[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.