Giving Money to the Homeless - Page 4

I'd give a homeless person cash if I saw one. if they decide to spend it on crack or other drugs, then it's not my fault. and I can't believe XxskelterXx wouldn't give a shit about a homeless person. he deserves to have nothing and be ignored by everyone.

quote stickdude

I'd give a homeless person cash if I saw one. if they decide to spend it on crack or other drugs, then it's not my fault. and I can't believe XxskelterXx wouldn't give a shit about a homeless person. he deserves to have nothing and be ignored by everyone.

That's a little harsh. I am going to take into consideration that XxskelterXx might have had a experience. Now I am not being naive, but being a little fair. I can understand, how people shouldn't be turned away (the homeless or poor), but I am thinking that you could fall into a scam of someone who isn't homeless or poor.

I always try to do the honest thing and help out to people who are more in need than I am because I know if I were in their position I'd want people to help me if I asked. For a lot of them I'm sure it hurts their pride to have to ask while I'm sure other take advantage. Anyway, I never give more than 4 dollars in cash and most of the time if I can I'll buy them food instead of giving them cash. Most homeless people around here where I live are actually really lovely people.

There is one lady who is in a wheel chair and she has a little dog. And on days when it's raining she lets her dog sit in the wheel chair, covers it with any blankets she has, covers it with the umbrella so it stays warm and dry, and pushes the wheel chair so it can be comfy despite her obvious heavy limp and twisted leg. Sometimes I'll see homeless people like her who just kind of surprise you that way. Of course when I see her around town I like to stop somewhere and get her a meal and some dog food or a new blanket if hers are looking to shabby.

But yeah. When I have the cash to spare I'll try to help. It keeps me from buying myself fatty sweets anyway so I feel like it's a win for the homeless person and a win for me. And also because it gives me the feeling of having a clear conscience knowing I at least tried to help out. And if they put the cash I gave them to alcohol or drugs then that's on them. But like I said I prefer to buy them a hot meal instead when I can.

Oh and also addressing the people who aren't really homeless, I can't say I know who is and who isn't so I'll give the meal or the money anyway. If I give cash to someone who isn't really homeless then it's not on me. I'm don't feel guilty because I wasn't the liar, but I doubt i'd feel like I was taken advantage of either because, as I've said before, I never give more than a few dollars.

I like to think of it this way:


There's a *bleep*ing person standing on the street, willing to publicly humiliate themselves for a little extra change. Who gives a shit if they spend it on cigarettes or a beer? They obviously need the fifty cents more than I do. Some of them may be trying to scheme some money out of people, however I think it's mostly paranoia that leads people to this conclusion.


As for people complaining about "hard-earned money" - come on, guys, really, what was that 40 cents rolling around in the foot of your car actually for? Were you really going to use that quarter, nickel, and dime to pay your mortgage? Or were you going to use it on the next bag of Cheetos? I get if you're in dire straits it's hard not to donate, but there's always the rogue nickel hiding in the folds of your pocket.

I was going to use it on the bag of Cheetos, which could have easily been substituted by the countless other nickels rolling around my car. Last time I gave money to a homeless person, I told him he should have enough now to at least buy a Forty.

I've seen a guy on the streets asking for money shaking his teets off from withdrawals - yes, I realize he allowed the addiction to get that far, but if you can't have empathy for someone suffering that badly enough to throw a bit of change his way you need to relook at yourself. I would hope someone would be kind enough to throw some change my way if I was ever in that kind of situation. I actually hope he did use the change to buy some beer at some point to make the shakes stop.


Honestly I'd much rather give 50 cents to someone who didn't need it than not give it to someone who really did. I don't even care if they didn't appreciate it.

I've never regretted helping someone out like that.


I think people tend to forget that homeless people are still humans and not minions of the underworld.

quote N00b Killer

quote LOD-squa

I don't know if this story is true or not but I have heard of a homeless guy panhandling and at the end of the day the guy would get in a really expensive car. As if the guy was just making money off the people to be able to afford his expenses. This would take alot of balls to do. I would love for someone to find this story so I could read it.

It wasn't a super expensive car but I was sitting in my car in this parking lot eating some food before I went home and I watch this car park, a guy get out wearing some tattered/dirty clothes, reach into the back and grab a sign, and then walk towards this corner. I'm pretty sure he saw me and I just looked at him and shoot my head saying, "What the *bleep*?" at him.

That goes back to my post about so-called "poor people" scamming innocent Americans.

I pay money out of my account each month to a local charity here in Scotland.

http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/

If i'm honest I only started it when I was 18 because this really sexy hippy kind of bohemian chick asked me. I couldn’t say no HAHA. What a shitty reason. However two weeks later my first news letter arrived and it really struck me. I upped my payments. Hell a couple of pounds per month to help genuinely unfortunate families with kids living in shit is the last I can do.

I also give to homeless people when I walk by them. I won’t give to shameless beggars and pushy folk with sob stories about money for a bus but I do give to those who look genuinely in need regardless of creed or condition. I know I am basing this on nothing concrete other than intuition but I have nothing else to go by.

And call me soppy but I also give to anyone with a dog. I know it seems a little shallow or bias, but I feel a connection to people who like animals. And hey, if a guy who can barely clothe and feed himself is good enough to use what little resources he has to enrich the life of an equally under privileged animal then I’d like to help that person out.

Is it a lie? Is he a violent junky in disguise? Is it his mate’s dog? I don’t really care. I don’t feel any guilt or shame in being duped or lied to. That is their choice and their cross to bear. Not mine. I am more than happy to spare some change to help a genuine and honest needy person, at the risk of giving my cash to an often equally needy liar. And listen many of these junkies, alcoholics and others who will "waste" the money on substance abuse are just as needy. It isn’t there time to get clean yet. Maybe that cash will help them towards that goal. Maybe it won’t. They still need that 50p or £1 more than I do.

And I tell you one other thing. If I took some of you and lost you your job, house, family, health and everything you loved then watched as society trampled you into the dirt who knows where you’d end up. Who knows how you’d behave and what you might abuse. Every homeless person is an individual with a story as tragic as you can imagine. Sure some are manipulative bastards but tell me a social enclave that isnt? Go on. Try not to judge too harshly from you privelaged vantage point.

I guess at heart in many ways I am a bit of a liberal socialist.