How do you feel about beggars?

Question

What do you do when someone asks for money on the street?
I used to give money but now I find that it just really annoys me, I will cross the road to avoid them!

How about you?

Answer 1

i dont care i'v i hav some spare change
i may do

but mose of them use it to buy drugs and alcohol

Answer 2

It's a boundary issue. I either ignore the panhandler, or stop and talk to them, depending on how I'm feeling, and how much time I have. I don't have money to hand out to strangers. The money that I donate to local shelters and non profits benefits people who have found themselves on the street and in need. Some people who are on the street are sick, and can only continue their existence until they decide to seek healing. Mostly, I believe there are two kinds of people on the streets, the predators and the prey. Beggars can be either, but mostly, they're just not facing life's problems head on. I'm not blaming them because they are in a difficult position, I'm just saying that for whatever reason, they may not have the insight to make informed choices. Choosing to beg is a person's perfect right. What I despise are the people who want to make it a criminal act. If you can't just say no without feeling angry or guilty, you should keep a pocketful of spare change, and dole it out with no strings attached.

Answer 3

Some beggars/buskers need to gain a licence or permission from the local council before they can go onto the high street and beg or play for money. I do put small change into those who play a guitar or flute, but also dont if they smell of heavy alcohol or have empty bottles of whiskey besides them. If your uncomfortable with them, you can report them to the police or the local council. But if they do carry the permission or licence then there is nothing much you can do about it.

Even thou many become homeless due to loss of job, being through out of home etc. I was quite amazed when on a tv documentary many choose to live that way, going back to hostels and begging was what they perfered.

There are many homeless charities you could support, which i suppose you know your money is then going to be better well spent on.

Answer 4

what convinced me not to give beggars money no more:

1. once upon a time i was so hungry i stopped and bought myself a burger of some sort. then as i was eating a begga' asked me to give him from what i was eating. i was too hungry to do that so i gave him some money in coins. he got so angry that he throwed the coins on the street just in front of my eyes. so much 4 the respect concerning your money.

2. once upon a time a begga' gave me a story about him having a family and haven't been eating 4 TWO weeks. so he started begging 4 money. i took him into a shop to buy him a bread cause i taught if i gave him the money who knows what else he would have done with them. when i asked 4 a certain cheaper and more common type of bread the begga' objected to the shop man saying he actually wanted a special sort of dark bread. yes, quite odd after starving 4 two weeks.

3. i had just started working. once when in a tramway a begga got in. he just walked from the begining to the end of the wagon and got off at the next station, during this time saying nothing. he made more money than i was earning/hour.

and there are even other experiences that all together convinced me never to give any begga no money no matter how convincing he/she is.

Answer 5

I feel that I am incredibly lucky to not be on their shoes. Sadly, what separates a person like you or me from a person like the one begging for money on the street is most always pure sheer luck. You and I were most probably born out of parents that were able to afford educating us and placing us in a position to live in a comfortable home and provide us with the educational tools to allow us to succeed in life, while the beggar most probably did not receive any such opportunities (in most cases). When a beggar approaches me, I do feel that I owe him/her ("noblesse oblige"). I may not always give him/her money or food (I may not always have it with me to give), but I will try, and if I can't give something, I will at least smile back and act as humanely as I can. I recommend that you remember the luck that life has given you (for whatever reason it was) and that you give a little to those that are less fortunate than us. Always remember that it could've REALLY EASILY have been you or I on that side of the story.

Answer 6

I used to many many years ago throw a bit of change,until I woke up and realised they were buying booze with the money.They sit there all pathetic,can you spare some change please?yet their faces are all red from the drinking! Some of these beggars 'borrow' a dog to sit and look pathetic with them.that generates them a lot of cash.Ive always been tempted to buy a tin of dog food and say there you go just to see the look on their faces!mostly the dog doesn't belong to them and the dog is well fed.my man is a bus driver,it was funny the other day.one of the beggars said to him have you got any change?my man said yes thanks!we dont give,and i will not avoid these cretins.they should get off their backsides and get a job and pay taxes like the rest of us.plenty hostels,and salvation army,there is no excuse for them being there they have to want to be helped,but they all have drink problems.

Answer 7

I dont give money to beggars, it just encourages them. Fair enough some of them actually need the money, but most of them are just scrounging. They use the money for drink or drugs, if they didnt do either of these things so much they would be allowed to live in a hostel and be given help to find a house and sometimes a job too. They really annoy me too! One came and sat next to me in mcdonalds and started trying to pinch my food, it was really gross!
also agree with wallablack, some beggars are very wealthy!! scroungers!

Answer 8

I'm living in china at the moment and there are load and loads of them I never try and give money to them for a couple of reasons.

1) Firsty there are gangs of beggars who con people into giving them money and they make quiet a lot of it. (Its one of the things that the tourist books warn you about)

2) Who do I give money to as there so there are so many of who gets my money and who does not.

3) You find in China that they hang around places like the tourtist places, and other places there theres going to be a lot ot people.
Where was one place I walked by and all of a sudden there where 10-12 people asking me people. And as I say before who do I give money to, if I give money to one do I get the others down, if i give money to every begger I saw I be living on the streets too!

4) I don't get paid much even through I doing a research job, a taxi drive gets paid more than me!!

5) Give money to beggers only make them beg for more.... and then the circle goes around.

Being seen as a westerner, I get targeted a lot because beggers think I'm rich, but in fact I'm just a research student over here, and as china has no science fundin like in the west I get paid very little.

Answer 9

Beggars are not actually unemployed, they instead are self-employed, and their job is standing by the side of the road asking for money. The people who give them money are the ones who pay their salary.

If you think it's a good idea to hire someone to stand by the side of the road, then give them money. If not, don't, and they'll get a different job.

Answer 10

I bring along peanut butter sandwiches and give them one. They cost very little and fill a stomach. A Jew cannot refuse to help someone who says they are hungry, which is why the beggars in NYC all go for the guy with a yarmulka on. I went to graduate school in NYC and passed by lots of beggars every day, so I brought along peanut butter sandwiches. The vast majority of them were grateful, but occasionally I had someone say they just wanted money. If they just wanted money, I gave them nothing-I had fulfilled my obligation by offering food.

Answer 11

Sometimes I give them money, but I don't always have cash on me. I try to be very curtious to them, but I'm not always that good at it. Thanks to the Patriot Act, it's even harder for the urban poor to get jobs than before. "Beggars" are people, too. They have a mother who used to call them by name. Some choose to be on the streets, some are on the streets because they have no other choice--can't get a job, can't keep a job, can't get a job that pays enough, etc, etc. Whatever the reason is, it is not always their fault. When people ask for money, yes, it might be for drugs. But I think those few give the rest a bad name.

So, please remember that these people are people. Please treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve--the same you would give to any other person.