"Spare some change?"

[Broken_Arrow]

I was never asked for money but i was asked for food or juice and most of time they are children! fake or true i'm a human with a heart...if they are lying God can punish them but also think what if they really need help?
it won't be wasted i'll help anyway and the word begger is really awful Btw.

 

[Treecko]

I've ran into a good number of a beggars/homeless people and a good amount of the time, I turn them down since I have not spare change. But even if I have spare change unless they really look like they're poor and in need of money. Such as this one time when out for a walk this women was in need of money for a taxi to the hospital. She was really shaking and looked scared so I gave her as much as I could. She look actually in need to me and so I trusted she wasn't faking it. If she was, she did a convincingly good job being shaky and scared. If she used the money for something else then that's between her and God.

As for street performers, we don't get a lot of those there except in the downtown area. I barely go downtown and when I do I never have money to give to them. But if I ever do have spare money , I would give some to a street performer if they're actually really good.

 

[Sandshrew4]

I'm highly sympathetic, so I feel a pang whenever I pass a homeless person, and I usually drop any spare money I have and give it to them. I gave someone $10 once and the smile they gave me made my day. To see someone so happy because of a small act of kindness is a beautiful thing.

 

[«Chuckles»]

Alot of the homeless around my area dont ask for money they just go by their normal days staying out of the way of other people, we have alot of "homeless resorts" were they get a daily meal and a place to sleep some just go for the meal and they have their own little area's where they sleep. One homeless in particular sleeps around 20-50 meters from our school I have never seen him cause he sleeps in the bush since its like a wooden bridge that goes over marshy areas and he sleeps on a dry spot never ran into him and if I do im gonna scream and run away like a girl.

 

[Sandshrew4]

That's rude. Just because he's homeless you're automatically scared of him?

 

[Crux]

I can generally tell if a person is lying or not. If they are legitimately a beggar then I'll try to give them something if I have it. Or preferably, teach them to fish.

If the preformer is adequate then I'll try to support them.

I've encountered such a scenario on a few notable occasions. But not often. Paupers far more then preformers, though.

 

[Eevee3]

I see the occasional street preformer but homeless people aren't around my area. We get a lot in Toronto but I don't go there often enough for it to be a big thing.

But if I am approached, I definitely just walk away. I work hard for my money so why should I give it to them? Now I know a lot of homeless people aren't losers and may have just got fired or whatever but still. I've heard too many stories about people pretending to be poor to get money and that just makes me sick. I literally can't tell who's lying or not so I'm never sure if the money I give is going to help them or not so I just keep it to myself. If they really are poor, begging for people's money isn't the way to get money again. Do volunteer work to build up a resume and then apply for a job. Don't sit there on your butt all day and beg. That's lazy.

I sometimes will donate a dollar or something towards charities but direct people? Never.

If I was poor and homeless, I'd never resort to begging people. That's lazy and rude to do. There are many ways to get money again and there are many different shelters and such for you to stay in in the meantime. You don't need to resort to abusing people's kindness.

 

[Trev]

I don't give to homeless people unless they have a damn good reason. If your house burned down and you can't afford another one, sure. If you're trying to sustain your alcoholic habits or you owe money to a mafia, hell no. I'm stingy, sure, but I know when someone just simply doesn't deserve my patronage. Homeless people rarely ever get money from me (although there isn't an incredible incline of them in my neighborhood).

Street performers are completely different. If they have a talent and they're actually good at it, I'll probably drop them a few dollars; I'll probably give more if it's really amazing. Street dancers are probably my favorite. I've given at least $5-$10 to street dancers.

 

[Plumpyfoof]

If someone comes to me and asks for anything, if I have it usually I'll give it to them. I have given out free cigarettes many times to randoms who have asked me politely. I've shared my lighters but I will only give out the exact amount of change they ask for.

Street performers are a different thing, I will invariably empty my pockets for a street performer but I don't carry much change usually so it's not a big deal. There is this guy who plays the drums on a bucket around the CBD and I've probably given him like $50 total, I'll have my headphones in even but I'll still throw my change in his hat.

 

[Star-Lord]

That's rude. Just because he's homeless you're automatically scared of him?

I think it's a little rude too, but there's many people who are homeless who have mental health issues so it's not entirely far-fetched.

I won't give change. I will, however, buy them a meal if they needed one. It's just so I know where what my money is actually going towards.

As harsh as it sounds I ignore the beggars. They're the real world equivalent of noobs in MMORPG.

what the hell?

Except that often times homeless people don't have resources to make it through a day to day and "noobs" in a MMORPG can stay in areas that are specifically catered to be easier for them. This ranks up there for stupidest comparison I've ever seen.

 

[FrostyFire]

If they look needy, I give them between 2 and 5 dollars. If not, then they get nothing. I'm generous if generosity is called for.

 

[Nihilego]

I'll answer my own thread! Yes, I give homeless people change pretty regularly and I don't care at all what they spend it on. If they use it on sorting themselves out, then that's cool. If they spend it on drugs / alcohol / whatever then that's fine too. I prefer to look at it from the perspective that the change I give them will make them happier than it makes me, and that it'll mean more to them than it does me. I've never given someone change and then later thought "God, I wish I'd kept that 15p. It would have made such a difference to me.". So... yeah, haha. I give them change.

As for street performers - no. The money I give them won't mean as much to them as it could to other people and honestly, I'd prefer to know that whoever I'm giving the money to needs it for one thing or another (even if, as I said above, that thing is unhelpful for them). I sound like a massive hypocrite right now though since I've done a few street performances in my time and made a bit of money off that, haha. They're really good fun to do and if you've got any sort of street performer-ish (???) skills then you should totally give it a shot.

I think it's a little rude too, but there's many people who are homeless who have mental health issues so it's not entirely far-fetched.

The idea that someone having mental health issues is reason to be afraid of them is - or at least, should be - really outdated by now. ):

 

[Star-Lord]

The idea that someone having mental health issues is reason to be afraid of them is - or at least, should be - really outdated by now. ):

You're not wrong - but sadly it still exists in our society, so that's why I'm not terribly surprised the attitude exists.

 

[Triforce]

I don't think I would because you can't always be sure they are homeless. I mean, if they are then that is very sad but even then you can't be sure what they're spending the money on. If I saw a street performer and they were singing music, or doing something I personally enjoyed, I'd probably spare some of my change.

 

[RYOUKI]

Arghh! This thread reminds me about an experience of mine. This will be a bit tl;dr but I hope people would read it. (Not that there's a lesson to be found in the story. It's just... it's a bit sad if I wrote a tl;dr and no one read it. .______.)

Anyways, my part time job is close to my house. I work in a restaurant. It's just a quick 15 minutes walk. The map is basically this:

[Restaurant] -----------[Dark Forest] ------------- [My house]

Since my house is just a quick walk from the restaurant, I sometimes take the closing shift which ends at 2AM despite the protest of my dad. One particular crappy day, in which I got a fight with the most childish 55-year old colleague ever and a manager that day, I was still pretty pissed and as I was walking home through the dark forest, I saw a beggar. This beggar looked mentally unwell, and as the only other person in the forest at that particular time, he approached me.

"Sir, I lost my wallet along with my bus pass. Can you lend me a spare change for a bus pass?"

Naturally, I was suspicious. This beggar was in his late 30s. However, my mom always says that helping someone will give you a pleasant feeling so I've decided to take out my coin purse. (The coin purse was a gift, please don't judge me.)

"How much do you need?"

"About $2 will do. My parents are at home and hungry so you giving me money for the bus is a great help."

My coin purse was filled with lots of spare change and it really shows, and it makes a sound. I took out $2 and put it in his palm.

"I said, my parents are old and hungry. Can you give me more change?"

That sentence pissed me off to no end. I was already pissed mind you, and I really really have the urge to tell him where to get a baseball bat and in which exact places in his body to stick it in. Despite that, I hold out my anger for one reason, and for one reason only: In that exact forest, there was recently a murder there and that's the reason why my dad didn't want me to take a closing shift.

"No. That's enough."

I closed my manly coin purse and continued walking. Mind you, I must have been very stupid not to run from there. As I was walking, I remember about a year ago, the exact same man approached me for a change for a bus pass on the exact same route but back then, I refused because I was broke.

My moral of the story back then was old people can be the most childish people ever and that never to take a closing shift. (Unfortunately, I didn't follow the latter moral of the story because I just got back from work and it's 2.30AM)

Mind you, this is a real story and therefore I really never donate or give spare change to beggars again. I know it's not a good thing to judge everyone based on a single bad experience but screw it.

 

[AzuGazer]

-3- i don't know.. my Mom always tell me never to do it cause they fakes or gonna use it for crack and what not.

but again my subconscious in me will be stopping me from walking away till i give em like all the money i can. I need to fight it alot. >.> but it's like, Parents v.s. Bible, shiz gets real in my brain.

 

[atomtanned]

I encounter plenty of beggars, as I live in a large city. There are a few that I recognize because they are always around the same parts of my neighborhood. I do give the people I recognize change (or a cigarette, if I don't have any money) because I feel like I should, for some reason, since I walk by where they sleep every night when I go to the store. I say hey to them, we acknowledge each other, etc. We're neighbors, in a way. As weird as it sounds, I don't give money to people in other neighborhoods though, I don't "know" them.