So sick of pan handlers

[luvmygdaughters]

This is what you people asked for and constantly advocate for.

Cut food stamps! Cut housing assistance! Cut every possible government aid to the poor, the sick, the injured!

Hell just a couple days ago there was a "just go get a job" thread on this idiotic site.

So what's the end result? Panhandlers, telemarketers, tv campaigns and mailers. So now you all complain about that too!??!

What's your next "compassionate conservative" position going to be: round up all the poor, underprivileged, sick or injured then dump them somewhere that is guarded by high caliber weaponry, surrounded by razor wire and minefields so they can't escape and ruin your pathetic day because they asked for some change?

Tommyjo, you are an idiot! These panhandlers are usually druggies who are already on welfare and assistance and still don't have enough to accommodate their chosen addiction. These dregs of society make it harder for the ones who really need it to get it. I see it in my neighborhood every damn day!!! Their have been 3 arrests in the past 6 months at the subsidized housing unit in the neighborhood, all involving drugs. These people are receiving government assistance and still doing drugs and stealing to get them.

 

[nobody really]

You'd be amazed at the number of people that make panhandling a career. That's their job; ask for money. And they do very well at it, then go home to a nice house with a nice car and a solid meal.

Because it's so tough to figure out who really is in need, I choose to ignore them all. Sounds harsh, but I'll be damned if I'm going to give my money to someone who doesn't really need or deserve it.

There is a drunk guy that sits at the entrance to the parking lot across from Nats stadium. If everyone gave me $10 (we always give him $10), he could make a killing, just from the people parking there at game time.

 

[RoseRed]

There is a drunk guy that sits at the entrance to the parking lot across from Nats stadium. If everyone gave me $10 (we always give him $10), he could make a killing, just from the people parking there at game time.

Why do you keep giving him money? Or are you paying for parking there?

 

[nobody really]

Why do you keep giving him money? Or are you paying for parking there?

the bf does, i guess he just feels bad for him, and i don't stop him. The attendant doesn't seem to pay him any attention, and we've seen others giving him money. doesn't make it right, but like i said, he just looks very destitude, about 80, no teef. Of course, he could be 40 for all i know.

 

[blacklabman]

the bf does, i guess he just feels bad for him, and i don't stop him. The attendant doesn't seem to pay him any attention, and we've seen others giving him money. doesn't make it right, but like i said, he just looks very destitude, about 80, no teef. Of course, he could be 40 for all i know.

The "Shift" bar can be your friend. Did you fail English class?

 

[kwillia]

I used to get upset at the idea of all of the people who contribute to panhandlers, but it's my understanding that panhandlers rake in a quite a bit of dough due to all the do-gooders so it's probably reducing the need for them to rob and steal. So in that sense they are doing the rest of us a favor. :shrug:

 

[Goldenhawk]

Same with the LP Rescue Squad. For a long time they would come around to the house asking for donations, representing themselves as the LPVRS, and I gave. Turns out the group was only loosely associated with LPVRS and less than 50% of my donation went to the rescue squad. Found this out from a friend who is a longtime member of the squad.

Try asking solicitors to see their financial disclosure showing total received donations versus total disbursements to charity. If they can't provide it, don't give any money. See this page on Maryland law about disclosure statements.
http://www.sos.state.md.us/charity/DisclosureRequirements.aspx
While a door-to-door solicitation doesn't require a disclosure sheet be immediately provided, any reputable charity will be happy to provide it on request. That link also includes a link to a searchable database of charitable organizations, with recent financial information summarized (including expenses as a percentage of income).

In particular:

Financial Statement Requirements

Under section 6-410 of the Maryland Solicitations Act, a charitable organization must mail within 30 days after receiving a request, a current financial statement at no charge to the requesting individual.

The financial statement must contain:

(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the charitable organization;

(2) The amount of total revenue, the amount of total revenue received from charitable contributions, and the amount and percentage of total revenue spent for the charity's management and general expenses, fund-raising expenses, and program expenses for the most recently completed fiscal year; ...

 

[BOP]

This statement triggers a curiosity in me.

It is clear that you do not like this site. More specifically, It is clear that you don't like a single god damned person who frequents this website.





And yet here you are, again, snarking at everyone you come into contact with, and slinging your foam-flecked vitriol all over anyone who enters your blast radius.




The question I have for you is quite simply, "Why?"

If I found myself on a website surrounded by people whom I unabashedly hate, I'd leave.

As I believe most sensible people would.




So what's your deal? Do you enjoy working your panties into a knot?

I think she wants to be a dominatrix specializing in verbal humiliation, but can't quite get the hang of it.


Dee-de-de!

 

[Lurk]

Hell just a couple days ago there was a "just go get a job" thread on this idiotic site.

So what's the end result? Panhandlers, telemarketers, tv campaigns and mailers. So now you all complain about that too!??!

You stupid bitch! Cutting back on undeserved welfare has nothing to do with telemarketers or mailers! If the crone wants to feed her kids by panhandling, let her sweep the driveway and empty the trash buckets. Then she can ask for a handout.

 

[Hannibal]

I've thought about this before (ie - done the math) and it works out to be a potentialy good deal for someone. And this is why they do it.

Think about it - find a nice and busy intersection. Figure each time the light changes, you get 3 minutes of down time before the next green. Say on average, you collect $1 from a vehicle. Sometime you might get 5x's that, some times you get nothing. But on average, you collect $1. Over an hour, that $20 in cash. Over the course of an 8-hour day, that's $160 tax free. $800 a week. Not saying someone does this as a FULL TIME 40-hour/week "career", but if you did, that's $41,600 a year ........ again tax free ..... all take home. Figuring a tax rate of about 31%, that is equivellant to $60,000 a year job.

For some people, that's a pretty damn good job. And you don't have to work on rain days (though if it were me, I would think you would kill it on rain days). You don't have to work a set schedule. You don't have a boss. And Lord knows, with a little ingenuity, I am betting you could easily beat the $1 average. You cover an additional 50-cents on the average and now you're talking $90,000 a year gig. Not too shabby.

Seems logical why some of these people actually refuse job oppertunities that passer-bys offer. I mean, why "work" when you can be given your income just by walking up and down a line of cars asking for it?

 

[Beta]

Responding to the OP, I've had a couple of times recently (once at a grocery store, once at a gas station) where someone came up to me, both times asking for gas money because they were stranded. Very similar stories. Kinda makes you wonder. The first one I gave money to and she seemed to leave the store, the second one I didn't have anything so she kept going from person to person. :shrug:

You'd be amazed at the number of people that make panhandling a career. That's their job; ask for money. And they do very well at it, then go home to a nice house with a nice car and a solid meal.

Because it's so tough to figure out who really is in need, I choose to ignore them all. Sounds harsh, but I'll be damned if I'm going to give my money to someone who doesn't really need or deserve it.

Ok, I know there was a DC story years back about that, so I know that stuff exists. But do you honestly believe that most panhandlers do that as a job and make good money? Come on now. Just because there are a few fake panhandlers doesn't mean that anywhere close to half of them are doing that.

 

[Goldenhawk]

Responding to the OP, I've had a couple of times recently (once at a grocery store, once at a gas station) where someone came up to me, both times asking for gas money because they were stranded. Very similar stories. Kinda makes you wonder.

That one is almost always a scam. If you offer to fill their tank, you'll find out that they don't even have a car there. "Oh, uh, I left my car a few blocks down". Well, I'll drive you there to pick it up. "Uh, no thanks." If you hang around a few minutes, you'll watch them get money from several people then go inside and buy something other than gas (usually beer or cigs). If you offer to contact the sherriff for assistance with their car, they'll disappear faster than you can blink. Guaranteed.

The best and ultimately most compassionate thing you can do is don't give money, give time and the needed goods. If the need is legit, they'll take it. Save your money for buying the appropriate goods for truly needy people.

 

[Beta]

That one is almost always a scam. If you offer to fill their tank, you'll find out that they don't even have a car there. "Oh, uh, I left my car a few blocks down". Well, I'll drive you there to pick it up. "Uh, no thanks." If you hang around a few minutes, you'll watch them get money from several people then go inside and buy something other than gas (usually beer or cigs). If you offer to contact the sherriff for assistance with their car, they'll disappear faster than you can blink. Guaranteed.

The best and ultimately most compassionate thing you can do is don't give money, give time and the needed goods. If the need is legit, they'll take it. Save your money for buying the appropriate goods for truly needy people.

The one I gave money to, she offered to walk me to her car which was right up front (I saw it when I came in a minute earlier). So I could have, but it wasn't worth my time and I wanted to be nice regardless of the circumstance. And then she seemed to leave the store after I gave her money :shrug:

When giving money to a panhandler, you have to realize that they're panhandling for a reason. Sure, you might find a few that are making loads of money, but most have other mitigating circumstances. If you give them money, you might help them out or you might be supporting a cigarette/drug/alcohol/whatever habit. It is what it is. If I give it with no strings attached then I don't feel bad if they use it for some other purpose. I still tried and I can live with myself for that.

 

[Hannibal]

I am curious about all these people who are out of jobs for so long (and not in a smart-ass way). What do you all do? When you say you are out of a job, do you mean you can't find "anything" or you waited along time to find a relatively equivellant job in your given industry? How selective were you? To me, if I am out of work for a month - I am accepting positions that I am likely way overqualified for. I'll go flip burgers if that $5.25/hr puts some food on my table for the family. I'd have to think there are numerous options for educated folks with decent resumes. Granted, it might not be within 10 minutes of your house or making exactly the same salary but there are plenty of jobs out there. Hell, in many instances, people will use you to replace others. Every company is looking to improve. More so in a down economy where there is an increase of "talent" looking for work.

 

[Beta]

I am curious about all these people who are out of jobs for so long (and not in a smart-ass way). What do you all do? When you say you are out of a job, do you mean you can't find "anything" or you waited along time to find a relatively equivellant job in your given industry? How selective were you? To me, if I am out of work for a month - I am accepting positions that I am likely way overqualified for. I'll go flip burgers if that $5.25/hr puts some food on my table for the family. I'd have to think there are numerous options for educated folks with decent resumes. Granted, it might not be within 10 minutes of your house or making exactly the same salary but there are plenty of jobs out there. Hell, in many instances, people will use you to replace others. Every company is looking to improve. More so in a down economy where there is an increase of "talent" looking for work.

Have you been in that situation? They don't want to hire smart people at McDonald's to flip burgers. It's just the reality of the situation. Plus, if it's $5.25 an hour for a job over an hour from your house, is it really worthwhile? The gas and added miles on your car alone might make it a bust. Plus that ruins needed flexibility to interview for better jobs.

 

[lucky_bee]

Have you been in that situation? They don't want to hire smart people at McDonald's to flip burgers. It's just the reality of the situation. Plus, if it's $5.25 an hour for a job over an hour from your house, is it really worthwhile? The gas and added miles on your car alone might make it a bust. Plus that ruins needed flexibility to interview for better jobs.

I just explained this in the other thread about finding a job. None of these places wanted to hire me while I was looking for a career position. Even though I was happy to work for min wage just to have a job. Instead I had to drive an hour to the only retail job that HAD to have me bc I was grandfathered in from transferring from another store. I literally made justtttt enough to cover gas to get me to Waldorf every day. But I'd be damned if I was going to just go without ANY job. I personally think it says something about me that I was willing to do that instead of claim unemployment and even dare ask someone for a dollar I didn't actually work for. I'd rather work a shiddy-azz job than no job at all.

 

[SoMDGirl42]

I just explained this in the other thread about finding a job. None of these places wanted to hire me while I was looking for a career position. Even though I was happy to work for min wage just to have a job. Instead I had to drive an hour to the only retail job that HAD to have me bc I was grandfathered in from transferring from another store. I literally made justtttt enough to cover gas to get me to Waldorf every day. But I'd be damned if I was going to just go without ANY job. I personally think it says something about me that I was willing to do that instead of claim unemployment and even dare ask someone for a dollar I didn't actually work for. I'd rather work a shiddy-azz job than no job at all.

RIght after having my youngest daughter my contract ended and I was without a job with a newborn. I applied at Pizza hut to deliver pizza's just to have some income and they wouldn't hire me even with a clean driving record without a single ticket, a fairly new car that was reliable, no arrest record. I was "over qualified" to deliver pizza. So next time your pizza gets delivered, let them know it must suck not have any skills and being stuck delivery pizzas. #######s. And I have never purchased a pizza from pizza hut since!

 

[Mr_Bond_Got_Em]

RIght after having my youngest daughter my contract ended and I was without a job with a newborn. I applied at Pizza hut to deliver pizza's just to have some income and they wouldn't hire me even with a clean driving record without a single ticket, a fairly new car that was reliable, no arrest record. I was "over qualified" to deliver pizza. So next time your pizza gets delivered, let them know it must suck not have any skills and being stuck delivery pizzas. #######s. And I have never purchased a pizza from pizza hut since!

Dang, well you can always deliver my DIGIORNO!

 

[SoMDGirl42]

Dang, well you can always deliver my DIGIORNO!

I got a job, but I'll keep you in mind if I ever find myself in that position again

 

[bilbur]

A hiring manager once told me that telling people they are over qualified is a nice way of letting them know they didn't get the job usually for some other reason. She said that sometimes they are overqualified but usually they did not meet some other criteria that may or may not be legal to judge a prospective applicant on such as gender, age, looks, etc...