The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: FunkyZero on October 21, 2016, 08:26:26 AM
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Ok, this is something that goes through my head all the time... you know the ones, "Ex Vet, disabled, Wife was eaten by Tara-dactyls, please help". And of course, always ending with "God Bless". Sometimes it's someone walking around the grocery store with a story claiming they can't pay for their groceries. Whatever the situation, I'd call them all panhandlers for lack of a better general term.
I'm pretty weird about charity, I don't want a single soul to ever know if I donate money, no matter if it's a panhandler or an organized charity. Maybe I give them money, maybe I don't. One of the core things my dad taught me was that when it comes to charity, it should always remain anonymous where possible and it should be a humbling experience for both people involved. The rewards for charitable giving are in your heart and it's a subject only God himself should know about you. Patting yourself on the back or bragging about it is twice as bad as not helping another human who is in need (monetarily or otherwise). Anyway, this is just how "I" see it because that's what dad always said was right and that philosophy seems to serve him quite well.
So the whole point of this long introductory paragraph is that this isn't a topic I talk about with other people openly. And, seeing this is a pseudo-anonymous platform, I thought I'd try to get other peoples feelings on the subject.
I think we all know that when we see the people standing in the intersection with a sign, there is a high probability it's just a scammer.
Having said that, do you ignore them? Do you give them money anyway and tell yourself it's between them and their own conscience, and that its simply up to you to do what you think is right?
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I think we all know that when we see the people standing in the intersection with a sign, there is a high probability it's just a scammer.
Having said that, do you ignore them? Do you give them money anyway and tell yourself it's between them and their own conscience, and that its simply up to you to do what you think is right?
FZ, a couple of decades ago the San Jose Mercury News (aka Murky Skews) ran a story in which their reporter looked into several such panhandlers. It shocked the something-or-other out of me that they would do this, but it was probably during WJCs MALAdministration, when it was politically safe to do so. What they found was that many/most are (legal) scammers, who make a living by panhandling and have decent homes and cars. Their disheveled clothing was basically a costume, and their kid, if they had one with them, was just a prop.
I don't give to unknowns. I go with my church, the Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, Compassion Int'l, and other charities I know and trust (including some small orgs).
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Ran into an older couple on the boardwalk in Atlantic City in costume doing a song and dance act. I gave them $20. Any street side panhandlers (especially so called vets.), I won't give a dime. The most disgusting thing I ever saw was some a-holes in Eureka CA were busted for renting their kids out to other beggars for a cut of the take.
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1.) Ran into an older couple on the boardwalk in Atlantic City in costume doing a song and dance act. I gave them $20. Any street side panhandlers (especially so called vets.), I won't give a dime. The most disgusting thing I ever saw was 2.) some a-holes in Eureka CA were busted for renting their kids out to other beggars for a cut of the take.
1.) Street performers (within reason) are different. IIRC, Robin Williams got his start that way (in SF, I believe).
2.) RolexRandy perchance?
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I think they are all scammers and they are all remorseless.
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FZ, a couple of decades ago the San Jose Mercury News (aka Murky Skews) ran a story in which their reporter looked into several such panhandlers. It shocked the something-or-other out of me that they would do this, but it was probably during WJCs MALAdministration, when it was politically safe to do so. What they found was that many/most are (legal) scammers, who make a living by panhandling and have decent homes and cars. Their disheveled clothing was basically a costume, and their kid, if they had one with them, was just a prop.
I don't give to unknowns. I go with my church, the Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, Compassion Int'l, and other charities I know and trust (including some small orgs).
Most times it's my own family that needs help and I thank God every day I have enough resources to be able to do that from time to time. Outside of that, it's normally Wheeler Mission or a shelter here for battered up women that I shovel some money to once in a while. That's some real sad stuff seeing some woman scared for her life and towing kids with nowhere to go man.
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I have a few criteria:
- If the panhandler is funky enough and greasy enough that I can smell him, or see that he needs an oil change, I won't give him money. Instead, I'll bring him in to a fast food joint and buy him food. Giving him money is an invitation for him to continue the lifestyle that resulted in him living off the street to begin with.
- I will NOT ever donate money to the Red Cross. They hosed up 9/11 so badly that it's impossible to look at those schmucks and not see red.
- Concur with SVPete - the Salvation Army is a good charity. They keep their overhead low and give a big bang for my buck.
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I did a couple of times and I was proved to be a sucker.
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Street performers, sure, I'll give a buck now and then. Totally on-the-skids broken-down old winos who are so hard up they walk up to total strangers on foot, sometimes - I'm not judgmental or moralistic about it, Hell, if I was in that boat, I'd want a drink too. Anybody with a sign staking out an intersection is pretty much out of luck with me, though.
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^^That intersection stuff pisses me off. When I drive home from work, I'm a female alone in a car. Pulling out of the interstate onto a main drag street, is a guy sitting there at the intersection, with some sign. He looks dirty and very threatening. He stares right at you, unblinking. I can't stand that guy and I wish they'd get him off the damn street. I feel very vulnerable. You have to wait for the light to change, so you're stuck there. That guy, plus the heroin epidemic, makes me reluctant to give one-on-one.
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I only give to St. Jude and one homeless guy that has a sign that says he has throat cancer. There really is a hole in his neck so I give him a $5 every once in awhile. All the other's I don't give. Oh and I give a weekly amount to my church.
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90% of my donations go to no kill animal shelters. Also sponsor a Muslim girl in Guinea who isn't a fanatic. Mom and Dad wear typical African attire. Her name's Oumou, for all the dumbest American blacks out there conceding to call their putative offspring Taqweenasheelah or Jamilaquon. Or whatever. Gawd, proud African-American parents, get a cooking clue. The net's your friend!
Give until it hurts for the abused, wretched dogs and cats, lions and tigers and bears of the world. People for the most part, meh!
Salvation Army gets our old electronics and my too large sized clothes (yeah, I DID lose 45 pounds lately, thanks for asking😁), and my baby son (grandson's) too small duds. Friends of the Library gets my used books. No panhandlers unless I actually MEET them and hear their stories..
And confess a beggar with a dog gets me throwing coins, or a fiver. Yeah, I love the critters!!
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90% of my donations go to no kill animal shelters. Also sponsor a Muslim girl in Guinea who isn't a fanatic. Mom and Dad wear typical African attire. Her name's Oumou, for all the dumbest American blacks out there conceding to call their putative offspring Taqweenasheelah or Jamilaquon. Or whatever. Gawd, proud African-American parents, get a cooking clue. The net's your friend!
Give until it hurts for the abused, wretched dogs and cats, lions and tigers and bears of the world. People for the most part, meh!
Salvation Army gets our old electronics and my too large sized clothes (yeah, I DID lose 45 pounds lately, thanks for asking😁), and my baby son (grandson's) too small duds. Friends of the Library gets my used books. No panhandlers unless I actually MEET them and hear their stories..
And confess a beggar with a dog gets me throwing coins, or a fiver. Yeah, I love the critters!!
Congrats on the weight loss, and for your generosity.