their best use is to sit and look pathetic all day. - well, part of the day.

Yep, I have seen families here collecting for funeral expenses which seems bizarre to me. I've seen it where the whole family had matching custom printed T-shirts and were very well dressed. Here, the few times that I've seen it, it's been a particular segment of society.
Yep, absolutely could be what he/they are doing for income. There are people that do that.
You'd be surprised. It wouldn't be easy for most of us to "beg," but there are enough people that have no issue with begging.

My problem is that I have no interest in donating to poor choices, whether it be drugs or alcohol or even living in a craphole, but having nice new phones and smoking a pack a day while watching cable. I wouldn't mind donating clothes or food. I suspect if you picked 100 beggars at random and gave them food, at least 80-90% of them would be grumpy about it because they want money not food.

I've seen beggars get into cars and drive home at the end of their "shift."

If someone needs help, I would be happy to help. But I would be very unhappy to donate to behavior that doesn't help.

I'm a pessimist when it comes to beggars, but the diner story did choke me up a bit.

Around here they frequent the freeway off ramps a lot. Or the boulevard medians at stop lights.
There's a reason I don't carry any change. At least I can honestly say 'Sorry, I don't have any to spare.'