Posted on 12/01/2012 5:13:46 AM PST by LoveUSA
Just yesterday I was leaving the food store with my 83 year old mother in my car when we encountered an old woman holding a piece of cardboard that said "homeless" (quotes were included). This old woman made eye contact with me and her scraggly gray hair, her worn clothing, and her pathetic help me expression really stirred up my sympathy. When I stopped at the stop sign near where the begging woman was standing I said to my mother, "Let's give her some something, it's Christmas". We came up with a five dollar bill and my mother waved it out the window. The begging woman took it and smiled with the few teeth she had left.
Then the semi-toothless, pathetic-looking, scraggly-haired old woman said, "Thanks! My grandkids want a video game for Christmas."
Hopefully I'm not the only idiot who gets scammed because I was raised with Christian compassion.
Tell me your stories, I could use a good laugh.
Help the homeless by giving to or shopping the thrift stores of the Salvation Army, Goodwill and similar organizations. If you personally know someone in dire straits, then you can help them one-to-one, but many beggars are scammers.
I offered work to a homeless man and he refused. He said he could make more money holding his sign. When I told him he was “making” nothing he was merely taking handouts he said, “same thing”.
Why are you paying someone to be homeless?
If she looked as you describe her, I doubt she was going out for a steak dinner, had much more than a cardboard box to sleep in, or a long life expectancy. She may be nuts and probably doesn’t even have grandkids.
Hate to be that way but people like you described ruin it for people who really need help.
Most homeless asking for money are scamming you. And most have drug and alcohol issues.
When I am asked to “give” to these folks and always refuse. But I make a mental note and give $10 for every time I am asked to the Salvation Army.
Years ago, I had one come up and ask me for money for food outside my place of work , and I gave him my brown bag lunch, and he threw it down on the ground and left disgusted...
He used to sit out in front of the Walmart in Roswell, NM with his dog and a sign. At that time he really did live under the bridge.
He could make $300.00 on a monday afternoon, more on the weekend, just a couple hours and then he was off to the dealer.
Thankfully he has been clean for almost 10 years now.
If you want to truly help someone, find a person you know or a program you trust and work that way. Anything else is like throwing money out the window, literally.
a couple of years ago there was a man that would solicit in the parking lot of the mall I would go to. Not just once or twice but constantly. His claim was he needed some money to pay the hotel bill his family was staying at while they traveled across the country. This went on for about four months. I never gave to him. I did ask him how long he was going to stay at the hotel and he took a swing at me. He left that parking lot after that.
When I lived in Arizona, there was a reporter who investigated the “homeless” people with the cardboard signs on the corners and freeway off ramps around the valley. What he found was shocking to most people. The majority of the beggars were well-off, lived in nice homes, drove nice cars and were not destitute. He interviewed them anonymously and many were quite frank about why they did what they did. Some of the reasons they gave were: it was easy to get cash from people, they didn’t have to report it to the IRS, they didn’t have to punch a clock at a regular job, they found it easier to make a good living begging than than working like most people did. Many of them did quite well and reportedly made upwards to $75,000 a year begging on the street. They’re only expenses were driving and parking near their most lucrative locations, some old dirty clothes and the cardboard sign. No one ever checked whether they were at work or how hard they were working. The police never bothered them. They were left to their own devices to do as they pleased. Remember this the next time you feel compelled out of compassion to give money to a street beggar. The majority are nothing more than professional scammers and con artists.
Scammers are everywhere. One way to tell the true homeless is an unmistakable grundge on their skin. It isn’t that they smell, but they only get to “bathe” by using plain water and a paper towel. They have a definite “dark” tinge to their skin. They seldom have access to soap.
Lol...Bum outside of 7/11. Said he was hungry and so I brought him into the store instead of giving him five bucks. I gave him a can of stew and a coke...He asked if there was anything better I could give him.
You are not an idiot. Please don’t beat yourself up. Christmas time is a perfect time to play on the sympathies of Christians.
I had someone scam me into supporting a whole family for Christmas one year. I found out this person play a pity card every Christmas season, and pretends she needs money for her children’s Christmas.
She will sucker others, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Just know that God knows the heart, and that you gave the money with love.
Now you know to use your discernment before giving. Some people spend so much more. Think of the filth that person has to live with, that is in their heart! Oh my- YUCK!
So, praise God for the lesson, and rejoice that He is watching over you.
You are not an idiot, you are a child of God. BIG difference. HUGE difference.
My husband and I were leaving WalMart when we drove past a young couple holding a small sign written in pen, so it was hard to read. They were out of gas and needed to get 100 mi down the road. He explained that he had gone up to DesMoines for a “sure thing” tech job, but when he and his wife arrived, they did not hire him after all. Then the car broke down and they spent most of their cash to fix it, and here they were.
We only had about $10 on us, so gave them that, then brought them to the gas station right there and filled them up using our debit card. It could have been a BS story, but that doesn’t matter to me. I have children, one has been VERY down on his luck in the past, and I hope somebody would do the same for *my* child. We were happy to help them.
That is so true. Scammers are everywhere. ESP where they know they will have a soft target, and can claim anonymity to manipulate people’s emotions. Groups for veterans, Christians, Patriots, Elderly are like Neon signs for scams.
Be careful out there.
“Help the homeless by giving to or shopping the thrift stores of the Salvation Army, Goodwill and similar organizations. “
Good intentions and bad economics. Expect to get more of anything that is subsidized. Salvation Army, etc. are run by lefties and they subsidize failure and poverty. What they do is grow the parasite class larger.
Other ways to size them up is the condition of their shoes, glasses, haircut (e.g. nicely trimmed neck). Many times I have seen clean pair of jeans, clean hands, . . . the unshaven look with a beat up, dirty coat is not enough. Notice the quality of writing on some of their signs.
One regular stood on the corner with a sign that he lived in the woods and his wife was dying from cancer - that went on for at least a couple of years. I was always tempted to ask him how his wife was doing after a year, but engaging some of these people might pose a physical hazard.
Another time I saw a guy crossing the intersection with a backpack talking on the cell phone. When I came back through the intersection 30 minutes later, he was in the median with his homeless sign, playing destitute man, etc.
I say a prayer for help that the Lord give me the ability to see the needy and not become cynical and blinded by the scammer.
Only in America do we have well-fed well off “homeless,” some even rich.
I see them too, and give a few dollars. I’ve also bought food for people who said they were hungry and had them reject it.
But you never know. I was homeless too once for about a month. That’s why I give to them, but never more than a dollar or two. Instead, I give to our local community food bank and women’s shelter. I buy toys at the local toy store and drop them off for Toys For Tots because every child should get something nice for the holidays. I bring food to my animal shelter when I buy bulk. These charities I know will give to people who truly need it.
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