"Spare some change?"

[Nihilego]

If you're approached on the street by a homeless person / a beggar who asks you for change, do you give it to them? Why or why not? What if they don't ask you directly?

On another note - how about street performers and artists? Do you give them money?

Do you see a lot of this in your area?

 

[curiousnathan]

I hand out some of my spare change here and there. I don't hand it out left, right and centre though whenever I come across a homeless person or street entertainers.

 

[Shining Raichu]

Street performers sometimes, but beggars definitely not. I don't like strangers approaching me in the streets so if you want money out of me that's not the way to do it.

 

[Sir Codin]

I usually don't, mostly because I don't normally carry spare change.

When I do, I usually give what I wouldn't miss anyway, but sometimes I feel particularly generous, especially if I see that homeless person doing something awesome to deserve it. As for street performers, as long you aren't covering The Eagles, I'll give a little of what I might have.

 

[Kotone]

If someone is begging on the street, no. i feel like half the time they're fake >.< i'll donate money though at the store.

 

[Flushed]

I rarely have spare change on me, so no. Same goes for the street performers. Although I do wish I did have some change for the musicians who perform, they're often quite good.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I've given spare change to both street performers and homeless people and it felt really good each time. I've never been approached by someone who was begging before so I can't say how I would feel about donating to someone who does that, but rather I've given money to people who are sitting on a corner with a sign and a jar for donations. On the subject of street performers however, I really enjoy them and anytime that I have the opportunity to watch them, I do so and donate if at all possible. At least they are doing something to try and earn a little cash as opposed to begging for it.

 

[Firox]

Even if I do have change to spare, I won't give it to homeless, I believe they will only spend it on drugs or alcohol, I don't trust them at all.

Street perfomers, no, they already get plenty from tourist - many times I don't go to the touristic places, its just too expensive.

The only time I do donate is either at the grocery store, or the Red Cross, or some online places (like PokeCommunity) I like and support.

 

[xseed]

Nope. would never give money to a stranger even if they are poor.and we dont have street performers ect where I live lol

 

[Yoshikko]

We have a lot of those, usually hanging around shops, and street performers are just everywhere where it's crowded. I have sometimes given change to beggars when I wasn't in a rush and happened to have some easily-accessible change on me, but I think it completely depends on the situation and also the way they approach you.

There was one time where I really wanted to give a street musician some because his music was just beautiful and captivating but I didn't have any on me.

 

[Amore]

Sometimes I give money to good street musicians as an appreciation of talent...where I'm from we don't really have beggars though, and now at Uni I haven't seen many yet (probably due to my area). The only time I've given money to an actual beggar was when he was wandering around in front of the car I was about to get into, and I wanted to make sure he was out of the way.

 

[Honest]

Ahahaha, wow, the first thing that came to mind reading this is how this kid named Thomas in my high school had been getting spooked for a whole month because this shoddy old man stands outside about a block away from school and keeps going "Help the homeless". Except the dude sorta mutters it and speaks fast, and Thomas kept thinking he was saying "Help me Thomas". Ahahaha, good times.

Anyway, I get a lot of those homeless people, living in New York City. There's a huge homeless population in the Subway system, and it's pretty common to have someone walk into the subway car asking for money. Honestly, I don't give unless it's very apparent that the person's in need of help. I've seen my fair share of tricksters. There was this one dude who was pretending to be blind and asked for money. I didn't give, but at the end, he made a whole dramatic scene where he was miraculously cured, and then ran off with the money.

As for street performers and Elmos, I've been on the flip side actually. Well, sort of. Times Square, at night, has these performers who break dance and then jump over people. I got to know a few of the people who did that and then got involved at one point, so I know how hard it is to actually make a decent amount of money. Doesn't help that the cops in Times Square are *****y when it comes to loud music. Anyway, I don't really give them much either, tbqh. While it isn't as much as one might think, the performers in the city do make a fairly decent amount if they work at it for a good amount of time. Outside the touristy areas, its a little harder. Hell, we even get performers in the subway, and it's hit or miss with them.

 

[Altair1]

I never carry cash on me, or rarely anyway... I have given change before though. I can remember two occasions.
The first one the guy didn't even look homeless, I overheard him later talking with someone boasting about how much he made off begging!
The second person wouldn't leave me alone after I gave him the money, he kept following me and saying ''whatever you need just let me know'' ... I ended up losing him shortly after.

 

[nimbo]

No, I'd rather buy them food/water. Give them money and they'll probably spend it on alcohol or drugs. And there are no street performers around here, so I haven't faced that yet! But probably not.

 

[Aeroblast]

As harsh as it sounds I ignore the beggars. They're the real world equivalent of noobs in MMORPG. Sure, some of them may genuinely be desperate, but begging is not the right way to go about it at all.

I have no recollection of meeting street performers.

 

[Shiny Celebi]

I do worry that some homeless people might use change people donate for drugs and alcohol, so Id be wary of giving them any, not all of them do this, but Im sure it happens. I don't usually have any change anyway. I would rather give them food. I don't see many beggars/street performers where I live though.

 

[Sableye~]

As for homeless people, the way I see it, maybe you just were conned out of $5. Or maybe you just supplied someone who is legitimately in need of help with food/water. I'd say it's worth the risk of the money being wasted. (Meaning, yes, I would give them money.)

I don't see street performers around much, but homeless people show up on occasion. It isn't rare for people around here to pretend to be homeless or stuck without gas to get money, though. It's startling to be sitting in a vehicle and suddenly there's some guy tapping on your window to ask for money. I:

 

[Tsutarja]

If I was approached, I probably wouldn't give them money (unless I happened to be carrying an excessive amount with me, which I never typically do), because these are people who can look to find their own source of income instead of having to beg for it. However, I wouldn't mind showing them some places they can go to get help because I do know of a few homeless shelters in my area.

For street performers, no, just no. In my opinion, if a street performer wants money, then they should not be looking at people stopping to watch them perform as a career, as they probably could make more money pushing themselves onto these television talent searches and seeing how far they could go.

I do see a lot of homeless people in my area, despite living in a somewhat rural area, however the closest to begging I see them is with signs as they never really approach drivers when they're at a stoplight. As for street performers, I'm sure they are in my area but since I never really drive into the inner city, I never see them around myself.

 

[Nick]

I've never seen a homeless person before. At least not to my knowledge. I could have when I was smaller and just forgot about it since it since I probably wasn't really aware of it, or anything like that. I've never encountered a beggar, either. I've had people ask me for money, but they've all been people I at least knew, and most of the time if I can afford it, I oblige. Now that I'm living on my own and am trying to pay off my credit card debt as well as complete my purchase of my car with weekly payments, its a bit hard to spare some change.

 

[Sweets Witch]

Mm, I'm usually pretty wary. The last time I was approached by someone asking for money was last year when a friend and I were leaving a McDonalds drive-thru and this man asked us for our change so he could go buy some food. Instead of the change I offered him my fries, but he said no so I drove away without a second thought. I don't know if he didn't like fries or if he wanted the money for other reasons, but if a person in need's going to turn my compromise down then I see no reason to go through with it at all.

There aren't a lot of beggars around where I currently live because the surrounding few miles are all rich old people territory, but there are a ton back home where my mom lives and they're dangerous. Walking outside at night is a big no-no because people were getting mugged and killed at the car wash down the street from my mom's house. But still, I try to be charitable when I can.