6 Responses for "Beggars can be choosers…"

1. Tan November 6th, 2006 at 4:03 pm 1

   It’s been my experience that most people asking for change simply want money for booze or drugs. There are plenty of social programs and places to go for the majority of people who truly want to help themselves. The ones that need our help the most are the ones who shy away from the public eye and tend to keep to themselves out of fear and shame. Those are the real victims.

   Panhandling is becoming a major problem around here, so much so that the city has actually passed a bylaw making it illegal and enforceable by the city police. Too many people taking advantage of other’s generosity and aggressivness in their methods has ruined it for those who really need it. And no time of the year tugs at the heart as much as Christmas does that’s for sure.

   I would’ve told him where the soup kitchens and/or shelters are, but only because I’ve also learned the hard way how many people abuse generosity, it can really sour the feeling of doing a good thing for your fellow man when a homeless person goes straight over to the liquor store and buys a bottle of cheap wine when he/she get’s enough cash.

2. Nad November 6th, 2006 at 5:06 pm 2

   Tan - thank you for your reply. You stated my exact feelings on the subject and could not have said it better.

   I really wish that the police would take a stronger stance in all of this. I commute in the Silver Spring area and I see the same ‘would be’ homeless people under the metro station every day in their wheelchair talking with passers-by as if they were friends. I say ‘would be’ because I am sure they have somewhere to go. I don’t have nearly as much compassion for them and it just adds to the ‘abuse generousity’ side.

   I hope that before the bitter cold makes way that they all find some kind of shelter. Hoping is the best I can do for them…

3. Free November 7th, 2006 at 7:10 am 3

   The best you can do for a homeless person is give them what they want. I see your perception on the matter Nadia. But its quite different for me when it comes to helping the beggars out. Of course you’re absolutly correct when you say beggars cannot be choser.
   we all have something, someplace, or even someone that makes us feel like we’re well worth it, even though that in itself could be a fabrication. Its the same for the beggars and homeless also, they are just like us. Maybe that beggar you approach was not looking for food at that time but for that thing that made him feel a little better in life. I know thats that a terrible way to look at it and most likely the wrong way to appraoch the situation, but, I feel more for the unfortunate and despaired. I kinda understand where they’re coming from because I was once like them. My drive, however, was to push pass poverty and make something out of my life. So when I beg, it was for a better me, not what makes me feel better.

   However, most homeless and poverty stricken indiviuals on the streets of the USA in any major city, seeks the easy way out. Of course, if needed, food might be that escape. A warm place to sleep might be whats needed to feel secure and safe. But it doesn’t change anything and that man might still have a constant reminder of what you’re doing for him. Thats why 90% of the time, the money panhandled is ususally the means to drugs, alcohol, and even prostitution. These methods are usually the escape of one’s life. A forgetful pleasure that lasts a very short time. Your cares in the worlds seem to vanish and all that matters is you. For a person to reach that state, that peace of mind, that level is nothing to be denied. We do it every day, its just that, we have the means to get there. They don’t.

   Sorry, for the lecture. For a project in college, Myself along with 2 others, decided to write a paper on the same concept. “Beggars cannot be chooser.” We stayed on the streets of Manhattan for 2 days, getting the feel, the real feel, for how it is being at everyone’s mercy. You’ll be amaze at whats out there. People are really cruel and we just skimmed the surface of the matter. But, you’re absolutely correct when it comes to that, Beggars cannot be choosers. They never are.

   Love ya Nadia.

4. Joe Snowden November 7th, 2006 at 2:14 pm 4

   Everyone has such interesting views of this topic. Here’s a situation that happened to me:

   I was at a light in bethesda and I saw one of the many panhandlers who regularly beg there. Like Nad, I normally just pass by. This time however, I decided to “be generous”. I beconed him over to give some change… When I heard a low hum and a ring. This “bum” had gotten a call on his friggin cell phone! He looked at me and I felt the contempt well up in me. I left without giving him any money. Heck, if his credit is good enough to get a phone… It should be good enough to get a job.

   Ever since then, I am very suspicious of “bums”. I remember the “hard copy” episode that aired in the late 80’s. A man got up every morning to go to work to pay for the house, wife and two kids. Sounds normal but he was a professional bum. He calculated that he pulled in 65K per year tax free.

   Imagine that

5. Athena Kendall November 8th, 2006 at 8:08 pm 5

   After reading these threads, I am going to be more skeptical about who I give my money to when the homeless ask for it. Both sides of the coin explains why helping the homeless monetarily can give them a means of escape, but it also shows that they really don’t want a means out of their situation. It really makes me wonder how many people that claim to be homeless is really “homeless”.

6. "Tex" Claiborne November 10th, 2006 at 12:11 am 6

   I know what you’re talking about, and being from Dallas, I can more than relate. Once on the way to lunch with my brother, we passed a homeless guy who asked for some change. I thought “he might just be looking to score,” but gave him a dollar and proceeded to lunch. 10 minutes after we sat down, I turned around and saw the same homeless guy coming into the restaurant to order a hot lunch. Conversely, also on the way to lunch one day, I passed a homeless guy claiming to be a Vietnam vet who was asking bus money to get to the VA hospital so that he could get his ID and medication. I told him how to get there, gave him the dollar, and even offered to walk him to the right train station. He refused, of course, and I told my brother that he was lying because if it were that important to him, he’d at least follow me to see where to catch the train. Sure enough, on the way back to work from lunch that day, the guy was still there pitching his routine to whoever would listen. Shun once told me that he’d give a dollar to any of them, regardless of how they planned to spend it. I asked why, and he replied that the blessing comes in the giving, not how they plan to use it. That made me feel a little better, and not at bitter about helping as I had been.