> true, which is why I usually blow off the regulars. If > you've been > panhandling for six months or more, I figure you're > probably not > looking too hard for alternatives. Also, if you ask me for > money and I > offer you food, and you take it, I'm more willing to help > if I see you > again. It's happened several times that I had no cash but > did have > apples or half a sub and the people said hell yes and > thank you.
> Dana >> Lasty, since this started with a discussion of >> panhandling, remember that >> many panhandlers are not actually homeless. A successful >> panhandler in a >> large city can often make more money than they would >> working a minimum wage >> job. I would venture a guess that the number of pan-handlers who do it for some reason other than desperation or having failed so many times to change their situation that it's broken their will to try are similar to the number of women who intentionally have repeated abortions instead of chosing some rational form of birth control. It's really shitty to avoid helping people out because you happened to have met (or even worse merely heard about) some guys who pull down $10k each and share a cabin. Much less that $10k isn't a living wage any place I've lived. My mother once commented about offering to pay one of them to do some work around the house in response to the "will work for food" sign. The problem is she wasn't prepared to give them enough money for the work to make it worthwhile for them. Being desperate doesn't necessarily make you stupid, and while I don't think it's good that they use the phrase "will work for food" generally without the intention of living up to that statement, if it's a more effective way for them to get some help I consider it a lesser evil. By and large I don't see "will work for food" signs -- most of the pan-handlers I see don't carry any signs, and the ones I have seen are mostly along the lines of "hungry, god bless". I'd never begrudge someone the $5 for a burger if I have it to give. It's pennies ultimately. s. isaac dealey 954.522.6080 new epoch : isn't it time for a change? add features without fixtures with the onTap open source framework http://www.fusiontap.com http://www.sys-con.com/author/?id=4806 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:157973 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
