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Ex-cop: Don't give money to panhandlers

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by WolvEagle, Sep 29, 2009.

  1. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    Interesting column today on AnnArbor.com from a retired AA cop, who is a regular contributor. When I read it, almost all of the people who posted comments agreed with him, yet the panhandlers make a mint in and on the fringes of Ann Arbor. Interesting tug of war there.

    www.annarbor.com/news/the-panhandler-vs-charitable-organizations/
     
  2. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    Toronto has a ridiculous panhandling problem. It's a fucking industry here.
     
  3. ArnoldBabar

    ArnoldBabar Active Member

    Yesterday I was in traffic near downtown and a guy was working an intersection with a beat-up cardboard sign. The guy in the car in front of me signals the guy, and he sprints to get to the car before the light changes. Guy in the car reaches across and hands the guy something out the window.

    Panhandler looks down to see it's an energy bar or something, and rolls his eyes and looks like the guy just handed him a lump of shit. I laughed all the way home over the look on the panhandler's face.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I agree with the guy completely. College towns have got to be the most lucrative places for panhandlers ever. The paper from the local college town had a story a couple years ago saying those people can make $200-$300 a day begging and close to $500 a day during Christmas.

    I used to walk up to the ones by the grocery store and ask them if they would like a bowl a chili or soup. About 1 in 3 was gracious and the other two would accuse me of accusing them of spending it on alcohol or whatever and berate me for not giving them cash.
     
  5. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    Walking down State Street in Madison last Friday a bum yelled out "spare a dollar so I can buy a bottle of..."

    I thought he was going to say "water" so I kept on walking. But he ended up saying "vodka." I turned around and gave the guy a dollar.

    All my friends were cracking up. But really, I was just going to spend it on booze anyway. I should have given him a bottle of vodka.
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I can respect honestly on some level. :D
     
  7. txsportsscribe

    txsportsscribe Active Member

    i remember a guy in dallas who had a collection of great signs. my favorite was "why lie? i need a beer."
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I've handed a buck or two to guys sitting there drinking a beer. I really can't stand the folks who make up those stupid stories. Always gas, diapers or bus fare.
     
  9. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    I walked out of the sub shop and a guy asked me for money the other day, and I said, "No, but I can give you half my sandwich."

    His response? "What kind is it?"

    We are all slaves to our own tastes, I suppose.
     
  10. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I was stunned and really taken aback at the pissy responses I would get when I would offer to buy them a cup of soup or chili.
     
  11. CentralIllinoisan

    CentralIllinoisan Active Member

    My psychology teacher from high school says his father was at a train station in July of 1966, when he happened upon a panhandler asking for money. Instead, he offered to buy him a sandwich at a nearby diner, and shared a quick meal with him. They spoke briefly and the panhandler went on his way, claiming he had a train to catch.

    Days later, as my teacher's father watched the news, he again saw the man for whom he bought the sandwich: Richard Speck, who soon after their meeting tortured, raped and killed eight nursing students.
     
  12. BRoth

    BRoth Member

    Convenient portion of the column:

    "This is not a new phenomenon. In 1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes solved the case of The Man With The Twisted Lip. This case involved a missing journalist, who when found by Holmes, had been living a double life as a respected journalist and a London beggar. It seemed he made more money in stage make-up begging than as a journalist."
     
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