OK...pulling the soap box out n standing up on it....I don't know bout ya'lls state but in Oregon pan handlers are allowed to stand at any n all intersections rather it be a traffic signal of Stop sign...

Now...I understand people have a right to do this n may even need to, to survive...But lets cut the God Bless Bull Shit....

Let me splain ok?    They get a piece of card board n a sharpie n write Homeless, Hungry anything helps then they write...God Bless....

SO? God Bless what?who n why? for crying out loud most of these beggers probably aint never stepped foot in a church n they think they add God Bless to the sign everybody is gonna give m money? 

Maybe just being honest n writing something like...too lazy, drunk or stupid to work..N leave out the God Bless...Shit I've pumped gas, raked leaves delivered stuff I'm saying there is always a way to support yourself n your family...just get off you lazy ass n get movin!!!!!

Hells Bells...Well thanks for listening....stepping down off soap box n sliding it back outa sight...

RandyJoe...Ice Bear...

I agree. Instead of standing on a corner all day, get out there and find a job. I have a friend, whose brother has done that for years. He actually makes a lot of money. Where is the dignity and pride I say? I did see a guy at Walmart that had a sign that said "Why lie... I need a beer"........lol.............then "God Bless". I pulled up and gave him a cold bottle of beer.

I get irked at the panhandlers too ... and still do even tho I came real close to being out on the curb myself. In 09 I got laid off and was out of work for 15 months. Yeah, unemployment compensation helped but it ain't enough to live on. And, it ran out completely after just 12 months. There were NO JOBS to be had. I worked every day at finding a job and when there was a legit opening, there were always 300 to 400 applicants. The odds are really against you in finding work right now.
So, after the unemployment checks stopped, I was pretty stressed about what to do. I considered panhandling BUT with a twist. My cardboard sign was going to say "Looking for work. Making ends meet by selling water for $1" I figured I could buy a case of water for 4 bucks and sell ice cold water on the side of the street for a buck a bottle. If'n I could find a decent corner to work, I just might be able to keep the wolf away from the door. My strategy was that if I could clear about 15 bucks on each case of water and sell about 4 cases a day, I just might survive. Luckily, right at that time, I finally got a job .. although just part time.

But I do agree with you guys. There are bums out there who chose NOT to find work. They'd rather panhandle for a few hours a day and earn enough money to feed whatever habit they have.
I have literally seen panhandlers in grubby clothes go get in their Lexus after the traffic on the street corner thinned out for the day.

We have a blonde haired lady on the corner where my office is everyday, I commented one time to my assistant, that she sure don't look like she is hurting for money because she is always dressed nice and Jennifer said that the Jeans she was wearing cost about 230 dollars. I guess bumming for money pays well nowadays.

i too have seen people hanging on the corner with the god bless sign...then hop into their "more expensive than i can afford" car...if you really want to help yourself off the floor you will find a way..without begging.

Don't let'm fool ya they make a good chunk of coin. One of my favorites was when I worked in Boston and would go out side near the park by the subway station (prime panhandling spot) to have a smoke. One came up to me and with a gravelly voice saids. "hey you got a smoke" and I said no and then his return was a prompt "F*$$ you" all I could do at that point was laugh.

I saw the same "God Bless" sign in NH about a month or so ago. The 20 something guy holding the sign, put it down to take a quick drink of his Starbucks coffee that he was hiding behind the bushes.
I'm not against a brotha' enjoying a cup of coffee on a cool New England afternoon, but Starbucks?

Ok, now this is a subject I feel the need to talk aTbout.  Most of ya'll know a little bit about me, but for them that don't, I've been homeless, twice in the last 3 years.  By the grace of God, both times I found shelter.  Once, literally in a "Shelter", and this last time with my college son's roommate's Mother.  (Say that three times fast...lol)  Anyways... in the first instance, I WAS on the street for a minute, and I gotta tell ya, that just ain't no way to live.  I don't know how a lot of the folks I came across, survived out there.  Specially in the winter.  And yes, Jacksonville, Florida does get cold.  Really cold.  It only took me a little less than a week to get a bed at the shelter.  Had I not been so blessed, I would've had to panhandle.  As it was, I did "bum" some small change and smokes for a couple days.  And I felt like trash.  Having to ask someone for a hand-out?  Is the single most uncomfortable feeling that I think I've ever endured.  And I went homeless two days before Halloween.  So it was gettin' chilly out.  And I was scared.  Even tho, in the bible, it says that Christians should help "the least" of those, I somehow felt wrong for asking for anything.   Now, Randy Joe, here's the kicker, even knowing all that, I also find myself getting P.O.'d at the "homeless" I see panhandling on the corners.....My first reaction (contrary to my christian belief's, mind you), is one of skeptisizm.  Because I see these same people, all over town. Jacksonville is one of the coutry's largest city's.  And I ask myself, "if they are so broke, how the heck did they get all the way over to this side of town"?  In one short afternoon, no less.  Easily, some of them have very nice vehicle's, thank you very much.  I've seen one or two get in some.  I wanted to chase them down and pull them out of their "rides" and beat the crap outta them.  And it's those cases, that got me lookin' at all of the panhadler's with a wary eye.  And that just doesn't make me feel like a "good christian" at all.  But when I see the "GOD BLESS" signs, I almost wanna walk up and ask 'em, how God has blessed them today.  Enough to share???                          RIDE FREE

Tweek

 

Been trying to sort this out since discovering that no longer had to worry about feeding babies & could actually give some away - Was a long journey getting to that place - God bless whoever conceived of the GI Bill of Education, about the last remaining anything that still works.
Some/most/almost-all of the panhandlers are certainly substance abusers who have no intention of entering into a productive life. - A few are people w/ real problems who can never be a productive citizen & will forever be dependant on charity.

About the best I can do towards sorting this out is to write checks to the Salvation Army + a couple of other charities

Then you see things like thsi

Thanks ya'll for makin me realize I'm not the only one that sees this crap!   Tweek?  You are not in the group that I speak of...I do believe you did it out of survival...I left home at 16 when I knew it all n there were times I showed up at the local soup kitchen but back then you had to earn it by doing simple chores HOWEVER I have never ask anyone for a hand out...N like alot of you I've been pretty down on my luck a couple times....


Sooo...Thank you my cf family for letting me know I'm not crazy knowing most of these panhandlers are just lazy...
RandyJoe...Ice Bear...

I didn't know what the term panhandler meant until now.

Tweek there are some genuine ones like yourself who need to do it for a short while just to survive and get through difficult times that many will never experience. I spent a lot of my childhood dodging the rent man but fortunately was never homeless nor had the need to ask folk other than friends or family to help out a little. Huge respect to you.

However, there seem to be more and more 'career' ones these days which is a shame as many of us now think "hell no - get out and do something else" whereas in the past we would have been more inclined to help. I don't give anyone money anymore. If I see someone on the street who I think is genuine I'll get them a hot drink or a butty as I don't want to be feeding either their pocket, drink or drug habit. That might make me sound sanctimonious but I've too often given money in the past only to see them get picked up in flash cars or hear that they've a better home than mine.

Ya know i use to feel the same way and it would make me so mad to see them in nice clothes and wearing Polo sport or Baby Phat smelling like the fat cats of baltimore. Until I had aa bike accident and he left my butt high and dry. I lost everything. My house,car and I even lost that woman i use to be. To say the least when I recovered and found my self homeless I wanted a peice of him big time and I was a christian woman that was filled with hate and anger. Let me tell you something since than I have become a very humble woman. I will do what I can to help another but I am insulted when someone ask for money instead of earning it. I learned alot thru my trail. You'll do what you have to do to servive in a case like this,Those lazy people are stealing from the rest. I will not give to a theif! However if you are real with me,I'll give anything I can....Well I feel better..LOL
In the love of Jesus,
Tracey

What I find most disturbing about this whole mess is the fact that there are truly people out there that are ligit and need a little "Brotherly Love"....... However, because this has become such an easy way to make a LOT of tax free money for doing nothing, you don't know who is ligit and who isn't. So, I refuse to help any of them. I too have had some runs of bad luck (mostly due to bad choices in my life) but have ALWAYS found legal & moral ways to support myself.

Like everyone else here I hate those "professional bums", but I always try to help those who may not have what I might have in difficult circumstances...my attitude is " there but for the grace of God, go I "

BTW RandyJoe................ you are crazy, you're just our kind of crazy!!!!!!!

I watched the video that 99Savage posted on his reply and I gotta admit that on the surface it looked like the Occupy people were dodging the job offers. But what was REALLY being offered to them? Take for instance the Disney jobs. Okay, we're talking about these Occupy people who live in Washington DC. The job offers that Disney hands out are usually part time with NO benefits of any kind. You'll be working nights, weekends and holidays. And, there's no affordable housing anywhere near Disney which means you're gonna be doling out most of your money just to get to that part time job. Plus, don't forget that you'll have to relocate to Florida or California for that part time job. Or, how about Solyndra? They just went bankrupt. Sure. There's job security for you. Or, the jobs at Dollar General. I sure they pay real well and have great benefits too. You can take real good care of yourself and your family with a Dollar General job. Yeah, right.
And, most importantly ... of the 127 job openings that these guys said they had .. did they mention that they would interview & hire you on the spot? No. Those same job opening are posted EVERYWHERE and people from all over who are looking for jobs are ALSO applying for those same jobs. Yep. Another 300 to 400 people are trying for each and every one of those very same jobs.
And .. on the education issue .. you've got $100K in student loans. That job that requires a 4 year degree and pays just $25K annually is gonna take you HOW LONG to pay back those student loans?

Its too bad we lack leaders wth real vision/plan and the ability to get others onboard with it. Simply put this country & others must stop catering to business interests that care little for the welfare of the people/countries that serve them.We made them who they are,its time we put a stop to the madness.
Solarbill I agree totally,where are these jobs? & what are they worth when a man or woman cant riase a family or even contemplate having a few of the finer things in life,like a decent motorcycle at a reasonable price,w/out being gouged by a market being manipulated in a dozen different ways by our 1% friends.

SolarBill, you said what I've been sayin' in a much more eloquent way. You rock.

Ride Free
Tweek