What''s your panhandler policy?

[VegasAngel]

No I dont. I rather donate to a charity that helps those in need. There is an intersection near my house where you have a guy on each median, they probably work together & make good money because of the area. The last time I gave someone money was at a gas station where the guy said he was out of gas & had no money to fill up. I gave him $5 to help out a little. He came out of the mini mart with a drink & candy bar

 

[Deelight]

If I have change in my pocket yeah I do, but I won''t pull my wallet out.

There is a organisation here that sells a type of newspaper/magazine to homeless people so they can sell them for a profit and make money for themselves. The other day I was asked to buy one and I said no because I was by myself and I didn''t want to pull out my wallet I felt terrible for ages afterwards.


The worst place I saw begging was in Thailand, it broke my heart literally I would walk along trying not to cry (and wearing sunnies when I couldn''t help it) when you would see small children on the street begging for money, it made me feel so lucky to have won the geographic lottery.

julie the lady shouldn''t have yelled at you that was very rude on her part.

 

[musey]

My policy on panhandlers: I have my charity budget which I stick to very carefully (just like my other budget sections) and I give to the charities which are meaningful to me, including our local homeless shelters and soup kitchens (where I also volunteer from time to time). They can benefit from my generosity by going to one of those places for help.

That''s not to say I''ve never, ever given handouts in my life... but when I follow my ''policy'', I don''t

ETA: Fun story - we had a panhandler come up to our family when we were in a chinese restaurant in DC, and ask my dad for money to buy food. He said no, that he doesn''t feel comfortable giving money, but he could have our leftovers if he wanted, and handed him a box of broccoli beef - which the guy promptly chucked at my dad (the box opened and covered him in smelly food) and screamed "I HATE Chinese food, you f-ing pr--k!"

My mom was also yelled at in a Starbucks for not giving money when she literally had none on her to give.

Yikes. My family has not had great experiences with this!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Those people that are yelling sure as hell aren't handing out their cash either, are they? I would NOT be able to refrain from violence if someone tried to pull that crap on me.

As a rule, I don't give out money to ANYONE, no matter their "reason." First of all, all those people that only panhandle for beer money have ruined for those that might truly need the money by making me not trust you. Second, I work dang hard for my money, so they can too! GET A REAL JOB.

Edit: Yes, this probably sounds harsh, and I apologize if I have offended anyone but come on...it's true.

 

[bee*]

If I had change in my pocket then I''d give it but I wouldn''t stop and open my wallet. My granny years ago was asked for money and she instead gave the person a sandwich that she had just bought and it was thrown straight back at her! So I''ve never bought food for someone because of that!

 

[purselover]

panhandlers I don''t give money to, but street/subway performers I would if I had extra money