new "class" of beggers

[eloric the 2nd]

ok, me and a friend where in Santa barbara CA the other day when a begger walks up and ask for change... we say no and go about our buisness, but when we were walking back to our car we saw the same begger... though this time he was with a group of beggers.... now here is the interesting part..... we hear a cell phone ring... and guess what the guy that had just recently asked us for changed pulled out a cell and started talking on it...... i mean really when did beggers get cell phones???????

Eloric

 

[imported_Mike]

i dont remember the complete story, but dateline or something like that did a story about some homeless people making some ok $$ on asking for money. I remember this one guy in particular, he was homeless, but had a suit. He lived somewhere with a subway b/c he said during the rush hour of work he would ask people for a buck or 2 b/c "he left his wallet at home" He said people are more inclined to give a buck to a business man that might be late for work than a "begger" he was making like $200 a day, not just on the subway bit, but other stuff too...i found it interesting.

 

[Shockwave]

I heard a while back the average begger makes like 35,000 a year or some crap

 

[FrustratedUser]

LOL! Similar things happens here too. They haggle.

Begger 1: Got a smoke to spare.
Me: No
Begger 1: Please
Me: No
Begger 2: I buy one from you
Me: Nahh!
Begger 2: I pay $5 for a smoke.
Me: Get a pack of smokes for that price instead.
Begger 2: Huh??

 

[bolomite]

Originally posted by: Shockwave
I heard a while back the average begger makes like 35,000 a year or some crap

:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q

 

[EvilYoda]

nope, not around here, the bums in Ann Arbor are your typical greasy-smelly-dressed-in-rags beggars.

 

[amnesiac]

Apparently one panhandler in LA has it made. The story I read stated he had two houses, several cars, etc. all paid for with cash.

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: Shockwave
I heard a while back the average begger makes like 35,000 a year or some crap

I think that's a BS claim, though I've heard it before as well. A local paper went around and interviewed several, the most anyone got (or admitted to) was $50/day, and that was on a good day.

Rob

 

[Lithium381]

why not get a job?!?!??!?

 

[Deeko]

I was walking down Broad St one day, and this guy had his cup out, asking for money. He had staked out a good spot, near city hall & all the expensive stores/theaters on S. Broad. When I passed him on the way back, he was counting a stack of 20's :Q

 

[GiLtY]

Once on CNN.com I read about this new breed of CyberBeggars.. it's quite interesting...

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: Shockwave
I heard a while back the average begger makes like 35,000 a year or some crap

I'd see that as completely plausible, think about it, it's tax free income.

I've seen beggars walk through a single subway car on my way to work and by the time they reach the end if the car, they've pulled in more cash than I make an hour

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: Deeko
I was walking down Broad St one day, and this guy had his cup out, asking for money. He had staked out a good spot, near city hall & all the expensive stores/theaters on S. Broad. When I passed him on the way back, he was counting a stack of 20's :Q

on that note, in nyc, there were these 2 guys sitting on the sidewalk, they both had the walking canes for the blind. And for the longest time they had their eyes shut pretending to be blind, then like after a couple of minutes one of them opened one eye and watched a guy put money into the cup. I had to laugh...good ol nyc. Its fun to walk through the middle of a bunch of black guys in a circle on the sidewalk "preaching" about the "white devil"

 

[PliotronX]

Haven't you seen Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood?? The bit where the begger with the long dreds, after getting some change, rips off the old brown potato sack and has a clean 3 piece underneath, jumps in a black Benz 5 feet away and speeds off?

 

[Atlantean]

Beggars with cell phones... what will they think of next.

 

[ReiAyanami]

beggars with guns are not beggars but robbers

anyway beggars wouldn't continue this if ppl stopped giving so easily, but of course bill gates needs your spare change

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

Originally posted by: Lithium381
why not get a job?!?!??!?

why work when stupid people will give you money for no reason?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: Shockwave
I heard a while back the average begger makes like 35,000 a year or some crap

I think that's a BS claim, though I've heard it before as well. A local paper went around and interviewed several, the most anyone got (or admitted to) was $50/day, and that was on a good day.

Rob

That's equal to $6.25 per hour if you equate it to a typical 8 hour day. So the begger is making more a dollar an hour more than minimum wage. $350 a week if you assume that they don't take weekends off. $250 a week is probably more reasonable though, assuming 7 days of work and $50 per day being above average. That's $13,000 per year of tax free income. Not enough to live nicely, but enough to get off the street at night.

Beggars here on the Pitt campus do a lot better than that though. They have several thousand naive college students to give them money. Some kid dressed up as a begger one day and made $20 in an hour.

ZV

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: PliotronX
Haven't you seen Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood?? The bit where the begger with the long dreds, after getting some change, rips off the old brown potato sack and has a clean 3 piece underneath, jumps in a black Benz 5 feet away and speeds off?

While reading that I immediately thought about POLITICIANS.... I hate Politicians ... 95% of them have no spine or morals.

 

[SammyBoy]

My best beggar story was when my mom dragged my whole family to some nice play at the Wang Center in boston (I think it was the wang center, it was a while back, some nice theater though).

Anyhow, my lil bro who was probably 3 at the time got a bit unruly, so my dad took him out to the lobby. I was maybe 10, and I was getting bored, so I went out to find him. He wasn't in the lobby, but i caught a glimpse of him outside. He was chatting with a beggar outside. This dude was the man, a nice 40-45 year old black dude, and he was intelligent, polite and seemed pretty smart. He knew the theatre schedules like the back of his hand, and he was waiting for this big play to get out. All I know is when we stood near him waiting for my mom to come out with the crowd, the dude, had to empty his cup of bills 2 times, cuz there simply wasn't enough room to put any more in Also people are more partial to give to an empty cup than one overflowing with more bills than their wallet .

We wanted to chit chat again, but aparently another show was getting out in a few minutes.

I could see myself doing that some day, i'd have to lose all of my morals, that might be tough, but after that it'd be cool

 

[psianime]

I don't give money to stranges... I just know they are going to spend it on something I wouldn't like drugs or alcohol.

-psianime

 

[Shockwave]

Originally posted by: psianime
I don't give money to stranges... I just know they are going to spend it on something I wouldn't like drugs or alcohol.

-psianime

Whats wrong with drugs and alcohol??

 

[DrVos]

Originally posted by: psianime
I don't give money to stranges... I just know they are going to spend it on something I wouldn't like drugs or alcohol.

-psianime

I feel the same way. I have no problem giving the benfit of doubt if they seem to be down on their luck, but am unwilling to help support a drug/alcohol habit. I used to work at a mall and when I walked around on my breaks would sometimes get approached by people asking for money so they could get something to eat. On a number of occasions I've offered my lunch or offered to buy them a sandwhich or something. Some have been truly grateful and have shared some truly heartbreaking stories. Others, well, have been less than grateful. This one girl who came up to me for money didn't want my lunch because she was "allergic" to rice and chicken. riiight.

 

[flavio]

The majority of homeless people are genuinely down and out. People like to focus on certain cases to make them feel better about not helping anyone though.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: flavio
The majority of homeless people are genuinely down and out. People like to focus on certain cases to make them feel better about not helping anyone though.

That's what charities are for. When a begger asks you for money, you don't have the times or means to check him out, nor do you have the ability to make sure the money goes towards helping him, rather than feeding an addiction.

Charities, on the other hand, have rules and requirements they enforce.

I give generously to charities, but never to individuals.