Quote:
Originally Posted by yel911
In the town I live in, people standing at intersections with signs reading "3 kids no job..." etc are more and more. One intersection actually has 3 people sharing traffic. Funny thing is, some have a nice backpack hiding behind the street pole. One person had a large ice coffee by his feet. Whatever their issue is, I tell my kids that if they can stand there all day, they can work.
|
My sympathy for these people died when I was very young. Though I know some truly are hard on their luck, have problems, etc...too many are lazy scammers.
My father owned a roofing company. During the summers, I often worked for him (cleaning up after the crews doing the actual roofing work, as insurance wouldn't allow me on the roof of a jobsite until I was 18). Anyway...one day, we were heading home from work, and we stopped at a traffic light where a guy was standing with a "Will work for food" sign. My dad's company was swamped with business at the time (right after monsoon season), so he needed people. He rolled down the window and offered the guy a job right there on the spot. The guy's response to my father's generosity? "No thanks, I make too much money doing this."
Because of that, I have never given a dime to any of them. If I see somebody selling newspapers who looks like a bum, I'll buy a paper off them and give them a few extra bucks as a "tip" because at least they're DOING something; not just standing there with their hand out.