If they're following and harassing me then no, but if they're just sitting there with a sign saying 'need money for heroin' or other such thing then I might chuck them a bit of change.
Poll: If a homeless person begged you for money, would you give it to them?
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It absolutely matters. If I'm donating something to a homeless person, it's in the hope that I'm helping that homeless person to improve their situation and better him or herself. If I donate money, and that money goes straight toward alcohol, cigarettes, and/or drugs then that money has been wasted. It has not been used to rectify the problem of being homeless, it's been used to exacerbate the problem. By giving money to a person who is going to spend it on alcohol, cigarettes, and/or drugs all you are doing is encouraging that person to continue the status quo. You're encouraging them to be a leech. I would argue that that's actually worse for both them and society as a whole in the long-run than doing nothing.Colour Scientist said:
With regard to one of your other statements in that post, the frivolous things that you or I may spend our money on is irrelevant, because we aren't homeless (presumably?). I can't speak for anyone else, but if the risk of homelessness became a credible threat to me, you can be damn sure that I'd give that frivolous spending the axe right quick. And I certainly wouldn't be spending money on that crap if there was more important stuff I needed (like a home). But as long as I'm not homeless, what frivolous things I choose to spend my money on is irrelevant to this particular issue because I've worked hard for it, and I've got all of my other bills already sorted out.
If they just ask for money, then I usually don't give it to them. If they give me a story or something, even if I think it's complete bullcrap, I'll give them something.
I wouldn't. I almost never have any change on me and I'm just a student with a low-paid job so, no.
That being said I did once buy an ice-cream to an old lady who was laying on the street begging for food (not money, food). It just breaks my heart to see old people begging when they should be enjoying retirement.
That being said I did once buy an ice-cream to an old lady who was laying on the street begging for food (not money, food). It just breaks my heart to see old people begging when they should be enjoying retirement.
The ones that follow and harass? Nope.
I have given a few dudes some cash, but they have to look and present earnest. The aggressive ones useually are too alcoholics or crashed druggies, which i am not wating money on OR fakers, which live pretty good and just need want some cash on the side.
I have given a few dudes some cash, but they have to look and present earnest. The aggressive ones useually are too alcoholics or crashed druggies, which i am not wating money on OR fakers, which live pretty good and just need want some cash on the side.
Where I live there are a fair few homeless, I won't give money to any of them. There are a mixture of the ones who sit there with a cap on the floor and don't ask and the ones who walk in your general directions asking if you have 60p to spare. I won't give any because I feel that if I give to one then how can I say no to the rest or who do I choose to help? However I do occasionally buy an extra hot drink if I pop into a coffee shop and give it to them if they're sat outside, especially during the colder months.
If I'm going to give charity, it has nothing to do with the person who wants it, and everything to do with the kind of person I am and what I have to spare. Also, WOULD I? What kind of sheltered ass life do you all live where this hasn't already happened to you all? I've had this happen, and yeah, I give what I can afford to spare.
Money? definitely not, I'm a very low income earner and have little disposable cash as it is. What I'd rather do is donate to or volunteer for (and have done so) Lifeline, the Red Cross, Salvos, the food bank, or a homeless shelter, that way I know the money/goods is going to actually help people and not feed peoples addictions.
If I was being followed or harrassed, the only thing that would happen is me calling the police.
If I was being followed or harrassed, the only thing that would happen is me calling the police.
I think you need to reread the question, it asks "If someone was ACTIVELY asking for money, would you give it?" Panhandling is illegal in a lot of places and if someone is actively harassing or following them, a lot of people would feel threatened and walk away, it's more often than not a safer choice, especially in bad areas. I think the poll would show a very different answer if the world 'actively' was removed from the question.GamerMage said:
Ordinarily, I often give money to the homeless that I pass. I use to be one of them and I recognize that it was only sheer luck that I am no longer among them. I remember well, what it was like and I never let myself forget it. It's a danger with becoming too comfortable in my current life. That being said a couple weeks ago I had a homeless man harass me on my way to work in the morning. I had my headphones in and tried to pass him by. He reached out and grabbed my long hair. I clocked him in the jaw hard enough to break my hand. I'm still upset at myself for landing the punch so clumsily, but it made him back off. So yeah, harassment will not get my money.
Used to happen to me on a regular basis. My answer was and is no, with a caveat. If I have the time, I will offer to take them into a restaurant or store and buy them food or toiletries. I feel that my tax dollars should be taking care of that (plus housing and health care)... but the reality is, they're not... they're paying corporate welfare instead. Thus, I do what little I can individually.
In other words:
In other words:
That one bears repeating ad nauseam. Maybe someday our owners will get sick enough of hearing it that they'll deign to cut the small percentage of their margins it would take to fix the situation.Nil Kafashle said:Relevant:
I'd give em a sandwich. But money, no, never. For the reasons stated - you simply do not know where that money will go. At least when you give them food it'll serve a good purpose. If I was a person of means and I felt sorry for a guy, who wasn't a twitcher or otherwise obvious drug abuser, I might offer them a room with a shower. It's hard to dig out of a hole if you cannot even clean yourself up.
No. I have a discerning eye and keen ears.senordesol said:
The rogues and thieves of Romania will get nothing from me.
The last time I gave a person money was kind of funny, to begin with anyways.
He was straight forward with me and asked if I had a dollar for a beer, which I did. I had several loose dollars and handed the man one. I was in a good mood, and he was kinda drunk and rather jolly himself, and there were lots of people around, so if he kept pestering me or anything people would notice. He also started singing thank you. It was silly.
However, I'm assuming he either saw that I had more than a dollar on me, or another passerby had noticed, because when my friend and I turned the corner another man came running up to us. It startled me more, since there were no people around now, and he seemed like he was going to run pass us for the bus stop or something. Instead he trailed really close for a little while, like, he was pretty much touching us, which is VERY uncomfortable. He eventually asked for money, which I gave him a dollar like above, and he went away. That's been my most uncomfortable experience.
Once my friend gave a girl (which we've never had before or ever again) $1.50. She said it was for bus fair, but she actually went into the nearby bakery and bought something to eat. Either way it wasn't skin off our backs, and to us spending it on food, even if it's just a cookie, is a lot better than other things.
Then there's this other guy that's ALWAYS downtown in a certain few blocks and is ALWAYS asking people for money. He's very loud about it and I just find this person annoying and rude. He asked me for money twice withing 15 minutes, if that. Once when I was going into a building, and once after. It's like, Really? Can you not notice I'm the same person? I'm even wearing a pretty identifiable hat.
TL;DR: Yes, I've given money, after my last experience, I probably won't.
He was straight forward with me and asked if I had a dollar for a beer, which I did. I had several loose dollars and handed the man one. I was in a good mood, and he was kinda drunk and rather jolly himself, and there were lots of people around, so if he kept pestering me or anything people would notice. He also started singing thank you. It was silly.
However, I'm assuming he either saw that I had more than a dollar on me, or another passerby had noticed, because when my friend and I turned the corner another man came running up to us. It startled me more, since there were no people around now, and he seemed like he was going to run pass us for the bus stop or something. Instead he trailed really close for a little while, like, he was pretty much touching us, which is VERY uncomfortable. He eventually asked for money, which I gave him a dollar like above, and he went away. That's been my most uncomfortable experience.
Once my friend gave a girl (which we've never had before or ever again) $1.50. She said it was for bus fair, but she actually went into the nearby bakery and bought something to eat. Either way it wasn't skin off our backs, and to us spending it on food, even if it's just a cookie, is a lot better than other things.
Then there's this other guy that's ALWAYS downtown in a certain few blocks and is ALWAYS asking people for money. He's very loud about it and I just find this person annoying and rude. He asked me for money twice withing 15 minutes, if that. Once when I was going into a building, and once after. It's like, Really? Can you not notice I'm the same person? I'm even wearing a pretty identifiable hat.
TL;DR: Yes, I've given money, after my last experience, I probably won't.
As I have done many times in the past when a homless person did such I told them no and to get a damn job.
