do you give to beggers?

[Mendoza]

I paid 42p for The Argus this morning, so I guess I do.

 

[Bakero]

Are you a beggar then ? i assume your using a a free w-fi to post on here ?
Tell us you side of thing on how it works ?

Am I a beggar? No, but yes I am using free wifi.

It was a joke. I was suggesting that I can afford to give a little money to a beggar- if I didn't give it to the beggar, I'd probably spend it in the pub. I don't really mind what they spend it on- it seems a bit sanctimonious to preach about the homeless drinking when a lot of the general public like a drink. If I was sleeping rough I'd probably fancy a few cans of special brew too.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Donate to charities and do give money to buskers occasionally.

Once was for a busker on the seafrom playing stairway to heaven on a harmonica. That alone was worth a couple of quid!

 

[Gary Leeds]

I was on the bus once and there were 2 people in the seats opposite me going on about how much they made this week. They were talking about how people quite often when asked if they want to buy a big issue give the cash but dont take the mag. One of them was complaining that this week he had only taken £800. £800 in a week? and that will be tax free as well, thats the equivalent to a 60k a year job and thats a bad week. Yeah sure he "worked" from 7am till 8pm but how many of us would do those hours for that kind of money?

I do remember about 20 years ago the beggar round the Old Steine/East Street area that would ask "Do you have a penny sir?" and if you gave him a penny it went up to 10p and so on

 

[keaton]

I give lots to the old bloke who makes origami frogs, I like him.

 

[vulture]

if you give you are more than often just funding drug habit or booze

 

[s5.bha]

Got asked for money in Bangkok the other day, after refusing and telling him in no uncertain terms that if he could not find a job in a factory in Thailand by the age of 7.......then he wasn't really trying in my opinion !
Funny thing as my thai isn't that great, not sure he understood or worse might have told him I was a white fat bellied pig f**ker ............oh well mai pen rai !!!

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Beggars begging with a dog or ferret with them ."look mate, if you can afford to keep a dog, you shouldn't be begging".

They used to get dog benefit, didn't they, that's why they all have a dog. That's not the case any more is it?

 

[Bwian]

Not since Dick Knight stepped down as chairman.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I was on the bus once and there were 2 people in the seats opposite me going on about how much they made this week. They were talking about how people quite often when asked if they want to buy a big issue give the cash but dont take the mag. One of them was complaining that this week he had only taken £800. £800 in a week? and that will be tax free as well, thats the equivalent to a 60k a year job and thats a bad week. Yeah sure he "worked" from 7am till 8pm but how many of us would do those hours for that kind of money?

I do remember about 20 years ago the beggar round the Old Steine/East Street area that would ask "Do you have a penny sir?" and if you gave him a penny it went up to 10p and so on

£800, is that net or do they have to pay for the cost of the mags out of that? Anyway, if they do take £800 home, don't believe thats just for him, he'll be paying for 10-20 people out of that. For every guy that can sell the Big Issue there'll be another 10 who are too drunk/smelly/insane to be able to.

(Actually on a side-note, a mate of a mate knew someone who was quite a good salesman who sued to sell a homeless blokes Big Issues for a cut)

 

[severnside gull]

They used to get dog benefit, didn't they, that's why they all have a dog. That's not the case any more is it?

people give them money because they feel sorry for the dog and are worried it might starve. Ironically the more money they give the more the dog will be deliberately starved in order to ensure a continuous income flow

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

if you give you are more than often just funding drug habit or booze

True, but I used to have a drug and booze habit, so I'm not going to be self-righteous. Surely that's the best bit of living on the streets anyway. I honestly had a real friend who lived on the streets in Manchester for six months, just to have a laugh and lots of cheap booze and drugs - a street tourist if you will, left the streets to go to Uni.

 

[Left Footer]

only the ones that ask me for 37p for their train fare as they are stuck in Brighton and can`t get home to London, because as we all know that 37p is going to make all the difference.

 

[Dandyman]

Am I the only one who thought this thread was about the Old Firm game ?

 

[Bwian]

A friend of mine was drinking with some friends in a Downtown Toronto bar on Yonge Street. The session went on for a few hours more than they had originally planned. They didn't have enough to settle the bill-being about $30 short. My friend decided to leave his friends in the bar, went outside and started 'pan handling', explaining to everybody what had happened. It took him less than 15 minutes to get $40. Being an unemployed lazy little shit-he saw an opportunity so hung around Yonge and Carlton during business hours for a few days, and using the same story made an absolute bundle. That cured me of giving to beggars.

 

[User removed 4]

I would buy a big issue if it wasnt so f***ing boring.

 

[Nibble]

when i worked in town I got to know a homeless chap who also sold the Big Issue. His story was genuine and quite upsetting. He had owned a flat with a wife and child, he had a house fire, destroying the property, couldn't claim on insurance for one reason or another, lost his wife in the fire and his daughter was taken into care as he could no longer cope. He moved to brighton as the system is set up to help you back on your feet. He never begged, only sold his issues. He was in a church centre for the homeless where he also volunteered. I would give him money and food regularly as he wasn't an addict and didn't drink. He actually spent the money on a cheap personal radio as he loved music. I don't see him around anymore and I hope that he fixed his ife up and moved on as this was what he was working very hard to do. He got to visit his daughter regularly as he was making a huge effort to rebuild his life.

Of course you cannot get to know every individual case when just being asked for money as you stroll down the street so one cannot be expected to give money to every grubby outstretched hand.

 

[defrocked priest]

The young gypsy girls,13 yrs, begging for change whilst holding a baby which is wailing because the girl is sticking it with a pin to induce the crying to embellish the begging act.
Sick behaviour, labor camps for the lot of them.

 

[NMH]

I don't. This is a country with opportunity, and a more-than-adequate social system. If they can spare time to beg, they're not spending it trying to work - so I won't pay them because I do have to work for mine.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

when i worked in town I got to know a homeless chap who also sold the Big Issue. His story was genuine and quite upsetting. He had owned a flat with a wife and child, he had a house fire, destroying the property, couldn't claim on insurance for one reason or another, lost his wife in the fire and his daughter was taken into care as he could no longer cope. He moved to brighton as the system is set up to help you back on your feet. He never begged, only sold his issues. He was in a church centre for the homeless where he also volunteered. I would give him money and food regularly as he wasn't an addict and didn't drink. He actually spent the money on a cheap personal radio as he loved music. I don't see him around anymore and I hope that he fixed his ife up and moved on as this was what he was working very hard to do. He got to visit his daughter regularly as he was making a huge effort to rebuild his life.

Of course you cannot get to know every individual case when just being asked for money as you stroll down the street so one cannot be expected to give money to every grubby outstretched hand.

That does make me sad. Even as a non-religious man, the following phrase echoes true.

There but for the grace of God go I.