Giving money to "bums"

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do you/should you give money to bums?

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SS69

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A few months ago i received a job in Downtown Dallas. What i noticed down there is the abundance of homeless people, or "bums", asking for money. Actually, i believe the majority of them arent really homeless, they're just bums asking for money. I always say no, or i dont have change; which is actually the truth i never carry change or paper money. The way i see it, i dont think people should give them money. I can understand the homeless person thats down on luck, but there are other options. How much money could they seriously earn that way? Plus, i figure if you give one change, then it opens the gates to the same one or others bugging you everytime they see you. I guess what my question is, do you give change? do you think people should? What are the circumstances on this?
 
It's just discrimination. If you give money to the poor, why not give to the rich?

The usual caring sensitive person would most likely give money to somebody dressed up raggedy and somebody that smells like ass, that is most likely scamming them so they can go blow the money on a 6 pack of Keystone Light, but wouldn't give any to somebody dressed in a very nice suit, driving a very nice car, that is short some cash to buy something.

IMHO: I feel bad for nobody. Fate is fate. If you want to change your life, do something about it. If you don't even try, you're worthless.

Edit: To make my post a bit more clear.

If you see somebody that looks pretty down and raggedy, you might give him a few dollars or some spare change. If you happened to walk by an upper-class-looking person, you most likely wouldn't walk up to them and say "Here, have $5.00, go get yourself something to eat."
 
I go into Dallas quite often, and I've witnessed a lot of these bums. They like to sit in areas with people, but not a whole lot.

I do give any spare change I have, but I take a good look at them first, and I only give it to those who usually never ask. The last bum I gave money to was $4.50 to a guy lying against a wall, with a cup asking for spare change. I gave him the cash, got a thank you, and went on my way.

I could tell this was a bum by his clothes and his odor.

SS, if there is 1 thing you must watch for, as you said, it is the bums who aren't bums at all. They're trying to make a quick buck off you, and you'll find many love to use their mother in the hospital (or any family member in the hospital) tricks, and need cash for a ride or phone call.
They usually aren't dressed as bad as the bums either.
These are the ones you say no to.

But it never hurts to give some change to a man who looks like a bum, and is seen sleeping on the street or in a remote building.

Mach, if you ever go into Dallas, you'll never see the upper or middle class men asking for money. They're usually to busy going to work on/off the cellphone.
 
I never give them money, as i've found in the past and from reading in the papers who've done stories on them, they're usually there for a reason. Now i'm not saying all of them are like this, but most are there because of a drug habit, drinking, gambling, or from a lack of wanting to work and would rather ask for free hand outs.

In our downtown, all the kids asking for money have homes, they just hang out downtown like grubs looking for money for smokes and alchohol. I know because my cousin use to be one of them. He didn't want to get a job, so when my uncle kicked him out, thats what he did, and for some reason, people actually gave him money. The only people living on the street that I don't see go home each night are the ones that live in one of our city parks. Its notorious for its dirty needled gardens and pot smelling air, so any money given to them is obviously not being well spent.

Whats worse is there use to be a lady in Toronto who sat on the sidewalk with a sign that said something to the extent of "please give me money, i'm very sick and am homeless", then when the paper did a story on her hoping to get people to help her, they found out her son dropped her off there and picked her up each day in a Jaguar, taking her back to her better than middle class home. It outraged everyone, and to top it off, a couple months later they found her begging again in another city, which quickly got reported to the public. Luckily she hasn't been seen since, but that definitely sticks in my mind when I think about giving money to "bums".
 
Its rare to find bum around here asking for money, I have been asked for a dollar at the train station once but I honestly didn't have any change on me.

MachOne
If you happened to walk by an upper-class-looking person, you most likely wouldn't walk up to them and say "Here, have $5.00, go get yourself something to eat."
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Now that would be a funny thing to do.
 
To people that are asking for money, I always say no. I don’t care what your story is, you should be out earning money instead of asking for it.

I will usually give money to a busker, if they are any good.
 
I don't think people should give them money. If you want to help, go volunteer at the shelter or something that way you know yer helpin without payin for some bums next boose.
 
If the person is very old, sure, but only if they can speak English. Young or middle age people usually don't get a dime. It's not too late for them to change and get help, if they want it.

Street performers get money, usually, so long they do something original or creative. If I guy on a acoustic is playing "Stairway to Heaven" I wont even give him a glance.

However, we don't have any of these types around our city. Police would deal with them if they attempted anything like that. It's not uncommon to see a homeless person get a ride from our local police to a Metro station or local county court house (they have 48 hour shelters).
 
well i dont really see any pan-handlers because that's illegal in dallas now. What usually happens is ill be walking along and some guy will just walk up and ask if i could help him out with some spare change. Sometimes they try to shake my hand and try to be friendly and then ask if i could help them out with a few cents.
 
I do not give to beggars for a couple reasons:
1. It can be hard to tell a real hobo from a fake.
2. More than likely the money given will end up buying them booze or drugs.
3. Most people are homeless for a reason, usually self-inflicted. If they want to change their situation, they should do it themselves, and go find a job, rather than beg for handouts. It's been done many times before by other people. It's not impossible, so "Go get a damn job, you lazy bum."

I will, however, usually give my spare change to steet musicians and performers, provided they don't suck.
 
I don't give people money sitting on street corners begging for it, they can start selling the Big issue instead.
 
If I got a few coppers jingling in my pocket then I'll usually give them.

It won't help them much (unless they have an addiction for penny sweets) but it's just out of conveniance for me because I hate carrying small change around.

That's why I hate it when you buy something at a shop and they give you a couple of pence change but there's no charity box :irked:
 
I've never been asked, seen very few bums around. If they ask me, I'll say no. Whats the bet they're just gonna waste it on alcohol, rather than food. :indiff:
 
I occasionally buy the Big Issue. I don't give money to people sitting on the street with a cup or whatever. There are quite a few of them in Glasgow.
 
I try really hard not to give. The government take taxes out of my pay checks, so they can fund the programs put in place to help the homeless, unemployed, etc.

I feel that 99% of those homeless/bums are just lazy. They can work. It's almost impossible not to be able to get a job. Of course, holding the job is another story, but if you have issues with drugs or work ethic, that is your problem. I don't like working either, but you don't see me standing on the side of a highway off-ramp.
 
MachOne
...you most likely wouldn't walk up to them and say "Here, have $5.00, go get yourself something to eat."
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I'm going to try this one day, with one of the super-cheap and miserable old farts that drive up, in thier luxury car, wanting everything for nothing, and do a rude job of doing so.

I almost can't wait!

Years ago, when I was about 18-20, I used to give some spare change to people waiting at the off-ramps, but my philosophy changed when I'd met bums that had nicer shoes and cologne than I had. I save up a little money every year instead for some real charities, like cancer research and veterans.
 
I saw a ''bum'' last year when me and my mom where shopping food n' stuff.
When someone put some money in his cup, he put them in his jacket. When we came out of the grocery store, he stood up, started to go away from the place, and he was going to his car! I was like ''WTF!''.

I usually never give money to homeless/bums...
 
I sometimes give a little bit of change to them, but nothing significant. I suppose the way to help them help themselves is to not give them anything, but sometimes I feel guilty not doing.

Where I live, there are some really aggressive bums on the streets that shout things at you or threaten you if you don't give them anything. Once in Leeds, where I live, I was surrounded by a group of them asking for money, which was intimidating. In that instance, I gave them a pound or something, but only because I was scared.

If everyone ignored them, they'd never make any money and be forced into getting a job. But people like me who feel guilty blanking them actually make it worse by giving them an income and keeping them there.
 
markj_87
If everyone ignored them, they'd never make any money and be forced into getting a job.
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Question for all of you. If you were a business owner/manager, and some filthy, smelly, unshaven person came in for a job interview, would you hire them? I don't think so. Friends of our family once took one of these 'bums' into their house, let him have a shower, gave him some of the husband's clothes, and drove him to the job interview. He got the job, and they let him stay in their granny flat, with fairly low rent, until he had been working long enough to be able to rent a house of his own. They have stayed good friends since then, and he has certainly made the most of the opportunity he was given.

I give change when I can, but usually I honestly can't afford it, as normally every spare cent is spoken for.
 
There are homeless shelters in most towns/cities where homeless people can get themselves cleaned up, get a meal and make themselves presentable. Personally I wouldn't hire a 'filthy, smelly, unshaven person', but I don't think it's out of their capabilities to get cleaned up.
 
I'm more inclined to give someone a $1 burger from MdD's than to just hand them $1. Of course that would require that I walk downtown, and since that requires walking, then no, I don't give money/goods to homeless people.

My wife usually takes a vial of blood from them before they get shipped off to detox, though. :p (Remember: ER nurse)
 
I don't tend to give them money but instead food if I loose appitite, that way I atleast know they wont get any drugs or alcahol and they can start to get their life back on track. If they are fake heh, what can they do with a half eaten Big Mac?

Once though, a homeless person asked me for my shoes in London... :scared:
 
I don't generally give money to homless people (I don't like to call them bums), but every now and then though, I will.

I remember once, I was in a shop waiting to be served behind a guy that I knew was either homeless, or an addict of some sort. He was very unkept, and smelt like the sewer, and he was buying a bottle of milk. When he got to the till, he put his hand in his pocket, and he had nothing to pay for the milk.

He explained that it was for his baby daughter, but the cashier was having none of it. She said that if he hadn't got the money, he would have to put it back on the shelf. People were getting impatient in the queue, and I was aware (as he was), of the things they were whispering about him. He pleaded, but he was getting nowhere. By now, he was getting a little distressed, so I stepped up and paid for the milk.

He was so greatful, and could not thank me enough, he put out his hand for me to shake, and I did momentarily think I'd rather not, but I did, and he looked me in the eyes and said thank you. He was smiling now, and he rushed out of the store.

I left the store shortly after him, and as I looked down the road, I saw him go to his girlfriend and their baby daughter and hand her the bottle of milk. She put it in the tray of her pram, and they went on their way. I felt good about that, and it made me realise a few things about 'bums'. Not all of them choose to be the way they are, some are victims of circustance, others are just trying the best they can, whilst others still have given up hope.

Next time you pass a bum, don't look down on them. You don't have to give them money, but you can at least give them respect. None of us know what life will throw at us, those 'bums' could so easily be one of us.
 
magburner
Next time you pass a bum, don't look down on them. You don't have to give them money, but you can at least give them respect. None of us know what life will throw at us, those 'bums' could so easily be one of us.
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👍 So many people generalise on this matter, circumstances can often leave people on the street with no other options. I would prefere to see the homeless doing something constructive towards pulling themselves out of the gutter, like selling the Big Issue, but i would still never look down on someone begging.
 
I moved to the US from England in '88. My first time in NYC I am walking back to the train station, just south of the UN building. This 'bum' yells from the across the street...

'Hey buddy,can you spare a quarter!'

I replied 'Sorry, I only have dollar bills.'

'I've got change.'

So I gave him the 2 bucks I had , for the laugh.

Otherwise, no I don't give.
 
Omnis
I'll give money to charity, not bums.
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Good answer.

I don't give to bums because I don't like to see them on the side of the street begging for money. As long as people are willing to pay them to do it, they're going to do it. If you didn't give them money, they wouldn't be there - simple as that.

If you want to do good, your dollar will go a lot farther with a charity (and they'll give you a receipt so you can write it off of your taxes). Handing cash to a bum isn't going to help him at all. Giving to a charity could honestly help people.
 
But money going to a charity can be used for a hundred things before actually going to the people it's for.

Though if I was to give anything over a few quid it would definetly go to a charity.
 
I did it once. A guy was begging for money outside a McD's and I ignored him on the way in because all I had was a 20. I got my food and then gave him five from my change on teh way out. As I was getting in my car I saw him in teh rear-view mirror walk to an abandoned building nearby, cash in hand.

After that I have a no handouts policy. I will direct them to where they can find a charity giving food. The only people I give money to are street entertainers, and that is only if they actually entertain me.
 

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