Gas station begging

[javacontour]

This is what I do. I don't give cash to people. If they say they are hungry, I offer to buy them a meal or offer a gift card to a nearby fast food joint.

I don't want to directly support any habits/addictions they have.

I can count on one hand and have fingers left over the number who have taken a few gallons of gasoline when they beg in the circumstance described.

1. A soldier who was going home for emergency leave, I filled his tank.

2. A family in a minivan, filled the tank.

3. One other that just needed a few gallons to get home, gave him what he was seeking.

Ditto for meals, few take the offer of a meal or gift card.

I'm willing to help, I'm not willing to hand over cash that can be converted to the vice that may grip them.

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: TTK
there is always this nagging feeling of what if this person was sincere and I didn't help them.


If the person were sincere they'd do better asking for what they actually need, not money to buy it with. If it really bothers you, offer to get them the thing they say they want your money for. They usually don't want it. I've only ever had two guys take me up on that offer.

 

[mjk]

Minneapolis/St Paul has beggars at pretty much every major off ramp now. Annoying as he77. The local news actually did a story years back, and found some of the 'better' beggars were taking home more than $100.00/day. This was almost a decade ago, if I remember correctly. And of course, some weren't homeless, as they followed them back to their residences.

Gas station begging really takes it up a notch. I can't believe management doesn't run these dopes off the lot immediately.

 

[sleddriver]

Wow...at a gas station, eh? Never seen that here. There are street corner beggers all over Austin. Also downtown particularly on 6th St. where they prey on tourists.

I was stuck in traffic once about 100yrds from a major intersection and saw two guys with their signs, walk up to a car parked at a business, put their signs in the trunk, get in and drive off.

Professionals!

 

[turtlevette]

It's almost like some regions tolerate beggars and some don't. I have never come across a beggar in Massachusetts. Almost every time I go to Seattle (the worst place I've seen for beggars) I see them or they bother me. Other than that, I really love Seattle.

I'm particular about my cars even though they're old beaters. I don't want a bum anywhere around my car.

 

[Jarlaxle]

SERIOUSLY?! I see them every time I'm in Boston.

 

[Trajan]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: AdRock

Another story of a beggar.

I was at a light and a guy was standing there. For some reason I was feeling generous and gave him $5. I turn down the street and stop to eat. So I'm sitting on the patio chomping down some tacos when I see the guy walking down the other side of the street. He walks into a parking lot and get's into a very nice WS6 Trans Am.

I was [censored]. I ran out, jumped in my car and gave chase. He stopped at a gas station and pulled a big wad of cash out of his pocket. I proceeded to confront him and let him know that I would be getting either my $5 back or all of the cash. His choice. He wanted to argue and it got real heated. In the end I left with $20 and he had to just deal with it.


You should have been locked up (or simply SHOT DEAD) for robbery.


Arrested for sure. No cop is going to believe that a guy with a wad of cash asked for any. All they'll see is a guy demanding money from the guy with the wad.

 

[dishdude]

I'll just add not having to deal with beggers as another benefit of my Costco membership.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Around here some of the beggars sit outside fast food joint drive throughs with signs.

You ain't getting my Burger, but here is a green banana instead.

Thankfully green bananas do not leave dents when thrownat my vehicle.

Now I keep my green bananas.

I do often see the off ramp beggars being detained by the Law. I get more annoyed by those who stop and give money and block traffic.
Does everybody have to act like there is nobody behind them?

 

[antiqueshell]

Like someone else said...

I do not give ANYTHING to people on the street. Period!

There are plenty of social services, public, private or run by Churches, where these people can find the help they need without approaching anyone on the street, or in public places.

The overwhelming majority of these beggars are indeed very skilled professionals, who make a living out of it.

I think that the law needs to clamp down on them and arrest them when they are panhandling.

 

[chriscreags]

Once while I was on my delivery route for my job, I got off the I-10 freeway in Pomona Calif (lot's of transients there), and there was a scruffy homeless man that had a huge grin on his face, standing at the end of the off-ramp. He was holding a piece of cardboard that read, "Will do 30 second chicken dance for $1"

I'll admit, I was tempted...

 

[HM12460]

Beggar's tend to gather in front of the Walmart store here, with cardboard signs.

 

[TooManyWheels]

There is plenty of parking lot begging around here, all with the same script.

"Hello Sir

I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm embarrassed to be asking for money. I'm not a bum, I've never had to do this before but (I'm out of town and my car broke down and the job I was going to get fell through....and on....and on. If you could just give me enough to get a couple of ......... I'll get your address and pay it back to you...."

Like the OP said, if you have been hit up several times, you immediately learn to identify the body language, tactics, etc. of the professionals. When you see them either pursuing or positioning themselves to intercept others, you know what is happening.

 

[Mystic]

I don't know what is going on but I see more people begging for money then ever before. And what really surprises me is that there are now so many women begging for money. I almost never used to see any women begging for money.

Almost every time I shop for groceries there is someone begging for money. For a while it seemed like there were the same two women taking turns. They would have some kind of sign saying basically that they were a desperate homemaker or something like that. I don't know if all of this is just an indication of a really bad economy or a terrible job market or what is going on.

Not so long ago a woman approached me and said that she does not normally do things like this but she was short fifteen dollars or something like that of the money needed to tow her car. She said her alternator had gone out and the tow truck was on the way. The thing is everybody carries plastic nowadays-a credit card or debit card. The tow truck driver would probably accept her credit card. I did not give her any money.

Some of these people look like the typical drug addict or alcoholic. If somebody has been using meth for a while you can tell. But not all of them look like drug addicts or alcoholics. It is beginning to look like the women either outnumber the men now or will outnumber the men pretty soon.

If I started to give money to these people there are so many of them I would probably be giving out at least a hundred dollars a week. A person cannot tell which ones are sincere and which ones are not. I think some people nowadays are willing to beg for money if they happen to be a few dollars short of the money needed for whatever they are going to buy. So I have decided not to give money to all of these mysterious strangers.

Aside from my parents nobody cared if I lived or died. I went out and got jobs and did the best I could. Many of the jobs I had were not the most pleasant jobs. I worked hard for many, many years and finally I was able to retire with a retirement and Social Security. I feel sorry for somebody who might be down and out, but there are jobs. Before somebody begs at the local grocery store they could try the nearby McDonalds or Wendys or Wal-Mart and see if there are any jobs available. Everybody wants to go to college and get a degree in liberal arts or whatever and there is a huge shortage of workers in various skills and areas like engineering, etc. But everybody wants to have a nice job in an office somewhere. Nobody wants to be an electrician or a plumber or a welder or a carpenter.

I found out yesterday that the boyfriend of the young woman who lives next door to me committed suicide with a shotgun. She was extremely upset. I knew something was wrong. I thought at first that maybe she was sick with cancer or something. I talked to her parents when I saw them outside of her house. She is a real estate agent. Even with the shock and the pain and the sorrow in just a few days she was out working in real estate again. I had to work also when things happened in my life-the death of my parents and so forth. You do what you have to do.

Another reason I do not give out money to these mysterious strangers begging for money is because of what my oldest sister told me. She said that she talked to a woman begging for money in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is a wealthy city. This woman told my sister that she would put on ragged clothes and make a sign and that she was making $60,000.00 dollars a year (tax free).

I am not a cold-hearted person in any way. But before somebody begs for money they can try to get a job. I know the jobs are available. And I don't have the money to give to all of the people showing up everywhere begging for money. There is a tremendous shortage of skilled workers in this country. And just about anybody who is reasonably healthy and a little bit energetic can get a job at McDonalds or Wendys. They are looking for workers all the time. And what they make today in minimum wage is a lot more than the buck sixty I used to make. Even when I was a draftsman trainee at a steel fabrication plant I was making only four fifty an hour. And I was doing the job of the professional draftsman that they had laid off. I can't remember begging for money a single day in my life. Aside from my parents helping me I had to earn every cent.

 

[daves87rs]

Well, be lucky you guys don't live in MI then....


Twice in the last month the beggars are starting to get quite nasty. One threatened to pull me out of my car (I know you paid cash for that pizza!)-that got a call to the cops....

Kinda to the point I'm pretty sure I will be carrying....

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: HM12460
Beggar's tend to gather in front of the Walmart store here, with cardboard signs.


My local Walmart has plastic jars with money in it asking for donations for the local Children's Hospital. I'm being asked for money to donate at the cash registers at even grocery stores. The checkout girl would say "would you like to donate $1 to the Nashville homeless shelter?"

 

[Blaze]

I notice a lot of this at the Lowes and Home deport parking lots (Spokane) for some reason. They nail you when you are loading products outside the loading lanes far out in the parking lot.

 

[Schmoe]

Interesting stories. I got hit by this driving to Hilton Head S.C. while passing through Memphis around 2300 hrs. I was putting gas in the car at a Love's station with the wife and daughter inside, and this big ol' boy walks up WITH a gas can asking for gas. My 9mm is inside the arm rest, it's really late, not many people around....absolutely scared the be-geesh out of me.....so I put gas in his gas can while the wife and I kept an eye lock on one another.....I knew if something happened that she wouldn't hestitate one second to pull out the 9mm. But still, that really freaked me out. From that, I've absolutely avoid gas stations along any of the major interstate corridors if I can. I mean to the point that if I have a trip planned and can almost make it on one tank, I'll bring a 5 gallon jug full of gas with me and put it in the back of the truck.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

There's a panhandler by where I work. See him quite often. One day, his smartphone rang and he answered it. Another time, a coworker of mine saw the guy get in a fairly recent model year car that was parked in a local minimall parking lot.

I feel bad for not helping them. Never know who is real and who is not. However, I donate to the local food pantries.

 

[zzyzzx]

I just tell them to Get a job!!! or Lack of planning on our part does not constitute an emergency on my part, or I ask them where they got the money for those cigarettes.

 

[Mystic]

It is definitely different then in the past. Long ago it seemed like it was mostly hobos who were begging for money. Or drug addicts and alcoholics. And at least where I live they were almost all men. I rarely if ever saw a woman begging.

Now they are everywhere. Outside of the grocery stories. Outside of restaurants. Anywhere where people coming and going might have money. And a very large number, maybe a majority now, are women.

I usually shop for groceries at this Safeway. For quite a while two women seemed to be taking turns begging for money with their signs. They were both out there together for a while. Maybe they decided which days to take. They maybe were finally asked to leave by the store management. Another woman in the parking lot of the Safeway told me that her husband was a jerk and had forced her out of the house. That one looked like maybe a Meth user. And I remember a guy begging for money in the parking lot also.

Another place where I sometimes shop for food there was an entire, alleged family begging for money. They claimed to be a homeless family. The thing is if a family is in desperate trouble the Department of Human Services will usually help people like that. And there are soup kitchens for homeless people.

Some of these people begging for money are well dressed, especially the women. They have all kinds of stories that they tell. There is no way to determine who is sincere and who is not-who is telling the truth and who is not.

If this is the way young people today think they are going to get by it is not going to work. Sooner or later they will have to get jobs, just like the older people had to find jobs. And a person feels a whole lot better earning money and buying things with the money they themselves have made.

Were there shows on TV teaching people how to panhandle? I did not give money to hobos in the past because all they wanted to do was go buy some booze (or drugs). I sure as heck am not going to give money to somebody dressed better than me. If they want to supplement their income they can find a part time job. That is what I would do if I needed some more money.

There is an elderly man who works part time at the Lowe's. He is over 70 years old. He said that he was bored and decided to go back to work. He is friendly and interesting to talk to and I often talk to him when I see him. I figure if a man over seventy years old can get a part time job these healthy young people can get jobs also. They need to check for employment at the local Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, or Wendys. They will feel much better about themselves after they receive that first paycheck.