This happened the other day. It was vaguely amusing so I thought I'd share.

A group of us are walking along to get to a park. My friend and I decide to break off from the group to get a drink. We cross the road to where we can see a newsagent. At this point a somewhat bedraggled guy approaches us (hes standing near the shop) and asks us if we can spare 20p to "help the homeless." My friend declines with his cold hard heart.

A bit of background, I never used to give at all to beggars because I figured they would just spend it on booze, fags, drugs etc. So anyways I'm feeling particularly generous so I think this time I'll give him some money, its only 20p after all...

I give him some money and head into the shop. I make my way to the back to grab a coke. I turn round to come back to the shop counter when I see the beggar in front of me, about to pay for a can of Carlsberg. I was tempted to say something but figured it wasn't worth it, it was only 20p after all. I attempted to get eye contact so I could at least just look disapprovingly at him and make him feel bad but he wouldn't look at me.

The end. Moral of the story? Don't help the homeless

I think next time I'll ask what they'd buy, and maybe buy them some food or something instead rather than giving them money.

Yeah, my aunt did this once. Offered to take the guy to a restaurant. He just walked away.

I knew a guy named Dennis once. He seemed like a decent fellow, so I'd buy him a cup of soup at 7-11 or maybe a pack of cigarettes. He usually payed me back by getting me spare bicycle parts. I gave him cash on occasion, and he always had something in return.

Also, this thread gave me deja vu. I swear I've read it before.

I have never given anything to a homeless person before and I don't intend to start.

When I was in NYC (I seem to start a lot of sentences with that) I went to McDonalds, and there was this homeless guy with a can who opened the door for people who went in. Noticing that I had a lot of change in my pockets, so I gave him all the change I got with some lameass comment like "Here you go, champ" or whatever.

I guess all those coins probably totalled $2 or so, but still. He probably bought booze.

Around here I wouldn't give any money to those "Got an euro?" people who seem to be everywhere, yet I've never even been bothered by them. Hm.

The homeless guy is living on the street, his life sucks, he eats out of bins for food.
I say if he wants a drink then let him have one.

A homeless man on a bike once asked me for some change when I was talking to some friends outside of Waffle House. I gave him some change, two dollars, and asked what he was going to spend it on. He told me he was gonna go get sum chiken skripes.....

I used to think they are a rarity in this country, but then when I happened to go to Helsinki by train a year ago or so it took all 10 seconds for the first one to appear, and another 10 seconds for the next. Must have been a few before I escaped out of the train station, but it's not like it would have stopped them from appearing. I don't remember such a flood from my earlier capital visits.

If I've got change in my pocket I'll usually give it to any homeless person who entertains me for it. You know, the ones who say stuff like "I need fuel money for my Ferrari" rather than the lazy ones who sit on the pavement and scowl at you. I'll never get my wallet out for them, though. That's just asking for trouble.

When I was 6 or 7 we went into L.A. on the train for my birthday. We saw some homeless people around so my older brother, who I think was 9 or so at the time, stood in line by himself at a Carls Jr so he could by two burgers to give to one of the homeless people. I seem to recall the guy being very grateful, seeing as he had just been digging in a trash can for an apple core.

Karma.

I aint so much into giving directly to the homeless, but I'm a sucker for any charity with a rattle-tin.

I don't usually, unless they're actually doing something. [First time I went to glasgow on the train there were two tramps standing outside the station singing the national anthem. :P]

But theres some that are just at it. I'm convinced theres one that alternates days between being a bum and being the moving statue bloke in the gardens.

I've given money to the homeless many times. Though usually I donate to groups who help the homeless. Like the people who run soup kitchens or whatever. Ironically, now I don't have any money and no one wants to give me hand outs

lol 'spare' bicycle parts, because those are just laying around everywhere when they aren't on parted out bicycles... its nice he repayed you though

I think South Park summed it up pretty well in last weeks episode.

If you're in a fast-food restaurant and as you're getting up to throw your trash and someone asks you, "is there any food left in there?" what do you do?

My mom was coming out of the grocery store one time and some guy came up to her with a story about hungry kids and the manager at Subway giving him some ham to make sandwiches. All he needed was money to go buy bread. My mom offered him a loaf of bread that she's just bought and he got pissed off and left.

If you give a bit of change to one beggar child while waiting in your car at an intersection, and all of the other children, seeing that you have given money to one child, rush to your car to beg, what do you do?

Alternatively, do you give money to homeless women with small babies that were probably begotten by a beggar-master who knows that a baby makes the woman a more effective beggar.

Giving to beggars in developed countries is great.

ROFL, 'beggar-masters'? Are you living in Oliver Twist?

Close, India.

Anticipating this, I use the first child as a lure to get the rest of them to bunch up on the road. Then I go bowling with my car.

One time I won a free 20oz drink for knowing a trivia question at a restaurant downtown. I didn't want to drink it myself, so I was walking down the street looking for someone to hand it off to. This one guy asks me if I have change so he can buy a hamburger, I say no but give him the drink and straw, and explain that it's untouched and why. He throws it on the ground and repeats loudly that he wants a hamburger.

My ex-girlfriend would always give something from the car to those guys who stand in the middle of intersections begging when there's a red light. She'd give them a bottle of hand lotion, half a sandwich, sheets for a bed that were on the back seat for some reason, whatever wasn't nailed down.

But the strangest beggar experience I've had was when I gave this old man on crutches with a "veteran god bless" sign like 15 cents or so, and he took out this big wad of money from his pocket and tried to slap me in the face with it.

Good times.

I'd smack him.



I'd kick him in the ribs.

See theres actual homeless people and theres asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers in general had a choice to leave or not.

Homeless people generally dont.

And then he'd probably stab you.

And then I'd stab him back.

Right. I forgot how badass you are.

If they are displaying some kind of talent (Music for instance) then sure I'll give them some money. But if they're just begging then I won't give the money. Offer them food, perhaps, but not money.

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

If it were a good kick, he probably wouldn't have a chance. But I don't think Freelancer is that badass.

On the last day of school last semester, a guy was asking for the number for the university police at the front desk where I lived, cause his car wouldn't start (dead battery).

Since I was parked *right* behind him, I offered to jump him since I was on my way out, so he wouldn't have to wait for the cops. After I jump him and get it running, he disconnects the cables off his battery in haste and touches the two cables together shorting out the electrical in my car while its running. Lost all my radio presets

Moral: Don't help stupid careless people.

Don't be too sure you would, no matter how well they play...

Just as an aside, 99% of the musicians out busking aren't poor.

Spare change?

I actually give to the homeless any time I see them begging for money. To me, if you're going to go that low, life's probably been hard enough whether it's your own doing or not. A few cents or dollars from me might not change their lives, but it'll make it a bit easier for a while.

A dude i know takes hobos to a cafe for food and a cuppa if they ask him for cash.

It works quite often, he is a nice dude when it comes to stuff like that.

Thank you Yoshi! Way too many judgmental people in this thread.