Newest way to beg for money

[only_more_so]

While I was getting gas today, a rather scruffy looking guy with a gas can came up to me asking for some money. He said he and his wife had run out of gas a block and a half back. If this had been the first time I heard this line, I might have felt some compassion, but in the last dozen times I've filled up, I have been approached probably 4 times, by four different guys with identical stories.

It doesn't irritate me that they are begging for money, what pisses me off is that they lie to get the money. It is called a con.

Reminds me of a similar scam when I road the subway in DC. There you pay when you get off the train, since it is by distance. Anyway, a guy gets into the system with a dollar on his card and begs for enough money to see his sick sister/wife/etc.

 

[3113]

While I was getting gas today, a rather scruffy looking guy with a gas can came up to me asking for some money.

So did you fill up his can with gas? That's what I'd do

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

So did you fill up his can with gas? That's what I'd do

He'd probably pour it down the sewer, doing disgusting environmental damage.

I give them a cold, one word answer in all such confrontations:
"No."
End of exchange.

 

[TE999]

I always think of the old Henny Youngman one-liner when these parasites approach me.

To wit; 'A guy comes up to me on the street and says I haven't had a bite in three days, so I bit him'. (ba-bum-bum).

Atlanta has some of the most aggressive panhandlers in the U.S., but Miami is just as bad. The cops look the other way most of the time unless they tackle you and steal your wallet. (The beggars, not the cops, LOL).

Anti-panhandling laws are tough to enforce, since most of those arrested are happy in jail with three hots and a place to flop. Unless they're strung out on something.

I think Compassion Fatigue is becoming rampant because of these jokers and others like them.

(Puts on helmet expecting hail of brickbats).

 

[Stella_Omega]

I cold-shouldered a man one time, who told me that he and his kids hadn't eaten.
AS I was leaving whatever shop i was in, I saw him- and, yes, two little girls- following a man into a diner. And they looked so happy, those kids!
I went in, apologised to him for not believing him, and the other guy and I split the family's tab.

Since then, when i can- that's what I offer to do.
I've bought El pollo Loco for a few old gents, and cheeseburgers and cokes for a young man's baby sister. he didn't want to order anything for himself- I had to insist.

and once in a while, someone will say; "Naw lady, I don't want to eat, I wanna get DRUNK!"

 

[scheherazade_79]

I got conned out of £300 during my first day in a big city all on my own. This woman told me her best friend had gone into labour, and she was the birthing partner... but she couldn't get to the hospital because her car had been clamped, and she needed £300 to pay the fine.

She gave me her name, address, phone number etc., but it turned out they were all made up.

She was good at what she did. She pressurised me, didn't give me time to think... even whisked me into Mothercare after I'd been to the cashpoint, so that she could buy some baby clothes.

I got had

 

[S-Des]

I cold-shouldered a man one time, who told me that he and his kids hadn't eaten.
AS I was leaving whatever shop i was in, I saw him- and, yes, two little girls- following a man into a diner. And they looked so happy, those kids!
I went in, apologised to him for not believing him, and the other guy and I split the family's tab.

Since then, when i can- that's what I offer to do.
I've bought El pollo Loco for a few old gents, and cheeseburgers and cokes for a young man's baby sister. he didn't want to order anything for himself- I had to insist.

and once in a while, someone will say; "Naw lady, I don't want to eat, I wanna get DRUNK!"

I might have to give the person a couple of bucks, just for having the stones to be that honest.

That's the problem with con men...they make you doubt everyone. It's sad for the people who are needy and really do just want a meal or money for a bus/train ticket. I give to the people who provide a service (street musicians, people who hand out the free newspapers, and guys who open the door for me and watch my stuff when I'm loading in/out of a club). Anyone else I just draw the line and say no. Sometimes I feel like shit for doing it, but I don't have much to give and would rather do it with a charity that I know is going to help people.

 

[rgraham666]

Never had to beg for a meal. Come pretty close though. Have done dumpster diving on occasion although it's been years.

It's really amazing what the arrogant upper class twits throw away. Shrugs. Well, they're rich enough they can afford to throw stuff away.

Must be nice.

 

[Guest]

I got had

thats sexy

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I got conned out of £300 during my first day in a big city all on my own. This woman told me her best friend had gone into labour, and she was the birthing partner... but she couldn't get to the hospital because her car had been clamped, and she needed £300 to pay the fine.

She gave me her name, address, phone number etc., but it turned out they were all made up.

She was good at what she did. She pressurised me, didn't give me time to think... even whisked me into Mothercare after I'd been to the cashpoint, so that she could buy some baby clothes.

I got had

You fell for that? You need a spanking. That'll learn ya!

 

[minsue]

So did you fill up his can with gas? That's what I'd do

I have filled up people's gas tanks on occasion when they've asked. Never gas cans, but cars. The last time was a young couple and I was in a hurry so I just went over and did my card in the pump for them and then walked away. They followed me back to ask how much they could put in (which surprised me since I just expected them to fill up and told them so) and then chased me down when I was leaving to give me the receipt with a lovely thank you note written on it.

I must admit, I ignore panhandlers more often than not, but I usually feel a stab of guilt a few minutes later. Yes, there are a hell of a lot of con artists out there, but there are also people who are just plain down on their luck. I've been there and I know how easy it is to get in that situation and how hard it is to get out.

There was a man I regularly gave money to who would panhandle on the freeway offramp on the days he couldn't get any day labor work. I didn't usually give him much, just the change in my car, but I would talk to him until the lights changed. After the first few times, he stopped asking for money and even tried to turn it down. He just came up to my car to talk. I think he was just happy to have someone talk to him like a human being instead of treating him like an animal or pretending he wasn't there. The last time I saw him, he was trying to figure out a way to visit his son out of state for the holidays. I never saw him again. I just tell myself he made it there and his son took care of him. I sure as hell hope so.

 

[Stella_Omega]

In Chicago there were panhandlers that would get to know you. Since I wore a mohawk and black leather i didn't get hit up on in quite the obnoxious way that the tourists did
One guy sold poems, copied on bright papers- I had his entire collection, twice or three times over. The kids used them in collages and stuff

 

[TheEarl]

I remember when Perdita came over to England, she was amazed that I gave money to a Big Issue seller. To a San Franciscan, people begging was practically part of the scenery and she told me that so many of them were bored college kids that it was impossible to give money and have it go to someone really needy.

For those who don't know, the Big Issue is a magazine in England that is sold by homeless people. In order to sell it, they've got to be proven as sober and drug-free and if they're wearing the badge, then you know that the money is for a bed for the night or food.

The Earl

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

While I was getting gas today, a rather scruffy looking guy with a gas can came up to me asking for some money. He said he and his wife had run out of gas a block and a half back. If this had been the first time I heard this line, I might have felt some compassion, but in the last dozen times I've filled up, I have been approached probably 4 times, by four different guys with identical stories.

It doesn't irritate me that they are begging for money, what pisses me off is that they lie to get the money. It is called a con.

Reminds me of a similar scam when I road the subway in DC. There you pay when you get off the train, since it is by distance. Anyway, a guy gets into the system with a dollar on his card and begs for enough money to see his sick sister/wife/etc.

You know this has only happened to me once and the guy didn't have a gas can and he could have been lying through his teeth, but he explained his car was out of gas, he was on his way to another town coming up from such and such place and had used his last $$ to fill up before leaving, figuring he'd have enough gas. Well, he didn't and wanted gas and told us he'd be buying a can too.

Why did we believe him?

It may have been great acting, but he did it well. He didn't look scruffy or dirty. He looked like an average guy who probably, like many of us, live paycheck to paycheck and for some reason this time he just didn't have the funds. My husband and I didn't hesitate to give him $35.00 which we knew would get him where he needed to go.

We both felt good afterwards, and neither of us felt taken.

Some folks are great scam artists and some are sincerely down on their luck. I guess in the end it depends on how generous you're feeling at that moment when you are approached on whether you believe them or not.

 

[Lisa Denton]

We have all seen the peoples with a sign saying "will work for food" standing on the side of the road near an intersection.

There was a guy with a sign that said "will beg for beer-money" and everbody was giving him money for being honest.

Once an old man I would always see and occasionally give some change to was in the parking lot of a convenience store I would stop at, asking for change. He said he only needed 25 cents to have enough to buy him a quart of beer. He had been looking thin lately and there was a burger joint across the street. I told him I would give him 5 dollars if he would go get a burger to eat before his beer.

He was honest, he explained that the food would ruin his drunk, so no thanks.

I gave him a quarter and got in my car and left.

 

[only_more_so]

There was a guy with a sign that said "will beg for beer-money" and everbody was giving him money for being honest.

While living in Boston, I gave a guy just off Harvard square a buck because he had a sign that said, "You are being xenophobic." I couldn't stop laughing and decided he deserved a buck for making me laugh.

The first guy at the gas station, I came close to believing, but he had an edgy kind of look that made me think it was a con. When it happened again and again... I swear once there was a guy at the gas station I was filling up at, and one at the gas station across the street.

I definately agree with the general sentiment of the posts so far: it sucks that people are pulling cons since it makes those who are really in need suffer all the more. Even the "little" things like taking fake sick days end up biting other people when companies cut allowable days.

 

[R. Richard]

IAtlanta has some of the most aggressive panhandlers in the U.S., but Miami is just as bad. The cops look the other way most of the time unless they tackle you and steal your wallet. (The beggars, not the cops, LOL).

Anti-panhandling laws are tough to enforce, since most of those arrested are happy in jail with three hots and a place to flop. Unless they're strung out on something.

Try San Francisco some time.

 

[cumallday]

In my small neck of the woods there are no beggars on the streets. Everytime I drive into the big city I'm amazed at how many street kids come up and begin washing my windshield. What strikes me most about the squeegee patrol is their ability to come out of nowhere. They're always invariably young, mostly male, and thin as rails. I nevertheless give a loonie to the first one who catches me and, politely as I can, brush off the others. Runaways, drug addicts, or mentally unstable, I once read that the health of a city may be determined by the number of homeless occupying the streets. If this be the case, I believe our cities (city states?) are in dire need of a check-up.