I'm tired of bums with cardboard signs

Denise, I'm sorry you have to put up with this now during your walks that were always so pleasant for you. Some states are worse for this thing compared to Oregon, Colorado, etc. and some areas are worse than others for sure. I used to give but don't anymore (or at least very rarely), not since I've experienced firsthand some of the attitudes on these people and their aggressiveness. The scammers do a great injustice to the people who are really down and out.

Like Happyflowerlady said, some truly want help and not live on the streets, and some are career panhandlers out for easy money.

Many are fake vets trying to work off of people's sympathy too. My heart goes out to all of our veterans who fought in senseless wars in hellish places only to come home to the US and be kicked to the curb with their service related physical, mental and emotional injuries. Many of our troops do end up homeless and not everyone wants to enter a shelter because they have addictions to deal with and aren't ready to let them go in a supervised environment. I can understand that.

All the panhandler scammers out there give a bad name to the folks who are truly down on their luck and homeless. I'm not a mind-reader, but a pretty good judge of character being street-smart and growing up in a big city. Just talking to someone for a couple of minutes can usually tell me if they're the real deal, or somebody trying to run a game.






 

I will be the first to admit I'm judgmental about most of the guys (and women) who stand outside Walmart and panhandle. I've seen too many of them get into cars that are a lot nicer than what my hard-earned money bought. I've seen them going in and out of the liquor store next door. I'm judgmental and I won't apologize for it.
 
I understood what you were saying Denise and you have every right to your opinion. When we lived in Jacksonville, FL amost everytime I went to Walmart there were these same people standing holding out signs for money for food.

There was a What A Burger place right next to where they were standing so one day I went and ordered food for them there and brought it back to them. They took it, but then asked me if I could give them some money too. A couple of nights later I saw those same people on the evening news...they were running a scam and making alot of money by making people think they needed it. But the News people had caught them in their scam.

There are many people out there that really are going through hard times and need help...but there are all so alot of people who are scammers too. How do you tell them apart...most of the time you don't. But I'm tired of scammers too and I'll tell you why, those scammers make it harder for those who really need help to get the help they need. And I hate that the innocent have to suffer for those who are not innocent. If you feel scared of some of these people Denise...it may be your intuition warning you that there is danger ahead...and that's a good thing. Go with your first instinct, you are trying to take care of yourself in a world that daily is getting darker and where bad is starting to take over more and more.
 

I agree that the scammers who are pretending to be handicapped and poor make it harder for the truly needy.... but I find it interesting that we can be so indignant when it comes to low level scammers pretending to be needy .... we really want the poor to be poor before we help them and that is understandable. I wonder how much the individuals bring in or if it is a big racket and they are just working for some higher ups - maybe both.

In India individual beggars are often part of a syndicate like organization and only get a small amount for the money they get, often actually
maimed or blinded for their 'jobs'. The beggars here might be similar - in a way. Dress in their professional beggar outfits for the day, etc.

What I find interesting is that we more or less accept (for want of better word) or at least tolerate high level scammers - the mafia, white collar crime, marketing scams, government corruption, etc. etc. but poor people pretending to be poorer is something we can't take or risk giving a dollar to in case they are fakes.

Its is a very dirty world with everyone trying to survive or get ahead and not everyone plays the game fairly, as we can see around us every day, police brutality, murders, powerful people doing dirty deeds, the damage to the environment, nuclear threats, invasions, wars and genocide......
What can we do, either fix it or don't go there?
 
Can't thank you enough Seabreeze, I never meant I hated anyone. I just was feeling disappointed, and yes, a bit scared to go out for walks. But anyway, I am glad a few folks didn't "burn me at the stake" for having some bad feelings I decided to share here. Denise
 
Cookie said:
I agree that the scammers who are pretending to be handicapped and poor make it harder for the truly needy.... but I find it interesting that we can be so indignant when it comes to low level scammers pretending to be needy .... we really want the poor to be poor before we help them and that is understandable. I wonder how much the individuals bring in or if it is a big racket and they are just working for some higher ups - maybe both.

In India individual beggars are often part of a syndicate like organization and only get a small amount for the money they get, often actually
maimed or blinded for their 'jobs'. The beggars here might be similar - in a way. Dress in their professional beggar outfits for the day, etc.

What I find interesting is that we more or less accept (for want of better word) or at least tolerate high level scammers - the mafia, white collar crime, marketing scams, government corruption, etc. etc. but poor people pretending to be poorer is something we can't take or risk giving a dollar to in case they are fakes.

Its is a very dirty world with everyone trying to survive or get ahead and not everyone plays the game fairly, as we can see around us every day, police brutality, murders, powerful people doing dirty deeds, the damage to the environment, nuclear threats, invasions, wars and genocide......
What can we do, either fix it or don't go there?
Click to expand...

Very well said, Cookie, if everyone turned their back to a just cause or to the poor and needy because of the ones that are corrupt or faking it, it would be a sad sad world.
 
Thanks Babs,

I met a little gal at that house I was staying in. She was staying out in a place called the Devil's Playground in Eureka. She got raped, and beat up by a group she had been hanging with for protection. I mean she felt safe with them. She was one of the last I knew that came into the house at Eureka. I encouraged her as much as possible, helped her go through some clothing that was "giveaway". She really did have some mental illness, I don't know what will happen to her but she wanted a real life, and was really trying.

Funny part is, when I first met her I was scared of her. Then after her being around the house, I started seeing who she really was.

I should remember it's probably the ones that "don't" look scarey, and the ones that have families, and everyone likes them I should be afraid of.
 
Ooh, this thread brings back memories. Sixteen, Vancouver in November. No home, no money, no social insurance number, a duffel bag for belongings. A tarp to protect me from the elements. I was there because it was safer than being at home. Ate

out of dumpsters, panhandled. Some people were kind, some judgemental, some wanted to trade food for sex. Others money for sex. At sixteen,I looked like a well developed fourteen year old. Charming. I have some trouble with some of the less than

compassionate comments I have heard on this thread. Would any of you have tried to help the lost child I was, or would you have turned away assuming I was just another loser/addict/scammer? Therapist or not, I am crying, for all the invisible lost

people. It can happen to anyone, of any age, given the wrong circumstances. I pray it doesn't happen to anyone here.
 
Denise1952 said:
Can't thank you enough Seabreeze, I never meant I hated anyone. I just was feeling disappointed, and yes, a bit scared to go out for walks. But anyway, I am glad a few folks didn't "burn me at the stake" for having some bad feelings I decided to share here. Denise
Click to expand...

It was clear you didn't hate anybody. And I can understand your disappointment and fear, that's unfortunate, but realistic. I don't have that much exposure to these people anymore, but I can definitely share your annoyance of them being in your face on a daily basis. Like some of us have acknowledged, not all panhandlers are nice and honest people, they shouldn't all be trusted with our kind hearts.
 
Cookie said:
What I find interesting is that we more or less accept (for want of better word) or at least tolerate high level scammers - the mafia, white collar crime, marketing scams, government corruption, etc. etc. but poor people pretending to be poorer is something we can't take or risk giving a dollar to in case they are fakes.
Click to expand...

I don't think any of us accept or willingly tolerate any scammers, government, white collar or marketing. But they are not up close and personal, in our face, like some of the street beggars and panhandlers that many people have to deal with on a daily basis unfortunately. I personally will not willingly give someone who's scamming me, my hard earned money, there are a lot of victims in this world, some legit and some not... I won't be a victim of a deceptive scammer. I will give to those in need, even if it's thorough local shelters, food banks, etc.
 
I think you are right not to give to anyone you suspect is a fake beggar SB, and donating to food banks and shelters and other charitable organizations is the best way to go. And it is a nasty experience to be accosted by panhandlers in your face on your way to work or shopping, more personal than seeing something on tv news or movies, and also intimidating, as I know, having had that experience myself.

Perhaps we feel that high level crime/corruption is out of our control and somewhere 'out there' but giving our hard earned money to beggars is more personal and something we have some choice about. I do notice that for years people have been complaining about welfare scammers and the like, how its coming from their tax dollars, yet I don't hear anyone complaining about corporate greed and government corruption, even though much larger amounts of money are involved. Not saying anyone here is right or wrong, just noticing.

Whatever the case is, its hard to make a judgement call on this subject regarding beggars, I find, as we don't know how or why these people chose to do this, something for them has gone wrong and they have resorted to this way of life, but I agree we don't have to be their victims either.
 
Back when I lived in NYC homelessness was all around - you couldn't walk a block without seeing someone either sleeping over a sewer grate to stay warm or panhandling.

Back then, at least as well as I can remember, there was never a big stink about scams - most of the homeless you saw were the real thing.

And yes, a lot of them could be scary. I had one lady walking toward me on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, carrying a big shopping bag. I moved over a few inches to let her pass, and all of a sudden she screamed "HIIIIYAHHH" and swung the bag at me.

My reflexes allowed me to jump out of the way, at which point she started laughing hilariously and kept walking.
 
SifuPhil said:
Back when I lived in NYC homelessness was all around - you couldn't walk a block without seeing someone either sleeping over a sewer grate to stay warm or panhandling.

Back then, at least as well as I can remember, there was never a big stink about scams - most of the homeless you saw were the real thing.

And yes, a lot of them could be scary. I had one lady walking toward me on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, carrying a big shopping bag. I moved over a few inches to let her pass, and all of a sudden she screamed "HIIIIYAHHH" and swung the bag at me.

My reflexes allowed me to jump out of the way, at which point she started laughing hilariously and kept walking.
Click to expand...
That reminds me of one time I was standing outside the county hospital in Houston at night . I was waiting for my ex to pull the car around and pick me up. There was this HUGE muscle bound man that was going around to every trash can and lifting the lid and talking to the trash and laughing. Then quite suddenly he came right next to me and yelled " Give me a cigarette! I gave him my whole pack. I must admit that scared me.
 
Occasionally I see a panhandler standing at a traffic intersection, with an obviously false leg. This would be a very hard thing to fake, so I usually hand them a dollar.
Otherwise, I'm pretty skeptical.
 
That was a big difference moving from here to PA and back again. In small town Pennsylvania people would walk around smiling. If you were walking a stranger might pull over and ask if you needed a ride. If there was a disturbance in public people would go running to look. I remember my uncles running out to follow the fire truck.

Here you might look up and smile if you recognize someone. Otherwise you don't make eye contact. People do not stop and offer strangers rides. I remember being in traffic one day and this poor lady got bumped by a truck pulling out. She fell against the sidewalk, quite pregnant too. It took some time for a few brave souls to pull over and help her.

There's helping and there's helping. The lady I would help, but if you're grubbing small change on a block with a liquor store...nah
 
I can't thank everyone enough for their posts/replies here. This morning I got a huge wake-up call from God of my understanding, the God of the bible. I realized how far from Him I'd drifted, and how Georgia was especially right about me being afraid I would end up being one of those folks with a cardboard sign. I am ashamed, but at the same time, I am glad it's all happened. My heart is changed, it was hardened, against lots of things, and lots of people. Want to post this video, I don't think it came around by accident. I know not all believe in Jesus, the God of the bible (is my belief) if not, I just hope you will know that I do appreciate those that had such good, advice, and thoughts on what the OP said, Denise

 
Hmmm. When I was a sixteen year old homeless kid in Vancouver, I don't know if I begged for help on streets with or without liquor stores, kinda hard to tell, in the rain, when you wear glasses.
 
My mom, grandmother, and many more of my ancestors were born in Victoria Shalimar. I have an ancestor's page here if you want to take a peek. I look/read it every, once in awhile:

http://nowandthengenealogy.tripod.com/XavierVautrinBio.html
7th paragraph under Amelie Vautrin--first marriage, the daughter Ethel, is my grandmother.

My dad was born in Ontario, and he holds the Welsh side of the family. My gg grand-dad, Xavier, what French Canadian from Quebec. (I think gg, I lose track, lol)
 
Apologies for profiling Georgia. What I should have said is that I have met many Québécois who share some physical characteristics with Denise. Mea culpa, please do not throw biscuits at the mermaid.
 
LOL, Shalimar;) I've done the same thing, especially with folks I think "look" Irish for example;)
 
I am a Celtic mix, yet Scotsmen insist I look like a Scot because of my auburn hair. Irish say I resemble them for the gift of the gab. Welsh relatives called me a witch. Lolol. Who knows?
 
I think I get a lot of my "perceptions" from movies. Remember the ole witch in Wizard of Oz? Well, now they have witches that look like Michelle Pfeifer, LOL:)
 

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