I remember the time that Catherine (one of my neice's friends), when she was little,

told me that she wanted to be President one day. Both of her parents are liberal

Democrats and were standing there with us - and I asked Catherine, "If you were

President what would be the first thing you would do?"

Catherine replied, "I would give houses to all the homeless people."

"Wow, what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine." I told her, "But you don't

have to wait until you are President to do that, you can come over to my house

and clean up all the dog poop in the back yard and I will pay you $5. Then we

can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can

give him the $5 to use for a new house."

Catherine, who was about 6, thought that over for a second, while her mom

looked at me, and Catherine replied, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over

and clean up the dog poop and you can pay him the $5?"

Welcome to the Republican Party, Catherine.

Some years ago, when I was working for another company, one of my customers was a cement contractor. He would get off the freeway at the Santa Anita off ramp every morning. There was a homeless man at the bottom of the off ramp with a cardboard sign that read,"Vietnam Vet. Will work for food."

The contractor, a Vietnam vet himself, would give the man a five dollar bill several times a month. One night he mentioned the man to his wife. She said, "What's the matter with you? Why don't you offer him a job?"

The contractor wondered the same thing, so the next morning, when he stopped for the light at the bottom of the off ramp. he offered the man a job. The homeless man asked, "What does it pay?"

"Fourteen-fifty an hour", replied the contractor.

"Hell no!" said the homeless man, "I make more than twice that standing here."

The contractor has not given any homeless person any money since.

True story.

Much too good of a joke to politicize. --FLO--

coinflipper_21 (imported) wrote: Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:23 pm Some years ago, when I was working for another company, one of my customers was a cement contractor. He would get off the freeway at the Santa Anita off ramp every morning. There was a homeless man at the bottom of the off ramp with a cardboard sign that read,"Vietnam Vet. Will work for food."

The contractor, a Vietnam vet himself, would give the man a five dollar bill several times a month. One night he mentioned the man to his wife. She said, "What's the matter with you? Why don't you offer him a job?"

The contractor wondered the same thing, so the next morning, when he stopped for the light at the bottom of the off ramp. he offered the man a job. The homeless man asked, "What does it pay?"

"Fourteen-fifty an hour", replied the contractor.

"Hell no!" said the homeless man, "I make more than twice that standing here."

The contractor has not given any homeless person any money since.

True story.

I too have observed similar phenomena. I never mess with the ones standing on street corners because I'm too busy driving. Where I get hit up is in parking lots and gas stations. And I've found a great way to separate those in need from the grifters is to refuse to give them cash, but offer to buy them what they say they need the money for - usually food. If they take the offer, they're probably in real need. In the nearly 20 years since I've adopted this approach, I've purchased one fast food meal and two tanks of gas for two men who probably really needed them, and one who absolutely for sure needed a helping hand. And this out of the hundreds and hundreds of times I've been hit up.

Gil (imported) wrote: Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:33 pm I too have observed similar phenomena. I never mess with the ones standing on street corners because I'm too busy driving. Where I get hit up is in parking lots and gas stations. And I've found a great way to separate those in need from the grifters is to refuse to give them cash, but offer to buy them what they say they need the money for - usually food. If they take the offer, they're probably in real need. In the nearly 20 years since I've adopted this approach, I've purchased one fast food meal and two tanks of gas for two men who probably really needed them, and one who absolutely for sure needed a helping hand. And this out of the hundreds and hundreds of times I've been hit up.

Gil,

There may be some hope for you yet...

...at least you know how NOT to support an addict's habit...

...watch out for the violent ones, though...

Most of the ones standing along the street around here are not addicts. They are following their profession, a sub-set of professional begging as it is practiced in "disadvantaged" countries. --FLO--

A woman came up to me at a gas station - I had a motorhome at the time - and gave me a sob story about having car trouble and needing money. I never give these people money, and I didn't give her any. A couple of months later, the same woman, in a different town, gave me the same story. A while later, the same woman knocked on my motorhome, but this time recognized me, and didn't tell me her sad story.

Of course, the people with the "I'll work for food," signs aren't looking for work or for food. They do it because they make more standing on the corner with signs than they would working. If you give them money, they probably laugh at you for being such a fool.

The last time I gave money to someone that came up to me was about 15 years ago. I figured at the time it was probably a con, but it was less than $2, and their tale could have been true. Even if it wasn't, it was worth the $2. A man and woman with their two boys came up to me in a mall parking lot. They said they needed $1.80 for bus fare.

About ten years ago I was driving to my job at school. A dirty, young black male. badly in need of a bath, came up to me asking for $2.00. I pulled the car over to the curb, got out and asked if he was hungry. He said he hasn't eaten in days and looked it. I drove him to Sundowners, bought him a steak dinner and several cokes. As he was about to leave, I handed him a $20 bill.

Several years before, this aging, tall, lanky fellow was named Peter and he was my assistant manager when I managed a theater. Then he was well dressed, suave, a hit with the women and drove nice sports car. I thought to myself, "how the mighty had fallen."

I never identified myself to him but dropped him off at a bus station with a non-refundable ticket to San Diego where his family was.

There but for the grace of god go I.

There but for the grace of god go I.

Roger that. I never forget it. I've seen first hand how quickly and easily life can unravel. And for the best grounded of us sometimes too.

When I worked in downtown Los Angeles, I would get hit up for a handout by someone on the street several times a day. If they asked for coffee money, I would offer to buy the coffee. They needed bus fare I would offer to buy them a non-refundable bus ticket. If they said they needed food I would offer to buy the meal. It never failed, I got cussed out and they walked away.

Finally, one fellow came up to me and said," I'll be honest with you buddy. I need ten cents to get my bottle of Thunderbird for today."

I replied, "You're first person in ten years that has been honest hitting me up for a handout on the street. Here's fifty cents. You can have a start on tomorrow's bottle.'

He thanked me and walked away. I watched him. He went to the bus stop at Olympic and Flower, counted out the change that was in his pocket, including my half-dollar, and when the bus came used it for bus fare.

He may have been destitute, but he certainly wasn't stupid.