Bum boasts he makes $200/hour panhandling

[PricklyPete]

I REALLY doubt that he is making $200 an hour. He is likely just basing that off a few good days that he had...the way someone will tell you how well they do in Playing slots...just based on the one day they actually won versus all the days they lost.

That being said, there are plenty of stories of panhandlers dying with surprising amounts of money in the bank. When your budget is next to nothing, every $ you get is profit.

The reality is that most panhandlers are terrible with money (why they are there in the first place) due to mental illness and/or severe addictions. There are plenty of outliers, but it surely is not a glamorous or fulfilling line of work.

I never give money. Granola bars or McDonald's gift cards (which to be honest, can probably be traded for money and it is debatable whether the food is any healthier than the booze or drugs they would have bought if I gave them money).

 

[KeithP]

I have no interest in supplying drug or drinking money to people who have nothing better to do than hit on whoever next comes around the corner.

Well the way I see it, it is just like how the government's entitlement programs (food stamps, welfare, etc) work, only in this case it is significantly more efficient because we are cutting out the middleman.

-KeithP