jedusor | Homeless people

When I visited L.A. last spring, there was a guy wandering around Venuys (sp?) Beach, jingling a cup and singing, "Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, help me get drunk!" I gave him some change.

There's a guy on the Plaza that asks people for a down payment on a hamburger. The first time I heard him say that, I gave him a dollar.

When I told a group of people I was hanging out with on Monday about these two incidents, I was surprised by the response I got. Two of them were horrified that I was contributing to the booze fund of a homeless guy, and two of them immediately started hollering that the "down payment on a hamburger" guy isn't really homeless, he has a house in Brookside, he's just ripping people off, etc.

I don't see this as helping out a dude on the street. I don't see it as contributing to a decline into drunkenness. And I don't see it as allowing myself to be ripped off. I see it as paying for entertainment, much as I might drop some money into a musician's hat or stick a quarter in a slot machine. These men thought up funny lines and delivered them well. They made me laugh, and that was worth some spare change to me. Whether they're really homeless or what they planned to do with the money is irrelevant to me. I am paying them because they amused me.

I'm curious as to how many people consider this immoral. What do you think?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think you mean Van Nuys, and I was 15 when I learned to spell it, too, so you're right on schedule. ;)

I certainly don't think it's immoral. Anne Lamott says, "No one gets into heaven without a letter of recommendation from the homeless."

I've occasionally paid panhandlers for good lines and good signs. I, too, like to reward cleverness.

I always give out money if people are just plain asking, because even if they are going to spend it on drugs or booze, I figure, if they've humbled themselves enough to ask, if they're in a position where asking strangers for money is the best way they can think of to be spending their time, then they need that dollar more than I do.

OTOH, I will usually NOT give money to someone who's trying to sell me a service that I don't want or need, like a Street Sheet or cleaning my windshield. I guess in that case I feel like I'm being conned. If you want money, just ask - I'll give you some. Don't try to convince me that I should pay for the privilege of having someone clean my windshield. But, it could be argued that at least the windshield guy is trying to work for a living on some level -- and it may be lame of me to resent it. Not sure.

I do sometimes give money to homeless people because I feel that they need it. This isn't like that, though. As you said, it's pretty much rewarding cleverness.

I've never been offered a windshield-cleaning service, possibly because I have no car and can't drive, but I wouldn't do it either. It kind of reminds me of when kids come to our door selling wrapping paper or magazine subscriptions to raise money for school- my mom never buys the crap, but she usually gives them a check and calls it a donation.

Okay, and this whole conversation reminds me of what I think of as *the most obnoxious* form of street-extortion, which I was thinking about this weekend. On our previous trip to Pier 39, a guy came up to us and handed Benjamin a sword made out of those long twistable balloons. It was a pretty lame balloon sculpture -- just one long balloon, with a couple of twists at the bottom to form a handle for the "sword". Not even a poodle or a hat or something complicated. But of course Ben thought it was cool, because seven-year-olds are easily impressed. And then the guy wanted a dollar for the balloon sword. This made me so mad. I almost fell for it, because I felt like I had no choice -- which was of course the guy's whole modus operandi. And then I said, no, you know what, I'm not doing this -- and I made Ben give the balloon sword back to the guy, and we went away. Ben was sad, of course. So I took the kids aside -- we weren't too far away from the guy, so he could have overheard us, which was fine with me -- and explained: "You know, there are people who want to make money by doing art on the street, and I think that's great. But this guy is trying to trick us into paying for something, by giving you the sword first and asking for money second. He gets away with it because parents love their kids and really don't want their kids to be disappointed. But it's a mean trick, and I think it's a really bad way to make money, to use kids that way. And it's not even a very good balloon sculpture! So we're not going to buy it from him. But if we see something else today that we'd like to buy, where we're making the choice ourselves, then we can think about maybe getting it." (We always buy them little treats at Pier 39, anyway.) They actually understood this, and were totally fine with it. So that was a good moment. I love it when life provides these little lessons and they go well.

I've heard of that one. Such jerks.

I can't wait until Link is old enough to understand that kind of thing. I'll have to take him to Pier 39 sometime, when we're visiting Grandma and Grandpa in California.

Let us know when it happens and we'll come play tourist with you.

Where do your grandparents live -- Sacramento?

Penngrove, near Petaluma. I go out there to visit my dad sometimes too, in Dublin.

Considering the level of homelessness we know exists in this country, that's some seriously deliberate perversity to assume the guy panhandling on the corner has a house ini Brookside.

Me, I don't give money to panhandlers anymore because I don't want to create incentives to panhandle. It makes the experience of walking around in the city more unpleasant and I'd like to discourage it. I'd rather give my money in an organized amount at the end of the year.

But I don't think it's immoral to give to panhandlers. Besides, who the hell are those dudes to decide that the homeless guy shouldn't have a drink? I can't think of who'd need one more.

Well, it's not exactly an assumption. I think Carl's dad knows the guy or something. Still, though, that isn't the point. Whether or not he's homeless, he has chosen to spend his time asking for money, and he chose to do it in a way that convinced me to give him some coins. Whatever he's doing, he seems to be doing it right.

who the hell are those dudes to decide that the homeless guy shouldn't have a drink? I can't think of who'd need one more.

*cracks up*

I agree with you, all the way. I don't see why people need to flip their lids just because I'll give someone a few spare coins if I have them. I'm not being "ripped off". RELAX. It's not a huge big world conspiracy? :/

Oh noes, the homeless people are going to band together and take over the universe! RUN!

You know, i don't think its immoral to give money to people asking for it. I think its pretty generous. But i also don't do it anymore.

I will give money to an occasional performer who catches my ear/eye, because i think thats a bit different, but not to the people who think they're witty by asking for drug money straight up.

Thing is, i used to always give my spare change. And then i started working in the U district where a) everyone has a tip jar so i don't have as much spare coinage, and b) i got tired of the vast number of ave rats asking me for money while wearing more expensive boots than i could afford. Fuckers. Go get a job.

The poor souls who have less of an option about their plight pay for this, though. So, i try to give money to homeless shelters and the like instead.

Well, I don't give money to everyone who asks me for it. I quit doing that right after I got to Kansas City, when I realized how many panhandlers there are here. I sometimes give it to someone who really looks like they need it, but that's not what I'm talking about in this post.

Giving to homeless shelters is a good idea if you want to help needy people.

I'm on your side. I think that you were right in what you did. If they make you laugh, well hey, they deserve a buck or two for their troubles.

That's a very good conversation piece you've got there, mon ami.

-M

There's a Venice Beach, and there's a Van Nuys. I don't think there's a Van Nuys Beach, as Van Nuys is inland. Those certainly sound like Venice Beach panhandlers.

I think enough people misspell it that no one will be terribly offended by a slip-up in a teen girl's blog.

Homeless people

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject