exactly...we don't give and then put conditions on the gift...wtf kind of thinking is that
geez!!!~

i just gave my change to some lady.
and then i turned the corner.
and some guy,
around my age,
asked me for a dollar.
**** no.

If I have some change, I will.

'facilitating irresponsibility.'
Very interesting, I had not thought in
those terms before. Now I can't stop.

yes always


my hearts to big


and ya know alot of these "bums" are ex servicemen...not all

Yes I do. Never know when you might end up on the other end......

If the topic of conversation is 'giving a gift', I agree with you to an extent. IMO, I think it is foolish, immature, and irresponsible to give indiscriminate gifts to panhandlers. It sure does feel good, thought! Sending crack addicts faster to their deaths, while patting ourselves gratuitously on our backs for 'being such a good person'.


But I wasn't talking about giving an indiscriminate, open gift. Nor was I talking about telling other people how to spend their money - I was talking about making your own decision whether to give money to someone.

Maybe you could take a moment and actually read all of the above words, carefully, before jumping to any conclusions or putting any words in my mouth.

Hey, someone with a level of discernment!

Exactly!

My heart is way too big.

I once let my friend and her bf live with me for 3 weeks and I never got any money for groceries,bills or rent.

Then I lent a friend $100 and was unsure if I would even see the money. But she had nothing.

here in san antonio they opened a facility called haven for hope. they care for homeless folk. give them three hots and a cot. they also have health care, for mind and body. then they help get them a job and back into society. i bring this up because i believe that giving a person on the street may or may not help them. there are places specifically designed to help those in need. if i feel the urge to give i give to these places. that way i feel good about giving and i don't worry what is being done with the money

Some of us are just weak and have too big a heart.

I hate to see someone struggle and that can be a bad thing too.

I have complete respect for this, and I've done it myself a few times at my own place. Also, when living with my friends, we would open our living room to people who needed a place to stay for a short time.

When you do this, you are more involved in helping someone else. What you share is less likely to be misused.



Thank you for sharing, that. You make an excellent point, and I also believe that our money is better spent supporting those kinds of places than being given randomly to a total stranger, who is out panhandling.

Also, I know from personal experience (travelling and living with homeless people) that panhandlers are not all homeless, and of course not all homeless are panhandlers. Some of the better panhandlers out there are actually making a good bit of money, and are paying their rent with it - while there are other homeless people who don't have the same things going for them (people skills, hustle, con, appropriate appearance, whatever) who aren't getting anything. So even for those who do want to give cash directly to a poor disadvantaged homeless people, giving it to a panhandler is not always a good bet. Its better to support one of those programs.

if I can spare it I give it...when I lived in AZ I used to always carry bottle water and baggies of dog food in my car..dog food is expensive and those companions need to eat too...

I really loved all of the comments in this thread especially the constructive comments with alternative ways of helping those in need without enabling any addictions they may struggle with:

=> I ask em what they need it for and if they tell me food I offer to take them to the nearest store or burger factory.

=> I once let my friend and her bf live with me for 3 weeks and I never got any money for groceries,bills or rent.

=> volunteering for some ... "food for the homeless" provider

=> there are places specifically designed to help those in need. if i feel the urge to give i give to these places. that way i feel good about giving and i don't worry what is being done with the money.

For those of you who live modestly who would like to see 'good value' for your money - you might be shocked at how some homeless people spend their windfalls. A lot of the career homeless just don't appreciate a value in money - everything they need in life (food, clothes) is provided free of charge, and when they get money it is simply given to them.

I have done a good bit of travelling around the west coast, sleeping on the street all the while, and have just met scores upon scores of homeless people who wouldn't think twice to spend $70 or $80 a night for a hotel room for several days. You can rent a room for a month with that kind of money - but they'd rather have a hotel for three days, party it up, and be back on the streets. Thats what they choose.

Some people are even more self indulgent. In san diego I knew some homeless guys who, after one of them got a generous gift of aid from a family member, went and stayed in $200 hotel room.

While traveling through venice, I overheard a group of homeless guys making careful plans and phone calls to hotels, pooling their monthly check and getting a room in the nicest (several hundred a night!) hotel they could 'afford'.

These particular people are not poor, disadvantaged people in need - they are selfish, irresponsible people who gladly and quickly waste any money they receive so self indulgently.

Of course this does not apply to all homeless people nor all panhandlers! I remember one homeless guy who was digging food out of a trash near the bench where I sat; he came up to me to explain how he managed and budgeted his money (I'd seen him buy really high quality, *healthy*, but not wasteful food at the health food store). He just wanted to emphasize to me how important it was to him to check the trash cans for good food, so he can get even more "healthy food" mileage out of his monthly check. I respect him.

I think that either (a) getting more personally involved than a bit of cash in passing or (b) going through an agency that does get more involved is a good way to really help.

I like to think I have a good B.S. detector. Whenever a panhandler sets it off, I usually ask them for money.

I've been known to go into a convience store and buy them a sandwich, chocolate milk and some chips, but usually don't give them cash.

too hyped up on crack or heroin to eat - or booze