I hear this more and more, everywhere I go. I run into 7-11 for coffee in the morning on my way to work.

"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you.

I park my bike in the park to enjoy a sunny morning.

"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you.

Years ago, I used to feel bad, knowing that I had a full stomach and this person was crying hunger, even though I knew that whatever money I gave them was going straight to the nearest Stop and Rob for a some cheap beer or right down to the river for a joint. But I felt a little guilty with my cold six pack, my smokes, and pizza delivery on the way, so I tossed them a couple of bucks.

That was a long time ago and even then I knew it was wrong.

I got my first job when I was fourteen, running the supply shack at a boarding school. It was a school for troubled kids and I was one of the troubled kids. The supply shack was a shithole and the last kid they put there told all the staff to take whatever they wanted while he watched tv and got high. Guess what happened to him. There were three rooms full of supplies thrown on top of piles of trash and birdshit from the birds that came in through a hole in the wall and nested there. Out you go. There was an attic, too, and if I was a serial killer I could have stashed the bodies in that place for years.

It took me three months to clean that place up and get rid of all the refuse. When I was done, I asked my boss if someone from maintenance could fix the hole to keep the animals out. I learned my first lesson in bureaucracy when a month went by and nothing happened. It seems the maintenance director didn't like the facilities director and a turf war was in progress.

One day I found one of the maintenance guys and played dumb. I asked him to come look at a problem and he was bored, so he went to look. I opened the door and invited him in. He had seen the place in its previous state. He stared, then he quietly said, "No shit."

Then he said, "That attic is pretty messy, you know. I'm going to have to go up there to fix the hole." I put an old ladder up to the attic entrance and told him that I thought he'd be able to get at the hole. He opened the panel and took a look.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he said. He came back with another guy. They cut a piece of plywood and fixed the hole. Then they pointed at the windows. "I know these windows are pretty old," he said. "I think we can make them a little easier to open. I know it gets pretty hot in here." They straightened the window frame and sprayed some lube on the track. The other guy went out to their truck.

"We got an extra one of these," he said, and gave me an old box fan that fit in the window. It was dirty and it didn't work on high, but it was heaven compared to August in the side of an old barn with no cross ventilation. After a year. they gave me two other kids who were supposed to help me. I think they were supposed to see my example and learn from it, but they wanted to watch tv and sneak out the back to get high. By that time, I was writing purchase orders for a boarding school and I was fifteen. Guess what happened to them.

Years later I was on my own. I lost my job, which I wasn't really good at anyway. I also couldn't pay my rent and I ended up sleeping on my friend's couch that night. I was hungry, and I wanted a cold beer more than anything in the world. The next day, I got up, walked into town, and started looking for work.

There was a guy remodeling an old building in the middle of town.

"Are you hiring?"
"What can you do?"
"I can shovel up all that broken concrete you've got in that pile and get rid of it."
"Be here at 7:30."

I was at it for a couple of hours when he came by and asked me if I wanted some coffee. I didn't have any money. He pulled out a ten dollar bill and told me to get coffee for him and the other guys, and myself, too. I got it and went back to the pile of broken rocks, He bought me lunch every day that week, too. There were guys who would get high and avoid working while they laughed at the little shithead with the long hair who was sweeping the floor and humping commercial sheetrock up to the top floor. Guess what happened to them.

I learned how to frame a house, hang windows and doors, install siding, tile, shingle, drop ceilings, stairs, sheetrock, spackle, trim, and the proper way to evaluate tits according to an Italian contractor. I was sad when the work ran out, not just for me, but for my boss who was going to have to scrounge and find a job working for somebody else. We had a couple of beers at the Valley Pub and pronounced ourselves experts on the subject of tits.

From there I got my own house, became a volunteer EMT, became a paid EMT, went to school, ran a business, ran my friend's business, and took whatever lumps came my way. I got in the gun business seventeen years ago and found something I really liked. I had an old boss who knew everything there was to know about guns and he knew plenty of other stuff, too. He was a great and generous teacher, and a great boss. I miss his company very much. He was also an expert on the subject of tits.


"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you.

The reason I can't help you is because I've been watching you for the last 34 years and I've noticed that there's a reason you can't feed yourself. Either you spent your money on beer and pot, or you refuse to do any work and you haven't got any money because of it.


"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you.

See, I have a cart full of groceries. The reason I have it is because I worked fifty hours last week and I spent time when I was off to make sure I was up on what's happening in my industry. The reason I worked fifty hours last week is because even in a down economy, I've got people calling me up and offering me jobs.


"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you.

I can't teach you that when someone hires you to work for him, you need to actually work. I'd fire you, too. The reason I'd fire you is because I've heard that story before when I had to fire some idiot that didn't understand that part of working is in fact, working.

"But I need this job."
"But I need somebody who will do what I ask and that's not you."


"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you.

You could have offered to wash my car for twenty bucks. You could have offered to help me with the bags of stuff that I had to carry. You could have even offered to show me your tits and I, being an expert on the subject of tits, might have gone along with the gag.

"I'm hungry. Can you help me?"
I can't help you. You're the one that's overweight and begging for money in a parking lot at 9:30 on a Saturday night. You can't help yourself.

Sign, DId you write this?

Excellent!

Can you spare some change ?

That was a great read.

Great read.

I was walking home today with an order of takeout chinese and I got harassed by every bum on the street. And it's all the same ones that I've seen in this town for 3 years...

I tend to ignore people who come up to me and ask for money.  There could be a group of people coming out of a store and im the first person that gets asked


sometimes though; i have done it.  I've looked into the eyes of some and seen true desperation and plight, not some wino-tard.

Great read.  It boggles my mind how some people take to begging, especially young, healthy individuals.  I pass by the 'Work Today, Get Paid Today' place several times a week, and I don't see people there.

At the ages of 10 and 12, my brother and I were working fools, dragging a beat up old lawn mower and a can of gas all over the place, mowing lawns during the Summer, raking leaves in the fall, and doing whatever we could to make a dime or a dollar, because our parents taught us the work ethic.  Kids today?  Fffffuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccc    

It's all the fault of the parent, or the lack thereof.













On the lighter side:  If I told you I was hurting for a bottle of hooch or a joint, would ya help a bruthah out?

If one of the local bums approached me with that sort of honesty, I'd probably give him a couple dollars even though its enabling

How truthful that is.

nice read, A few days a week I take the train home from work cause it's cheaper than driving. The same guy is at the same station when I get off work.
He's been there since at least last year, he always asks for money and always acts disgusted and insulted when I say no.Kinda surprised he keeps asking me honestly.

I stopped giving people money when I was in high school. It was summer in Chicago and I worked for a moron who rented out boats to people , it was fairly busy and about 100 degrees out. I was stupid enough to leave my water bottle at home and of course there wasn't time for me to go out and buy some water.

When I finally got off it was pretty late so I went to the closest 7-11 and bought a gallon jug of water. I drank my fill and started heading for the train. Some homeless guy started asking me for water, at first I refused, but he actually seemed really thirsty and I had drank enough water to last me for awhile. So I gave him the jug.

What was his reaction???

A Thank you?

Drinking the water and leaving me the F alone?

Nope it was more like Why did you give me this!!! I don't want no water !!!! Don't you have any money??

After that, I have never given anyone begging a penny. Especially after working a 12hr shift in a really boring job.
The only time I ever give people money is those street performer types that can sing decently or have some skill with an instrument, but that's pretty rare.

That it was.

Are you gonna show me your tits?

Are you into hairy chests?

Good stuff.

OP, that was fantastic. Inspiring stuff.

Back when I used to smoke, I had some ratty looking guy ask if I had an extra cigarette.
I pulled my pack out, looked it over and told him. "Nope. just 20 in this pack, No extras."

Thanks sign. Good post.

––IS

Just read this on Pic's blog- just so Damn good, needs a bump!

OP, I like you.

When I was a young Marine in Oceanside, I had a couple of buddies from upstate NY. Anytime someone was panhandling, they made them do 10 pushups for $1. I don't remember them ever having to pay up.



Lately I keep seeing these 3 hipster dipshits begging at a shopping center when I have to go into town. Every time I see them, I tell them to get a job.

You do know some of those people make more money begging than you do working.

I can't stand that shit either. Everyone says the economy is so bad, there are no jobs. I see hordes of illegals working daily. I see places all over with help wanted signs. I see the classifieds job section full of jobs. Hell My cousin was working for us last week... He walked into a deli and a man in line looked down at his trashed work boots, smiled and said " Hey you looking for work?"