The gift that isn't enough

[kiMMie]

Stopped to get some eats before heading home from work tonight. Was waiting for my ride when a homeless(?) gentleman asked me if I could donate a toonie for a bus ride. With the spirit of MOSS still lingering, I was much to oblige.

I threw him some extra change and told me to get something to eat, and said "Merry Christmas".

I'm standing there trying to finish my smoke after a long hard day & night of work, and he begins to ask me if he could "finish" the cigarette for me as he was smoking one himself and had just bummed another off a guy. Just kept on repeating that over and over... "Can I have that one? Can I have that one?" to the point of complete irritation.

I'm glad that I didn't bah humbug him :soak:

[~lazee_grrl~]

it sucks when people just keep asking for more when u didn't have to give them anything in the first place..

i remember once giving some woman a toonie cuz she wanted money for the skytrain..then some guy came up to me saying that if i gave her money, i had to give him money..then she came back up to me and said that if i gave him money, that she should get more..at that point..the skytrain came and i ran onto it..leaving them two of them arguing with each other and yelling at me..

i was kinda freaked out but angry too..booooo..~

[Prissypants]

That's why you always carry a mcdonald's job application with you and hand that to them instead...

[Wood]

^nice

that's why i NEVER give anything to panhandlers, no matter what the sob story. Once you give them something, they see a mark and will keep asking for more. Not all, but most. It's not because i'm heartless, i just don't feel like i'm helping anyone by giving them a handout - more often than not it's probably used to feed self destructive habits anyways. I feel bad for homeless addicts but the reality is that most of them need to hit rock bottom before they can make a decision to get help, and by giving them money you're just prolonging their descent. Then there's the type of homeless that i'm more used to here on Davie street - the gutter punks, the kids who think working for a living is below them, able bodied individuals who'd rather collect welfare, panhandle and do drugs in the street than swallow their pride and get a job like anyone else. Every day when i walk past them i can practically hear their thoughts, 'oh there goes another conformist slave to the man working like an ant, while us enlightened people sit here reeking like shit on the sidewalk' - i'd sooner kick them in the teeth than give them a fucking penny, i swear the term 'street urchins' was invented for these kids. most of em are meth heads too, which probably means they'll 'graduate' to e.hastings before too long... fucking leeches of society, they should all burn :finger:

bah, i'm still bitter from when some chick tried to tag my shop, then spit her chewed sandwich in my face after i chased her down. :sick:

[sNyx]

as I left moss, I walked up the street to have some panhandler start to offer me some shitty looking hash. I was only open to have his cruble some black crap into my hand.. as I continued to walk he presisted to ask if I had any change. I offered some charge for everything in his hand, lol. I dumped two dollars are some quarters into his hand, where he stopped crumbling whatever that shit was and walked away. as missguided my simple mind was, I stopped and looked at the hash. threw it on the ground and ran to catch up with my friends. hash? lets try some reeeal shitty dirt at best. :soak:

[Jingles]

Hmmmm - I understand the perspective...they must help themselves
it is true
and there are some jobs to be had, and there are some agencies that will help these people put
but there are only some - and I think it's a convient thought to make all homeless responsible for their own situation
if they help themselves...then i don't have to feel bad about not helping them..I work hard for my money - why shouldn't they?

I agree to an extent.
and there are certainlly people on the street that could get themselves off and there are panhandlers that don't need money and there are those that are in your face and the agression is uncalled for
for sure
but there are others in situations most of us can not comprehend - teens too young to work...to scared to go home, no home to go home to, those who are metally unstable and really no place to go and few societies to help. Certainlly they are not every case, but don't fool yourself into thinking that is never the case --
there are agressive bums - there are road raging drivers, there are idiot customers -- people are nitwits
the answer? I wish i knew.....
but never giving money to panhandlers is not the answer either-- and it's not as simple as they need to hit rock bottom or apply for jobs
many are homeless by choice in some sense, but if you get out there and chat..you'll hear some surprising things -- Wea re a lucky lucky nation, no doubt...but there are those that still fall in the cracks.

[Wood]

^i agree 100% that not everyone on the street is responsible for their situation, of course there are people who fall through the cracks in our system... it's very unfortunate and my heart goes out to them...

but i still don't agree with giving to panhandlers. At best there's a 50% chance that money will be used to do something positive, but even with someone who's fresh on the streets and maybe just needs to make a phonecall or catch a bus... there's still just as good a chance that they'll be preyed upon by other opportunistic street peeps and end up using their panhandling money to buy drugs or something else self destructive. And that would be a rare case, i'd guess 99% of the time a panhandler asks you for money, it's for drugs or alcohol.

Not to mention the effect that being a successful panhandler would have on an impressionable person's self image, they could easily come to believe that it's their true calling. Especially if they've grown up being made to believe that they're worthless and panhandling happens to be the first thing they can do successfully as an independant.

obvioulsly there's no definitive answer to this problem, but as an individual i've made the decision not to support panhandlers under any circumstance, because i believe the odds of actually helping someone this way are extremely remote.