Anonymous wrote:A healthy looking white lady asked me to buy her groceries outside of Harris Teeter in Navy Yard this week. I think she had something legitimate going on with her mental health, so I was willing to buy her something. But then she added "vegetarian, please, and can I come in the store with you?" I said "no, nuh-uh" and walked off.

Never take them into the store with you. There is a tendency for them to really stock up. Instead ask if there is something they want from the store.

Anonymous wrote:Majority of homeless organizations and anti-homelessness experts say not to give- it harms, not helps. Giving a dollar or five feeds your ego, but fuels the true problem.

X1000!

Anonymous wrote:Majority of homeless organizations and anti-homelessness experts say not to give- it harms, not helps. Giving a dollar or five feeds your ego, but fuels the true problem.

Then they say "give it to us instead"...

A healthy looking white lady asked me to buy her groceries outside of Harris Teeter in Navy Yard this week. I think she had something legitimate going on with her mental health, so I was willing to buy her something. But then she added "vegetarian, please, and can I come in the store with you?" I said "no, nuh-uh" and walked off.

Majority of homeless organizations and anti-homelessness experts say not to give- it harms, not helps. Giving a dollar or five feeds your ego, but fuels the true problem.

Not very often because I'm cheap but a few times a year I do. I prefer to give to people in need rather then to charities. Giving to the needy is better then giving to a charity IMO.

Homelessness in America is a first world problem.

Once or twice a week, more in the winter, I buy a hot breakfast for a homeless man who one lives right by my office, and the kids and I will drop off sandwiches or snack packs at various locations a few times a year. In terms of cash, I'll usually double or triple pay for street sense, and will sometimes give cash to some of the homeless people I am more familiar with either by work or home. In the case of the man by my office, it lets him buy coffee through the day when it is very cold out. So, mostly not cash, but sometimes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After I travelled to India and Nepal I stopping giving to beggars in the US. Give me a break! We don't know real poverty here. An old lady living in basically a cardboard box invited me into her 'home' and asked me to drink chai with her. These people have nothing and still want to give. Americans are so ungrateful and there's so many programs here for the poor. I will never give to beggars in the western world.

I just.

1) India isn't tourist poverty porn. It's not a land of tragedy that exists to make you feel good about yourself; in fact, it's quite wealthy and corrupt.
2) India is the industrial capital of fake beggars. I'm speaking as an Indian. This thread amuses me because all the panhandling described here has been an established thing in India for DECADES.

I partially agree with the above. But India isn't wealthy on a per capita basis, and the corruption means that there's quite a bit of wealth inequality. No doubt there is organized begging (and a lot of it), but there is still a lot of poverty there. It's gotten better in recent decades, but it's silly to pretend like the corruption means you should ignore the acute suffering.

That being said, I agree about the ways Westerners treat it as "poverty porn".

Anonymous wrote:After I travelled to India and Nepal I stopping giving to beggars in the US. Give me a break! We don't know real poverty here. An old lady living in basically a cardboard box invited me into her 'home' and asked me to drink chai with her. These people have nothing and still want to give. Americans are so ungrateful and there's so many programs here for the poor. I will never give to beggars in the western world.

Hunger doesn't hurt less just because you have access to plumbing and aren't living in filth.

Look, give or don't give (or give to charities or support government programs). But I've traveled back-and-forth to India my entire life, and I understand how much worse the blight of poverty is there. But that still doesn't mean that Americans are ungrateful or not in need just because they aren't as destitute as a homeless Indian. The poorest Indian is probably still better off than the poorest African, does that mean you shouldn't help them either?

Anonymous wrote:After I travelled to India and Nepal I stopping giving to beggars in the US. Give me a break! We don't know real poverty here. An old lady living in basically a cardboard box invited me into her 'home' and asked me to drink chai with her. These people have nothing and still want to give. Americans are so ungrateful and there's so many programs here for the poor. I will never give to beggars in the western world.

I just.

1) India isn't tourist poverty porn. It's not a land of tragedy that exists to make you feel good about yourself; in fact, it's quite wealthy and corrupt.
2) India is the industrial capital of fake beggars. I'm speaking as an Indian. This thread amuses me because all the panhandling described here has been an established thing in India for DECADES.

I never give money. I'll give food if I have something in my purse.

Once or twice a week, more in the winter, I buy a hot breakfast for a homeless man who one lives right by my office, and the kids and I will drop off sandwiches or snack packs at various locations a few times a year. In terms of cash, I'll usually double or triple pay for street sense, and will sometimes give cash to some of the homeless people I am more familiar with either by work or home. In the case of the man by my office, it lets him buy coffee through the day when it is very cold out. So, mostly not cash, but sometimes.

If I have the time, I offer to buy them some food since that's what I'd be most comfortable their using my money for. If they take me up on it, I also know that they really needed it. When I remember, I also try to carry around snack bars to offer when I don't have time to buy them something specific.

Otherwise, I typically say no to cash but not always.

Yeah, it's random and unpredictable, but there it is.

After I travelled to India and Nepal I stopping giving to beggars in the US. Give me a break! We don't know real poverty here. An old lady living in basically a cardboard box invited me into her 'home' and asked me to drink chai with her. These people have nothing and still want to give. Americans are so ungrateful and there's so many programs here for the poor. I will never give to beggars in the western world.