Panhandler or Sign Spinner

[GypsyGraphics]

i'm getting off the freeway and there's a guy sitting on a milk crate, holding a piece of cardboard that reads "homeless please help"

i'm thinking i'll give him a few bucks when i get close enough, then i notice the first car in line holding out a bill... he doesn't get up... the light turns green and the person start waving the bill around to get his attention.
he still doesn't get up but finally leans off his crate and grabs the money... just as the light changes.

i've already got a five spot ready to hand him when i notice he's wearing an iPod.... not that there's anything wrong with that... there's a new breed of homeless these days... poor guy, probably wasn't that long ago that he didn't need help.

he looks like he's enjoying his tunes, not rock'n out or anything, but it almost seems like i'd have to interrupt him to give him the bill and i already know he's not gonna get up off his crate.

anyway... several things cross my mind as the few cars that miss the light roll forward...

• hmmm, nice milk crate, i wonder where he got it?
  it's not one of the new crappy flimsy ones, it's one from the good ol days, the kind that, if you had two, could hold up a car.
• maybe you shoulda left that iPod at home buddy
• you really should get off your ass when someone's trying to give you money

now i'm close enough to hand him the bill... BUT I DON'T and you wanna know why?

...because i see a sign spinner just yards away... she's in goofy clothes, smiling, dancing, waving at people and more than likely making a fraction of what the guy sitting on the milk create with a crabby look on his face, is making.

really dude, put a little effort into that sign... ya got music dance a little jig or something. just kidding, i realize he's not there to entertain

...but, i can't help but think the sign spinner is a better recipient of my $5

before you get all over my case, i'm not mean or stingy, i donate more than i can afford to.
but lately i'm more inclined to help a person who works hard at a job they never excepted they'd have to take.

 

[James Burke]

Perhaps he represents a new segment of the market we need to tap (making signs for them).

I saw something similar, except they had a nice vinyl cut sign...not some ratty old piece of pizza box scribbled with a sharpie.

 

[Firefox]

I don't think you're stingy, the least he could do is get off his @$$.

Some of those folks make as much or more as us and it's tax free gifts they are getting. Tax free to them, but you probably were taxed on it when you made it!

One really pathetic looking lady by my shop started begging at the corners nearby about ten or so years ago. One day I saw her not far from her corner pulling off her dirties and wrapping her cardboard sign in them as she walked around a building. Curious, I drove around the building as she was getting into her new, still with dealer plates import! Toyota Camry I think.

I guess the job pays pretty well and just think only 10 years ago she was "Just out on an abusive relationship trying to get home to Oregon".

I donate to a local shelter/ food closet, if they need help that is where they should get it, but then I can't afford to donate enough for them to get a shiny new car.

 

[Sticky Signs]

He probably stole the ipod. I really hate those lazy a$$ good for nuthin crack heads.
Had my truck stolen in october. got it back 3 weeks later. Had 2 windows smashed out last night. I have nothing nice to say about crack heads.

 

[gabagoo]

if we continue to give them handouts, then they will always be there asking for it.

I rarely go downtown, but they are now up in the burbs where I work and they walk the line of cars sitting at lights at off ramps of highways. They dont even look homeless to me.

 

[shakey0818]

I agree with you gg .Tthe sign spinner needs it more.Theres not too many if any people like that @ here but i know of a woman and dunkin doughnuts and a few other places this womme hangs at and looks for cigoretts give her money to leave.i hear she makes @ $70 a day.Nothing wrong with beggers or what they do with their money or how they live their lives.Its a job pretty easy stand at the exit of a off ramp in crappy clothes with a pint in ya pocket,alot smaller overhead than i have,lol

 

[showcase 66]

I graduated with a guy who became a mechanical engineer. He was lazy as hell in school but always passed at the highest in the class. We ended up working for the same Engineering firm. A year later, while we are both still working, making good money, I ran into him in Vegas sitting on a corner all dressed in worn out clothes and ratty hair. Turned out, he had been doing this for years when he wants to make extra money. He told me he made more in 3 months doing this in Vegas than working a whole year at the engineers office.

That is why I will not give to anyone on the side of the road.

My grandfather told me if you are walking and someone asks for money to get some food, then to offer to buy them something to eat. Most of the time they will say no I would rather the money. Most of the time this would mean that they want to buy beer, cigarettes or drugs. The ones who truly need the help will be so great full for the meal.

 

[CentralSigns]

Ever wounder what the window washers make. I was in Florida a couple of years ago and watched one for an hour. The light changed buddy started washing windows. Five cars later light changed, I figure he had about 10 bucks. 5 min next light not so good, only 5 bucks. This went on and on and I would guess in the hour he probably made 100 bucks or more. I was thinking maybe I could disappear to big beach city Florida. Buy a squeegee a milk crate and some windex and work 4 hours a day twice a week. Spend the rest of the time on the beach with a beer. What a life !!

 

[signage]

I have had these people say they are hungry outside of fast food joints buy them food give it to them and watch them through it in the garbage! All they want is the cash to do with it as they please (Alcohol, drugs or just want/need the money)!

 

[signcrafters london]

20 years ago I worked near the off ramp of a busy intersection. The same "homeless" guy was there with his sign every day. One day the drive-thru at McDonalds was backed up, so I went inside to order. I got in line behind the homeless guy. You wouldn't believe the wad of cash he pulled out to pay for his food. That cat made more than I did at the time, I assure you of that.

There was an awesome cartoon in Signcraft Magazine about homeless guys and their signs. I'll try to go through my old issues tomorrow and see if I can find it.

 

[hightop]

There are so many people who legitimately need help and are willing to work for it, if they could just find a jopb. There are also so many legitimate ways to help people who really need it. It is hard not to be jaded by panhandlers who often seem tno be looking for money for drugs, alcohol, etc. Most folks want to help but they want to be sure their money is going to the needy and not to fakers or administrative overhead. We help how we can closer to home. My dear friend has MS. She and her husband aare doing everything they can to help theirself. A grocery store gift card is priceless to them and doesn't hurt us at all. I feel bad for the sign holders, but my husband and I choose to keep it closer to home with people we know and love.

 

[GypsyGraphics]

years ago i watched a 60 minutes segment where they followed a panhandler who made $60 - $100 an hour.

i'd be willing to bet if i told that panhandler he could make an honest living spinning signs for $10 an hour
and told the sign spinning lady that she could make $60 an hour panhandling....
NEITHER would consider doing the others job!

 

[shakey0818]

I make $100hr for out calls and $150hr for in calls from my Craigslist add under Erotic Services.

 

[cdiesel]

Years ago, I used to own a bread route. I used to see the same people begging daily, often in slightly different areas. I got asked all the time for money, and always offered fresh bread instead. Never got any takers, until one day. The guy took a couple loaves of bread, looking extremely relieved. I could tell he was really hungry and thankful. He got a couple bucks in addition to the bread.

A few years later, I was on my route, approaching one of my grocery stores. I pulled up slowly to a stop light, and couldn't believe my eyes. Most bread guys use trays to hold their bread, and the trays go on racks. The racks are usually left outside at grocery stores while not in use. A man and a woman were pushing two of my racks down the street! I jammed on the brakes and turned into the parking lot in front of them. I asked them what the hell they were doing, and they told me that the manager Steve at the store had told them they could have the racks. I informed them that was funny, because 1) the racks were mine, not the store's to give away, and 2) the manager's name was not Steve. I made them take the racks back to the store (which they tried leaving them at a corner and walking away, until I came back around the corner again), and reload all of my empty trays onto the racks that they had thrown all over the ground behind the store. I couldn't believe it.

 

[Salmoneye]

The only kind of beggar I like is ones that beg for a job; a real job. Will work for food, my ass! I tell them to get in the truck, I'll pay you and you can buy your own damn food. Every excuse in the world has been given, it's usually "Oh can you come pick me up tomorrow...." The few time I have gotten someone to work they want a draw on their pay after an hour so they can go buy beer. Ugh! Can't stand beggars. How often do you have someone knock on your door honestly asking for a couple hours of work? I have never turned one of them down.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I guess his 99 weeks of unemployment must have run out.

 

[Cross Signs]

i'd be willing to bet if i told that panhandler he could make an honest living spinning signs for $10 an hour
and told the sign spinning lady that she could make $60 an hour panhandling....
NEITHER would consider doing the others job!

X2

 

[adkmaid]

I guess his 99 weeks of unemployment must have run out.

oh dont even start on the unemployment I know someone who has been on unemployment for over two years, he fishes, hunts and just hangs out all the time livin the life of a retired person, he doesnt look for a job at all. As far as the "homeless" person......its their job they just dont pay taxes but some of them live in pretty nice places. We are doing something wrong folks because most of them make more than we do. The true homeless folks do visit the shelters and find a way to survive.....pick up bottles etc. I would rather volunteer or give to a food pantry than hand a buck to some "poser" on the corner.

 

[CES020]

I spent a couple of years having a professional street performer as a friend. I took some time off and traveled with him, helping him teach people how to street perform. He could pull in $300-400 in 45 minutes. However, he was a true drifter, and instead of working all day, he'd do one show, put the money in his pocket, pack up, go eat like a king, stay in a nice hotel, and be broke tomorrow.

He taught me a lot about people, specifically people that ask for money. 95% of them are making a killing, essentially, they are street performers. All they are doing is an act, and that act is meant to suck you in so you feel sorry for them, when in fact, they are making very good money, many are driving nice cars, have nice computers, internet, places to live, etc.

I've followed a few of them around here over the years, watching them when I first saw them to now, 3 or 4 years later, with the exact same message on their cardboard "4 kids, need food, please help, God Bless". I've seen her have so much cash, she couldn't fit it in her pocket.

It's almost always show.

Having said that, there is a couple, she's in a wheelchair with no legs, and they live in a van, and they are in the same spot all the time as well. They are homeless, they do need the money, and they don't have anything.

I have no problem helping, but I prefer not to be scammed by losers trying to play on my emotions.

 

[MikePro]

the homeless/panhandlers were a plague when I went to school at UW madison... the city treats them so well that they stay all year round and then accept the city's free 1-way bus ticket to warmer climates come winter and they would somehow make it back up there in the spring.
got tired of saying "No, sorry bud" or "I only have credit cards"... so I would flash my $1 bill and say "this is yours, if you can make me laugh... 1 minute, GO!"

...needless to say, they're not very funny.

 

[AUTO-FX]

Is a "freeloader" the same thing as a "panhandler"? We dont have any panhandlers around here in the suburbs, but we might have freeloaders.