What is your policy regarding panhandlers?

[More Than A Feeling]

Do you give them money or not?

[WindRavenX]

1. if I have money, yes

That's very rare because I never carry cash (holla to my fellow broke college students).

[quinnox]

2. sometimes

If they are young then no.

But if I have some extra change and the guy looks like he just has had bad luck and isn't a wino then I will give to them

[SW FL Dem]

3. Only if they have a kid or a dog with them n/t

[MileHiStealth]

4. If I have some extra cash, I do ...

Coincidentally, it seems that when I do, my ability
to make money over the next few days usually increases ...
Perhaps thats what that parable about loaves thrown out
on the water is all about ....

[shanti]

16. that seems to work

for me too. the boomerang effect. when i'm being extra-generous, it seems to come back to me.

[satya]

5. Yes. It's not for me to judge their circumstances; I assume they must need

it more than I do and if I can help, I will.

[liberalmuse]

6. I took a guy out for a meal once...

but most times I just give money. I remember once many years ago when I was really poor, I had a baby and .16 cents left in my wallet. A panhandler who looked like a healthy male in his late 30's came up and I showed him the contents of my wallet and told him it was all I had and he took every last penny. I was a little dismayed, but what could I have bought with it anyway? I've probably given money to people who were scamming, but hell, I have no way of knowing. I don't stop and give the regular streetcorner panhandlers money, but if someone comes up to me and asks, I will give them something if I have it. If you're lucky enough to be one of the minority on the planet who doesn't go to bed hungry, you got to let it flow. Lately, I'm lucky if I have any cash on me at all (I have a teenager).

[shanti]

17. those teens

do take a bite, eh? :-)

[NAO]

7. My panhandler policy is based on Matthew 25:31-46 (I am an agnostic)

I am an agnostic.

I do not believe that the collection of writings known as "the Bible" is anything other than a hobbled collection of the myths and folklore of the Hebrew people (Old Testament) with the Hellenized Neo-Platonism of 1st century Palestine wrapped around a hybrid mythology of the "Son of God"/"Dying God"/"Risen God" that is Osiris, Adonis, Mithra, Vishnu, Jesus and many others (New Testament).

However, the passage cited above seems to me to strike a very deep spiritual truth, and is something I feel compelled to believe and to act on.

This is why I give money to panhandlers.

*****

Matthew 25:36-41

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

[Morning Dew]

8. I see so many

on the off ramps with their signs. I can't give to everyone. What I do instead is acknowledge them as fellow humans with a wave or friendly smile and hello.
I drive for my job (often 12 hours a day) and I usually have a spare bag of M&Ms or snack chips of some sort. So I often hand that over to the person. I'm more likely to give some spare bills to a person who doesn't ask, though.
Recently I saw a lady at a gas station using her last few coins to buy a banana. After I made my purchase, I saw her pushing her loaded shopping cart down the sidewalk so I stopped and gave her a few dollars.

If someone had an honest sign that read "need $ for beer", I'd probably give them a 10 spot.

[LibraLiz1973]

9. I absolutely do

I may have been scammed a few times but I look at it like that could be someone I know & I would want someone to be considerate to them.

[anitar1]

10. Where I live , the same panhandlers have been on

the same corners for at least 7 years. I no longer give money. Feel like I could use some too! They used to come into a place I worked, and could afford things that I could not, so it must be lucrative for some.

[Withywindle]

11. I don't really have a policy...

..and I can't give to every one I see, there are just too many around here. I guess I look for the eye contact, a connection of some sort. It's the most subjective thing EVER.

[jdots]

12. the problem is having your compassion abused

None of us know the pan handlers story, i try to feed them,and give them shelter..There are professional panhandlers out there and when you get stung it is a hard thing to shake.
Ever notice that the less fortunate give them money and the wealthy close that tinted window and look the other way ?

[Generic Guy]

13. Depends,

I ask them who they wanted to win the election in 04. If they say bush I tell them it serves you right to be starving then walk away laughing. If they say Kerry then I hand them a $100.00.

:)


Just kidding, if I have a couple of bucks I usually hand it over.

[murdoch]

14. No

I don't give panhandlers money. I don't give money to charity.

I live in New York City and although I grew up in a somewhat conservative Catholic milieu, this comes out of the 1930s CPUSA-influenced Lower East Side milieu. We live in the only economic system where unemployment is a necessity for the system to operate correctly (in primitive communism, slave societies, feudal societies or the Eastern European socialist states, unemployment was unnecessary). People are unemployed because the people who control capital want them to be unemployed, homeless and hungry. I see my job as to fight against that, not to try and patch things up.

Really, I've written these people off. I have helped in strike support and community organizations with working class and working poor people locally, but once people fall outside of the social framework, I don't really concern myself.

Sometimes people come on the train and say "I'm asking for change, I don't rob, I don't steal". I almost feel like saying "Maybe you should!"

I am not completely strict on this. Once I walked out of a McDonalds at 3 in the morning and someone homeless person asked for some of my fries. I didn't feel I could deny someone hungry food - so I gave it to him. I can't remember the last time I gave money to anyone though. I did send some money to the UFCW strike fund in California when that was going on, but I consider that solidarity, not charity.

There are some local groups like Food Not Bombs who feed people in the park. Actually, they feed people with (good) food they find thrown away in dumpsters by four-star restaurants and the like. You wouldn't believe stuff people throw away in Manhattan. Anyhow, I don't know what to make of this group. It is a social thing on some level, I guess it's OK. I haven't worked with them. I don't know about things on a social level like FNB, I would never give money on an individual level though.

[earth mom]

15. Funny that you'd ask...

Today I was approached in the parking lot of the local Walmart (rarely shop there anymore) by a lady who had a really good story that I believed, so I gave her $6.50-the change from my purchases. I give to panhandlers when I feel the person is being straight up-it's usually a gut feeling that I go by. While I've never panhandled, I know what it's like to be living on the edge like that...

Gotta remember every day to count my blessings and be grateful for the roof over my head...