Homeless people, what do you do?

[Tobra]

What do you generally do when approached by a homeless person?

How does their habitus(general appearance) and how they approach you impact your response?

What impact does their age have on your actions?

If they are aggressive, what do you do?

What is the harmless to worriesome ratio of these interactions?

What is the frequency of this happening to you?

[Hugh R]

I don't understand the question. Homeless? What does that mean?

[flatbutt]

If my instincts tell me they're genuine I offer a sandwich and a drink. If they push for cash I walk away.

[HardDrive]

It depends. I give them money sometimes. I don't give able bodied young people money. I've told more than one to F-off. If they're agressive, I simply leave. I've had a couple cross the line, and I've challenged them, but it was pretty clear they were totally nuts. Theres no one there to reason with.

Men in suits and uniforms who claim that they're 'there to help' scare me more than the homeless.

[Heel n Toe]

In the past, I've done everything from giving them some change to walking into a Hardee's and buying them a burger.

But I've usually bought them food so I wasn't enabling a drug or alcohol habit.

Nowadays (especially if I'm with my wife) I'm wary of anyone like that getting close enough to us to do us harm in any way, so without changing my expression, I just hold one hand up just above my waist with my palm facing them and keep walking without saying anything.

I try to have it come off as an "I've had a bad day, don't push me" moment, and it works. Once or twice I've had one say, "Awwwww, man... blah, blah, blah," to my/our back after passing them, but have found that if I glance back over my shoulder and give them a slightly squinty glare and keep walking, that ends it.

The key is not to engage them verbally.

If one got aggressive and came at me/us, there would most likely be a quick throat punch in it for him.

[jcommin]

I don't give anything. The last time I did, I was with my sons. Mt oldest observed and said, " dad, he is wearing a pair of Jordons. Do you know what they are worth?" That was the last time.

What really tees me off is those who sit in front of a retail shop and open the door for you, expecting a tip.

[svandamme]

No real homeless folks around where i am, just eastern european panhandlers.
They even coordinate their actions, so they don't double team the same street.

I do find it impressive, how they can sit on their ass on the sidewalk all day even when it freezes.
Not impressive enough to care though, so i flat out ignore them, i know for fact that they all have council housing :i'm already paying for them.

[mixer911]

Around Xmas time I had a guy come up to me asking for money for food,I took him to a buffet
It was great ,great guy
Just another story about,the wife calling his work *****ing,lost his job ,kids and house ,now expected to pay child support
He couldnt deal with the crap and hes sleeping on his buddys futon he went to collage with broke
and owing,and a no pay dad...
And this story echos..

[Rick V]

I don't donate to charity, doesn't matter what it is. If you simply gave one dollar to every good cause you would be broke in one week. There has to be a line. That and the fact I have danced along the home foreclosure edge for close to two years and didn't ask for help. If I can do it anybody can. To answer the question I simply say sorry and keep walking. The aggressive ones I square up with and tell them to back off. Never had one cross the line.

[VaSteve]

I work in he city. A block from the US Capital building. I see the same guys everyday. I give nothing and keep walking. I had a guy approach me in the train station and tells me he was a Marine and down on his luck and I felt bad, kept walking. (btw, we're 6 miles from the pentagon). I asked one of my staff who said that the USMC should be able to assist him if he really had a problem. I saw him a few weeks later and he approached me again with the same Marine schpiel. I didn't feel so bad that time. I wear a suit to work and I probably look like a sucker/mark to these guys.

When I walk with some of the folks from my office, they are usually pretty friendly both ways.

The true homeless arent begging like these guys.

[fastfredracing]

In my early 20's. we picked up a homeless guy with a sign, that read " homeless, will work for food" We were rehabbing an old garage, and tried to hire him on. We were willing to give him free food, and pay him fair wage. He told us to go F**K ourselves, and got out of the truck at the next red light. We had no intentions of taking advantage of the guy, really thought we were doing a good deed.
I make it a habit to never stop and open my wallet around strangers, that is exactly how you end up with a bruise on your head, and a empty wallet.

[ben parrish]

Sometimes I give a little...sometimes I keep walking...sometimes I put my hand under my jacket and rest it on my spoon...all depends on their approach and my gut.

[944Larry]

ignore 'em. There's all kinds of stuff here in Florida for them. Most of them are scam artists.

[Baz]

We don't have beggars here in NSB. None. Don't know why - I guess it's such a clean town absent of the biker bars, spring break hangouts, and touristy joints that they have in Daytona nearby maybe that's where they all go (?)

[p911dad]

I ignore the guys you see day after day at the same intersections. It's like their spot to beg from, a full time job so to speak, working the rush hours. I generally give a buck or two from my pocket (I don't ever pull out the wallet) unless they are clearly crack heads or meth heads. I ignore the young guys in mall clothes.
The only two places I ever felt really threatened was walking to work through a particular railroad underpass on 7th st SW at D st SW in DC (near the Smithsonian), and in downtown Buffalo, NY. The guy in Buffalo was selling a handful of nearly dead flowers for $5. on a Sunday afternoon (downtown deserted) and it was like him against my wife and I. I gave him the $5. to get clear and we ducked into a brewpub.
I don't get panhandled too often in Charlotte. There's plenty of homeless people for sure, but maybe there are laws against it here, plenty of uniforms in the uptown area for sure.

[ramonesfreak]

when i lived in nyc, i would give money to the homeless that i got to know that hung around my neighborhood every day. watching them as often as i did, i could tell if they were legit. other ones i passed during my day elsewhere, i ignored. cant afford to stop and give every homeless person money every day

i never cared if the money was for drugs or alcohol or food. the physical need for alcohol can be as necessary as food for some people...so, i didnt feel it was ok for me to say, here is a dollar but spend it how i tell you to spend it, or here, eat this sandwich i bought you

the only time i got upset, there was this guy sitting on the sidewalk begging near my apartment as usual. i thought i was gonna be santa clause this day, so i ran up to my apartment, put all my change in a bag and went back down and gave it to him...probably $40. I go across the street to get some smokes, come out, and he is gone and the change is on sidewalk...cant buy crack with change i guess.

next time i saw him i told him i was disappointed and annoyed with him. a few months later, i am sitting outside having a coffee on a bench and he sat down and started telling me his story, about his untreated AIDS and crack habit....i felt bad and still think about this guy. after talking to him i can see why he didnt get some paper rolls for the change i gave him, go to the bank and trade it in for paper money...

the people that really annoy me are the ones that run up to you as soon as they see you pulling out your cigarettes...if you give in to them, your cigs will be gone in 10 minutes.

[tangerine911S]

I saw a homelss man and his dog yesterday for the second or third time, standing at the end of the offramp to the mall so that many people would see him. The man was holding a sign that read "Down on my luck, anything helps." I do not know the man's situation but I have to beleive that he would be capable of holding a minimum wage job flipping burgers or something. I don't understand people who are satisfied getting very little doing nothing when they could be paid to do something. I have no respect for these people and I will not give them money.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by p911dad

I ignore the guys you see day after day at the same intersections. It's like their spot to beg from, a full time job so to speak, working the rush hours. I generally give a buck or two from my pocket (I don't ever pull out the wallet) unless they are clearly crack heads or meth heads. I ignore the young guys in mall clothes.
The only two places I ever felt really threatened was walking to work through a particular railroad underpass on 7th st SW at D st SW in DC (near the Smithsonian), and in downtown Buffalo, NY. The guy in Buffalo was selling a handful of nearly dead flowers for $5. on a Sunday afternoon (downtown deserted) and it was like him against my wife and I. I gave him the $5. to get clear and we ducked into a brewpub.
I don't get panhandled too often in Charlotte. There's plenty of homeless people for sure, but maybe there are laws against it here, plenty of uniforms in the uptown area for sure.

LOL...small world. I walk under that underpass at 7th and D a couple times a day/night as I commute. There is a guy that sleeps there every night but he seems harmless. There was a guy that used to be there that was stabbed and killed there one nigh last year.

When I was younger and poorer I used to give folks that seemed down on their luck a buck or two, but observed that I was just the sucker of the day who was giving money that could be spent on his own family (or church, charity, etc) to an outright crook, or to enable a lifestyple of either drugs or sloth.

When I lived in Atlanta, the panhandlers were young gangbanger types that were more like muggers who usually carried a sharp object and were very agressive...specifically asking for $5 or $10...so I made it a point to not give them a penny and often came close to physical confrontation with them...but since I was young and a little rough around the edges, they usually decided it was better to approach little old ladies and scare them into giving them a $5.

In DC, I see the same people out panhandling every day. They intimidate or shame the tourists into giving them enough that they can keep on standing on a corner a couple of hours a day and not do anything to improve their situation long term. I give them nothing although I am tempted to take the easy way out and give them a buck because I consider it enabling. Sometimes when I pass I hear them talking about the ballgame they watched the night before and wonder just how they managed to do that sleeping under a bridge.

[Brando]

I stopped giving money long, long ago. Those truly in need will accept food to fill their stomach or a bus ticket to get them where they are going.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by tangerine911S

I saw a homelss man and his dog yesterday for the second or third time, standing at the end of the offramp to the mall so that many people would see him. The man was holding a sign that read "Down on my luck, anything helps." I do not know the man's situation but I have to beleive that he would be capable of holding a minimum wage job flipping burgers or something. I don't understand people who are satisfied getting very little doing nothing when they could be paid to do something. I have no respect for these people and I will not give them money.

I saw a guy with a sign yesterday that said he was a vet and needed help. He was quite young and at least 50 pounds overweight...so I doubt that he had missed many meals...and I doubted he was a veteran as he wouldnt have been able to gain that much weight that fast. He was wearing an old military field jacket that was obviously an attempt to look authentic, but it was the Vietnam era type that the military has not worn for almost 20 years (probably before he was born).

I guess the "down on my luck" line is what annoys me. Relying on luck instead of hard work is what make one need to panhandle.