Poll: If a homeless person begged you for money, would you give it to them?

[sageoftruth]

Depends on a lot of things, like my mood, how many times I've given already, whether or not I've got the change on me, how he goes about asking for it.

I've got to admit though, I really hate it when they do that. When I give to a guy sitting on the road, I feel generous. When they run up to me and ask for money, I feel like I'm being coerced. In the end, I'm forced to choose between feeling like a gullible fool or a greedy jerk. Not my favorite situation.

 

[Amir Kondori]

I almost never give cash to homeless people, although on occasion I will hand out a buck. What I do from time to time is give them food.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I have a friend that carries around bananas (when he has a little spare money) to give to beggars; it's a cheap, nutritious item that people only refuse when they have another agenda. One time this women was parading her children around asking for money for food, she nearly attacked him for offering her and her children a couple of bananas because she would only take cash.

I don't trust strangers I've just met, so I never give any of them money rich or poor. If I were in an area where I regularly saw people begging (I live in the country), I would take my friend's approach and carry bananas. Too many scam artists out there; if I'm giving away money or material I prefer for it to go to organizations that can help the disenfranchised more efficiently than I can.

 

[IceStar100]

No mostly becuase I alreaady give to things I researched. I've seen study where people make more pan handling then I do working.

 

[Cerebrawl]

I have on occasion given money to beggars, wouldn't give it to someone who was following and harassing me though, no way. I wouldn't even buy something from you if you do that.

And I've even let a homeless friend of a friend, that I didn't previously know, stay at my place for 6 months while they searched for their own place.

 

[senordesol]

I'll pay to listen to a street performer on the sax. I'll pay for a piece of artwork.

But I don't hand out money.

With the former cases, I'm not only purchasing but the person in question has demonstrated that they're willing to contribute something of value -- that they don't expect to just be handed something.

Whether they're an addict or a drunk, what they do with what they've earned after the fact is no affair of mine.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

This isn't a hypothetical. It happens to me all the time. If I'm feeling generous and have a dollar or two on me, I'll give it to them. I was just likely to buy something sugary and terrible for me with it, so whatever.

As a side note, active panhandling is illegal in a lot of places. It's perfectly fine for them to stand there with a sign, but they can't actively request money. If they do, the police can pick them up, or at least make them leave.

 

[ecoho]

following me and harassing me no, id tell them once to back away then if they proceeded I would taze them ill buy people a sandwich, some water, and maybe the odd bus ticket (non refundable) but give them money? hell no, unless you know they're street performers.

 

[Blitsie]

It depends on the person, sometimes people just get hit so bad the only thing they have left to fall back on is the help of a stranger and for these kinds of people I'd gladly give some money or food to, since they generally try to get out of their crappy situation and only resorted to begging because they literally have nothing else.

But to answer the question, no, I would much rather introduce my foot to their face than let them see a cent from me if they decide to harass me for money.

Apologies, part of my routine involves walking to a train station and I always run into beggars like these, I can compile a book on the amount dirty tricks I've seen these people pull, one uses her young kid for prostitution, the other tries to emotionally break down any unlucky passer by in an effort to guilt him\her into giving money and there's also one who just straight up follows you and refuses to take no for an answer, always teetering on the edge of blatantly threatening for money. I don't like these kinds of people.

 

[softclocks]

Given these 2 circumstances I would give him/her money.

- I have change on me.
- They are not an immigrant.

 

[DementedSheep]

I've given money before to people begging, usually if I happen to have loose change on me and in one case when directly asked (he legitimately wanted a buck or 2 so he could buy some chips at the fish and chips store not for drugs or alcohol).

If someone was following me and harassing me about it though hell no and if I wanted to do a donation for more than just whatever I have on me it would be through an organisation. I don't like being harassed for money, be it by the homeless or a charity organisation. One of the streets I use to walk down 5 days a week had a problem with overly aggressive donation collectors. It's really annoying, especially when they try and guilt trip you about it. If I donate to you I am donating out of my student loan so no!

On a related note, I don't really get why if helping in small way or with an immediate problem without solving the major problem permanently is considered worthless by a lot of people. You don't need to go whole hog or nothing.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I've given money to the homeless before, but if they followed me around like that, no I wouldn't. They have no right to my money, I work hard and barely make enough for myself a lot of the time.

 

[OneCatch]

Man, the beggars must be more creative in your part of the world.
Where I'm from, it's just "money for the bus" or "haven't eaten in a while".

I used to live in Swansea, which is basically the heroin capital of Wales [http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/swansea-love-story/], You used to get people either:

a) loitering the bus station while clearly stupefied asking for 'money for the bus'. After all the bus services had finished for the night. Variation: Doing the same at the train station after all train services had finished.

b) asking to borrow your phone so that they could ring their girlfriend/boyfriend/mother who'd been taken into hospital because cancer/childbirth/heart attack. Always a combination of those relatives or conditions. And if you gave them the phone they'd leg it and then sell it to Cash Converters or something. Or try and sell it to someone else...

Now I live in Cardiff, which is full of stoners - much more relaxing!

More on topic; I tend to give money to people who are visibly homeless - ie those who might actually be sleeping rough - rather than the above, especially in winter. So in the OP's case I probably wouldn't, unless they seemed *really* desperate and their story made some kind of sense. Behaviour crossing into actual harassment or threats won't get anywhere though - I'm not a combative person, but I'm not getting coerced into giving money away either.

 

[Flutterguy]

I voted yes but its not entirely true.

Depends entirely on their approach, look, and if they can do something for me.

If they played an instrument well, got me ciggarettes, had a good attitude or just told a good story. Sure, give em a few bucks, make their life a little less shitty.

 

[senordesol]

Given these 2 circumstances I would give him/her money.

- I have change on me.
- They are not an immigrant.

I'm curious...do you ask for papers?

Is there a limit, like, they were born in another country but were taken to yours when they were 18mos?

 

[Sonic Doctor]

If they are going to follow me around and harass me, then no, no I wouldn't give a homeless person money. Besides, I only have physical cash on me a few days out of each month. Those are the days I go to stay/visit with friends, and I use that cash for when they go out to eat(for tips), and when they order pizza in, we split the bill by putting in whatever cash we have on us. During those times I have only around exactly the cash I need to do those things.

Other than that, I don't carry physical cash. The only thing I have on me other than that, is a debit card that if it gets stolen and then used, before it gets canceled and I get a new card, I get all the money back that is stolen.

 

[Callate]

I give money to those who ask with some frequency, but following and harassing me is breaking a pretty basic social covenant- that I have an inherent right to say no.

 

[Username Redacted]

suppose a homeless person was begging you for money..and i'm not talking sitting on the side and just begging as you pass by, i mean following you and almost harassing you for money. would you give them money after that?

Emphatically no. Harassing me to do something is going to (usually) make me less likely to do it rather than more. In this scenario the homeless person is going to be given one polite but firm warning to cease and desist what they're doing before I call up someone (police) with the legal authority to make them go away.