$50G-a-Year Workaholic's Job Description: Homeless Beggar

[austin552]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/i-make-400-a-day-begging/story-e6frewt0-1225765125138

[onlycafe]

he needs an intern.

[WilsonTC]

We had a college kid on a radio talk show the other day who did a study for his master's thesis. He posed as a bum, err..."homeless person"... and begged for money @ street-corners and freeway off-ramps. He claimed to make about $400 a day on average, working only the morning and evening rush hours. He said he made more in the blue-collar parts of town and less when in the affluent sections. He says he really increased his intake whenever he brought a puppy along.

If you estimate how many cars stop at the off-ramp at each red light, and figure at least one "sucker"...err...good citizen...gives the guy a buck, then multiply that hourly, it's probably $40 ~ $50/hr., no?

[stomachmonkey]

Bunch of years ago an guy went out one day dressed as a bum.

Did really well.

Next day he went out dressed in a 3 piece, his play was he lost his wallet and needed to borrow a couple of bucks for the train ticket home.

Made a lot more dressed in a suit.

[RWebb]

a TV news guy also faked the homeless beggar thing here

he said he made about min. wage (which is pretty high in OR. - $8.50 or so)

[WilsonTC]

Originally Posted by RWebb

a TV news guy also faked the homeless beggar thing here

he said he made about min. wage (which is pretty high in OR. - $8.50 or so)

Could be an anomaly due to your region. As everyone in the PNW dresses "grunge", you really don't know who to give your dollar to...

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by WilsonTC

Could be an anomaly due to your region. As everyone in the PNW dresses "grunge", you really don't know who to give your dollar to...

LOL.

I love the perfectly able bodied 20 somethings begging with a sign on the off ramps. It takes every ounce of restraint not to roll down the window and shout, "How about getting a ******* job dumbass!". Old guys with missing limbs out in a wheel chair in the snow begging? Yeah, I might give him a few bucks. Will he spend it on booze/drugs? Probably. But if that what gives him comfort, I'm not one to argue. Drink up Johnny.

[Rick Lee]

Beggars in the US look rich, fat and happy compared to those in the developing world. I don't recall seeing a beggar in the US that made me even think of giving. But I've seen some in other countries that really tugged on the heartstrings.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Beggars in the US look rich, fat and happy compared to those in the developing world. I don't recall seeing a beggar in the US that made me even think of giving. But I've seen some in other countries that really tugged on the heartstrings.

+1

What passes for suffering in this country is luxury in India.

[Sunroof]

Here in Atlanta several years ago at several major intersections these young guys and girls dressed like nurses in white and blue uniforms looking very organized ran up and down with the buckets collecting money during heavy traffic hours. A TV news reporter decided to follow several home and found that the organization they were collecting for was a lie and further the group stayed in one house together. Routinely they stopped at the video rental store and liquor store. Apparently, this was their income! After they were exposed, they never showed up again. I believe that widely publicized story impacted hand-outs to every homeless person holding that same old cardboard sign at the highway ramp. Who do you believe anymore?!

[WilsonTC]

It pizzes me off to no end when I see guys/girls dressed in military uniforms (camo) begging for handouts. Their signs indicates "disabled veterans", etc., but it's just another scam-type charity that skims most of the money off the top and gives the legal minimum amount to the cause. Folks tend to believe these losers are/were actually soldiers, but that's not the case. They are either homeless hired by the organization or professional hawksters. I give them a boat-load of crap every time I see them at an intersection. You also see them setting up tables outside the supermarket or WalMart.

I questioned one guy about his military background, and he kept repeating "I'm in the U.S. volunteer service." That's all he would say, over & over again like a parrot. I'm sure he was coached on what to say when confronted. Do you really think the military is going to send people out to beg for money on street corners?

I've complained to the local news, but it seems they're afraid of doing a story because of public sentiment toward charities and soldiers.

BUT THEY'RE NOT/NEVER WERE SOLDIERS!!! DO NOT GIVE TO FAKE SOLDIERS!!!

[speeder]

I've found that there is an inverse relationship between someone's combat bravery and how much they talk about their military service. I've met or known plenty of WW2 pilots or guys who were 18 y.o. Marines in Viet Nam during the height of the war and you only find out from other people that they even served, usually.

So all of these "homeless vets" trying to play off their (supposed) military service for booze $$ are a disgrace, IMO.

[legion]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Beggars in the US look rich, fat and happy compared to those in the developing world. I don't recall seeing a beggar in the US that made me even think of giving. But I've seen some in other countries that really tugged on the heartstrings.

In a lot of developing countries, a "pimp" will collect homeless/orphaned children and maim them (cut off limbs, gouge out eyes, etc.) to make them look more "pathetic", then transport them to high-tourist areas where people don't know the scam. The kids are routinely beaten when they don't produce enough income for their pimp and get to keep very little. They are fed just enough to keep them alive because they need to be thin for the biggest impact. Unfortunately, the only way to stop this cycle is to make it unprofitable for the pimps, which means not giving the kids money.

[Jeff Higgins]

How about just following the kids to the pimps, then gouging out the pimps' eyes and cutting off their limbs?

We have a couple of regulars that hang out on my offramp during my afternoon commute home (I go to work too early to see them in the morning). I started bringing my old tennis shoes, clothing, warm jackets, cans of soup, boxes of cereal, apples, bananas, and stuff like that for them. They always used to look incredibly disapointed, bordering on pissed off, to receive goods rather than money. Now they know my Bug and won't even look at me.

[KNS]

In the U.S., have you ever seen an Asian begging for a handout? I never give panhandlers anything.

[daepp]

I can't stand the way the run into traffic to collect. It's unsafe for them, and can you imagine who will be blamed if you hit them?

I keep the local non-emergency Police Dept. phone number in my cell to report them. I don't want them arrested, just out of traffic/onramps.

[TechnoViking]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I started bringing my old tennis shoes, clothing, warm jackets, cans of soup, boxes of cereal, apples, bananas, and stuff like that for them. They always used to look incredibly disapointed, bordering on pissed off, to receive goods rather than money. Now they know my Bug and won't even look at me.

+1

I tried to give a guy food once, who said he needed money to get something to eat. He was a jerk about it and asked for money. That was the last time I tried to help a bum.

There's a one-armed fellow working the off ramp near my kids' daycare right now. Considering it's all tax free for him, I'd be willing to bet he nets about what I do working a job. Not a bad gig, really when you consider two rush-hours a day is about 4 or 5 hours "work".

[RSlater]

I don't no how many times I've seen these beggars drinking a coffee from the local mocha stand, Hmmm $3.25 for a coffee. Or smoking cigarettes $5.00 a pack
It appears to me that they really don't need the money that bad.

[WilsonTC]

Originally Posted by KNS

In the U.S., have you ever seen an Asian begging for a handout?

No. And I've never met an Asian named "Rusty", either...

[gtc]

Originally Posted by WilsonTC

No. And I've never met an Asian named "Rusty", either...

Oh yeah? Well I know a guy named Rusty that only dates Asians.