Panhandlers need not be ashamed either. This is a forn of money making. Its not that different than scalpers- telesales- door to door knife salesmen, those cretins who show up telling you that you need new windows and siding even if you dont. Ect.

Scalpers should be scalped.

I prefer those that play an instrument. It makes me feel like I'm feeding birds.

Absolutely. I always give a dollar to any long haired young lad who plays Folsom Prison Blues.

We used to play improv music downtown by the corner. I created a song about Kobe Bryant being guilty and made about 12$ by doing that and covers of Rivers of Babylon by Sublime
Until finally the cops told me to keep it down because my signing was "spooking the horses".

My next song "fuck the horses" was not nearly as popular and we quickly left the area.

Brainbomb is right in the sense that panhandling is a job for some of these. They're everywhere on street corners in Maryland - but only at the ones that get thousands of cars per day stopped at long lights. If a dude gets one in a hundred cars to give him five bucks, or a sandwich or something, it is the equivalent of a minimum wage job - minus the taxes and actual labor.

Have you read "The Man with the Twisted Lip"? Very entertaining.

^ valid. There are hot-spots that its obvious nobody homeless is actually there. They take a bus to a frequented area and try their luck. Some people fail at making much. I gave a guy a dollar the other day for telling me he liked the detroit lions. He then told me he was a Bears fan but the Lions were okay too.

I did not disqualify his need for a dollar based on that he clearly didnt know the Lions and Bears were divisional rivals and his pandering to me was sad.

But my mom once told me her three favorite teams were the vikings the packers and the bears.

"Mom thats all of our rivals" *facepalm*

Of course, here in Europe, the great majority of professional panhandlers are the Roma (Gypsies). I suppose they're less frequent in the US.

Matthew Chapter 26-The Anointing at Bethany. Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said, “Why this waste? It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor.” Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, “Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me.

Mark chapter 14- The Anointing at Bethany.* When he was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head. There were some who were indignant. “Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages and the money given to the poor.” They were infuriated with her. Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me.

Matthew ch 5: Teaching About Retaliation. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

Panhandling and the Pope
A better strategy to help the poor.
Pope Francis argued that giving money to someone begging on the street is “always right.” What if the recipient of your gift decides to uses the money to buy a glass of wine instead of food? If “a glass of wine is the only happiness he has in life,” the pope replied, “that’s OK. Instead, ask yourself, what do you do on the sly? What ‘happiness’ do you seek in secret?”

The pope also urges us “to stop, look the person in the eyes, and touch his or her hands.” Doing this enables us to preserve the other person’s dignity and see him or her as “not as a pathology or a social condition, but as a human,” who has the same value we do.

but there is controversy: Bishop Thomas Tobin, the Roman Catholic bishop in Rhode Island has posted three reasons not to; Tobin said it can be a safety hazard if someone standing on a curb or roadway is asking for help, and said the practice enables dishonest people to prey upon others' compassion when they do not have legitimate needs. He also said throwing loose change at a panhandler is demeaning to that person's dignity.

Homelessness is most likely due to addiction, mental illness, or lack of a familial net.

Panhandling is generally a last resort. resources addressing mental illness and addiction will probably solve the majority of the problem; but the there will always be the poor among us. the best solution is finding meaningful employment for the marginal and assistance for the rest.

Wrt your last post @Brad, any role for government?

There is a panhandler up the road from me. He parks his somewhat newish (early 2010s, probably) Toyota Camry in the McDonald's parking lot and stands on the street corner. I've seen him get in the car and leave with his folded up cardboard signs multiple times. I'm not saying it's a Bentley, and I'm not saying he isn't necessarily homeless (though I obviously have my doubts), but he's clearly not as broke and lost in the world as he makes himself out to be. He's probably in his mid-20s.

For every one of him, there are a hundred people that need the help and are legitimately living off of the pocket change in the cup. The guy up the road from me is hurting every one of them.

@brainbomb ... you would be doing panhandlers more of a service if you bought them a fair meal as opposed to giving them pocket change. It costs you more money, but it means you know where that money is going and it means that they don't have to think about how much of the money they have is going to go toward their next meal for a little while. I don't know what the hell is wrong with your mayor who thinks that ignoring homeless people will make them simply go away or not be homeless anymore, but I don't know what the hell is wrong with a good chunk of people in the Plains states anyway.

@" As for how much the panhandlers actually net, I don't know for sure ofc, but if it wasn't enough, they wouldn't do it, right?"

this: "Panhandling is generally a last resort. resources addressing mental illness and addiction will probably solve the majority of the problem;"

it doesn't have to 'make enough', it can just make something, and that is better than nothing. If you earn $20 per day, you may have something to eat, and somewhere to stay (temporary hostel rooms would be common in ireland, where most homeless people stay the night if they can afford it) but it is hardly what i would call 'enough' by any measure.

And yes, some Roma would appear to be taking a more professional route, but that is no different from any other horrible job.

I've been not giving homeless money for a long time, it hasn't solved the issue yet.

In Canada the homeless do 'not' need your money to get a meal or place to stay. They can get both at various shelters etc throughout every larger city. Panhandling money is not for meals or shelter though. It is for cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs. I work in social services with clients who do this so i'm not being demeaning.

To add: solutions still not easy as people still do need their cigarettes etc - totally get that - which wont be provided at a shelter.

I have in fact bought homeless people alcohol. I offered to buy a guy a beer at the pub lol.

lmao that doesn't really count

Haifa, we spend over 40 percent of the fed budget on social programs. It has not solved the problem. Government is not the solution

@capt, Social security solved hunger among the elderly, especially during the depression.

These problems exist because of distribution of the funds allocated, not because the funds allocated to the big programs aren't more than enough.

"Social security solved hunger among the elderly"

Social security also weakened family ties and caused social disintegration.