Posted: 6/16/2016 5:50:29 PM EDT
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Just went to gas up the truck.
Some skinny 18ish looking white kid with a ponytail and backpack was rummaging through the trash can as I walked in to get some diet cokes, he pulled out a black styrofoam container, opens it to smell the left over food inside, and then takes it to the other side of the parking lot and starts eating. Would you give him $20 that would probably be spent on booze or just myob? I minded my own business. |
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Never money under any circumstances. I've bought people gas, food, etc., but I will never give anyone cash.
A receptionist in my office used to give a homeless man lunch every single weekday, for 12 years. Last winter, he told her he was "sick of this shit, I just want to get drunk lady." She hasn't given him a meal since. |
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I worked with a homeless ministry in Orlando for quite some time. A street ministry, not a "safe in a closed room somewhere" ministry.
Always. Give. Food. Not. Money. Usually they are genuinely hungry. Giving them money will usually result in booze or really dirty/cheap drugs, however. Many would rather numb the pain than feed themselves. |
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I was going to buy an extra meal at the corner store and deli for a kid once. Dude was sitting on the sidewalk with a sign that just said, "Help, please."
So I grab two of the spaghetti dinners - the lady at the counter said "hungry today hun?" - so I explained to her that one was for the feller outside. She had me come around the counter and showed be a video of another guy giving him one of the prepared meals the day before - it clearly showed him smile and take it - then after the generous fellow was gone - the little fucker walked right over to the garbage and tossed it in. He obviously wasn't hungry. |
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Quoted:
I was going to buy an extra meal at the corner store and deli for a kid once. Dude was sitting on the sidewalk with a sign that just said, "Help, please." So I grab two of the spaghetti dinners - the lady at the counter said "hungry today hun?" - so I explained to her that one was for the feller outside. She had me come around the counter and showed be a video of another guy giving him one of the prepared meals the day before - it clearly showed him smile and take it - then after the generous fellow was gone - the little fucker walked right over to the garbage and tossed it in. He obviously wasn't hungry. This is why I don't give those people anything. |
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He may not be using that on booze but heroin. Giving a heroin addict $20 is just accelerating the inevitable.
If people want help there is alway places they can go if they really want it, like a church. Many of these people have already made a decision to throw away the most precious gift. Or he could be nuts and stab you in the eye, as his way of thanking you, then make you into a raincoat. |
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Quoted:
He may not be using that on booze but heroin. Giving a heroin addict $20 is just accelerating the inevitable. If people want help there is alway places they can go if they really want it, like a church. Many of these people have already made a decision to throw away the most precious gift. Or he could be nuts and stab you in the eye, as his way of thanking you, then make you into a raincoat. FBI alerted 
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He made his choices, he can deal with his choices. I have a family member that burned $400,000 cash money from 18-22 years old, and he's homeless again. I have no compassion for bums. Any man that can walk can make $40 doing day labor. That'll feed you for a week. |
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Quoted:
I was going to buy an extra meal at the corner store and deli for a kid once. Dude was sitting on the sidewalk with a sign that just said, "Help, please." So I grab two of the spaghetti dinners - the lady at the counter said "hungry today hun?" - so I explained to her that one was for the feller outside. She had me come around the counter and showed be a video of another guy giving him one of the prepared meals the day before - it clearly showed him smile and take it - then after the generous fellow was gone - the little fucker walked right over to the garbage and tossed it in. He obviously wasn't hungry. If they have food they're less likely to get donations. |
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Quoted:
This. The cash will most likely get spent on booze or drug of choice. Quoted:
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I might offer to buy him lunch, but I doubt I'd hand over cash. This. The cash will most likely get spent on booze or drug of choice. Before I changed my place of employment last year, I used to have to drive the parkway through pittsburgh several days a week to work, and both tunnels to boot. There were often panhandlers standing along the highway on the ramp to go across the fort pitt bridge, and then on the way home heading east there would be a couple others or same, standing on the parkway near the 2nd ave oneamp I think it was. They would hold signs like please guve, will work for food, homeless vet, etc. i witnessed a couple times people ahead of me stop (traffic was using a crawl in rush hours) and hand out fruit and bottles of water. One day I went through after rush hour, the panhandler was gone. His sign was left there for the next day I guess. There was about six unopened water bottles on the jersey barrier, and maybe 2-3 apples and oranges each. Maybe he would have ate a cheeseburger, but he wanted cash for booze or drugs. I think some of these homeless people even "mined" out the big river rock and riprap that penndot had under one of the overpasses near the jail. These people were sleeping on piles of rags and sheets on these rocks the size of bowling balls. One of the guys made a shelter by digging under the parkway. Not long after that group was ejected somewhere. Maybe to the soylent green vats over on the north shore Heinz plant? Pittsburgh has often been pretty bad with bums and panhadlers, but what else would you expect with continual democrat city government. You see camps under all the under passes, and there used to be a campsite along the river not far from the smithfield st bridge., maybe a little closer to the liberty bridge. |