Why give money to homeless?

[Deeko]

I live in Philly, so I see many beggers a day. Why does everyone feel the need to give them money? No matter what they say, they aren't gonna use the money for food. Have you ever seen a homeless person buying food? They can find food other ways. Money is used for drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. Probably how they got there in the first place. By giving them money, you are really only making it worse for them. Besides, what did they do to deserve your money? They didn't work for it. And no, holding the door for you at 7-11 is NOT working.

 

[Deeko]

Oh, and I'm not Jerboy, I'm not out to get the homeless, I don't go out of my way to harm them or spite them, but I'm not about to give them my hard earned money, especialyl when they are going to waste it anyway.

 

[Zim Hosein]

One because it's good Karma, and two if I were ever in that type of situation, I'd hope someone would help me as well

edit: LMAO at the Jerboy reference Deeko

 

[Ryan]

I never give money too the homeless. I will not help people who refuse to help themselves.

 

[notfred]

I've seen a homeless guy buying chicken before.

 

[eakers]

because sometimes i like to help other people out.

 

[AvesPKS]

I don't know, around me, you can get songs, dances, some jokes sometimes, if you're lucky...we make them work for it!

 

[boyRacer]

because the religion i was brought up in says its good to do so.

 

I help the needy because it's the humane thing to do, period.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: rbloedow
I never give money too the homeless. I will not help people who refuse to help themselves.

W/o turning this into a flame-bait thread, that's a very broad statement to make about homeless people rbloedow

 

[Ranger X]

The homeless usually get food at a shelter or someplace else. I have a friend who used to give money to the homeless until he had a bad experience and stopped. I guess some may figure that alcohol can kill hunger pains so why buy food.

 

[FoBoT]

what is wrong with them getting high, etc? if your life sucked that bad, you would probably want to forget about it/feel better by getting high too


j/k, i guess

 

[Growltiger]

I think its a far better idea to donate money to your local homeless shelter rather than give it directly to a person on the street. That way, you know your money is going towards food and shelter.

 

[HKSturboKID]

Lets look at this in a different point of view.

If a person can choose, do you think that person wants to be homeless?
There is a lot of things that can cause a person to be homeless. They loose their jobs, can't afford to pay rent, force to go to shelter, need food for the family...etc...

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Roger
I help the needy because it's the humane thing to do, period.

So give them a lift to McDonald's and tell them to get a job. That's humane.

I don't know, around me, you can get songs, dances, some jokes sometimes, if you're lucky...we make them work for it!

Around here they think they are 'working' for it if they open a door for you, or give you a "tip". One time I parked my car on the street, and a guy came up to me and told me not to leave anything out on the seats, or someone will steal it(nothing was on my seats). He then asked me for $10 for the tip. Riiiight.

 

[Ranger X]

I think it's in our nature to want to help those in need but it only takes one bad experience to ruin it all for everyone. Being homeless doesn't mean they're homeless because they refuse to help themselves necessarily. I agree, that is a VERY broad statement to make. I highly doubt that most of the homeless refuse to work and would rather beg for money. Some may become accustomed to their lifestyle by all the hand-outs but one can't generalize it for all the homeless.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: HKSturboKID
Lets look at this in a different point of view.

If a person can choose, do you think that person wants to be homeless?
There is a lot of things that can cause a person to be homeless. They loose their jobs, can't afford to pay rent, force to go to shelter, need food for the family...etc...

Of course they don't. But does that mean that its ok for them to not get a job, and to live by getting other people's money? There are plenty of minimum-wage jobs out there that don't require you to be particularly skilled, and some money is better than none.

 

[nitsuj3580]

I do it once in awhile because a lot of times, they could use the dollar a lot more than I could. whether it's for drugs, booze, or actually food, they don't have a roof over their heads so I usually feel bad and hope they put the couple bucks to good use.

I never figured out why they couldn't go to McD's or another fast food place and get a job but a lot of places require a home address and other information before getting the job. I don't know anything about it but i'm guessing getting a job when you're homeless is a lot harder than one would think.

 

So give them a lift to McDonald's and tell them to get a job. That's humane.

Hey, wake up, most places will not hire the homeless, if you don't have a home and a phone number to be reached at, you can't get a job.

 

[brtspears2]

Usually to get them off my back, sorta like dropping countermeasures.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Roger

So give them a lift to McDonald's and tell them to get a job. That's humane.

Hey, wake up, most places will not hire the homeless, if you don't have a home and a phone number to be reached at, you can't get a job.

Wake up?

There are plenty of places, especially in big cities, designed to help the homeless get back on their feet.

How many of these people do you think have even visited these places?

How many of them became homeless for a "good" reason anyway?

 

[4Lclovergirl]

I was thinking the same thing, why can't homeless people get jobs? Well, if you have no permant address, you can't get checks mailed and have insurance etc. It's a lose lose situation. Although I do feel there are lots of opps for people out there if they really tried.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Roger

So give them a lift to McDonald's and tell them to get a job. That's humane.

Hey, wake up, most places will not hire the homeless, if you don't have a home and a phone number to be reached at, you can't get a job.

Exactly. And if you don't have a set of clean clothes either, you will not be hired.

 

[Thraxen]

Hey, wake up, most places will not hire the homeless, if you don't have a home and a phone number to be reached at, you can't get a job.

I see no reason why you couldn't use the phone/address of some sort of shelter. Unless the person has some sort of mental illness, I see no reason at all why anyone should be homeless. Even if you have to live in some run down part of town and/or in a cheap rent controlled apartment and work on a production line at a poultry plant. There is always a way out.

 

[edro]

One time I was coming out of a gas station and a guy asked me for some money. I asked him what he wanted it for and he said to get something to eat. In my hand was an unopened large bag of potato chips, an unopened bottle of Pepsi, and an unopened Beef Jerky steak thingy.... I said, well, here you can take these (I am fat enough as it is ) He said, "nah man.... I'm not hungry"..... WTF! He is so stupid that I just caught him in a lie from literally 30 sec. before! So I just said.... Ok man, later.