Why People React Differently to Panhandlers (Hard Times USA)

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/why-people-react-differently-panhandlers-hard-times-usa



“I live my life under the Golden Rule,” Bob told me, after I asked her why she gave a dollar to a man holding a “Please Help” sign. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Bob said she was living in a homeless shelter with her newborn son. She knew all about panhandling and how people “just don’t understand.” And so, she said, “I give when I can.”

***

Bob was the first person I spoke to about her response to being asked for help. I observed and talked to numerous people in San Francisco near City Hall (where a large number of homeless people populate) and Powell St. Bart Station (where panhandlers work the city’s shopping center).

It is approximated that there are at least 10,000 homeless people living in San Francisco, and about one million in the United States, though these figures are most likely underestimated. Good portions of them resort to panhandling as a means of survival. And just as there are a variety of reasons people end up on the street, there are a variety of ways passersby react to their requests for money. Some people give to panhandlers. Some ignore them. And while some don’t give, they acknowledge them with a smile or a "sorry.”

[talkingmime]

1. I've considered panhandling at times, or at least being a street musician...

But even when I'm down to a few bucks I still hand some out. Yeah, I'm a softy, and probably shouldn't be, but if we can't help each other out, why do we exist? I'm not a religeous sort but I do have a sense of ethics that includes doing what you can for others, human or creatures. It's just what is right. Hell, a fucking quarter helps. Anyone desperate enough to sit on the sidewalk with a donation can at least needs a sandwich. Quarters add up. Nobody does that for shits and giggles. They do it because they need to. "Brother can you spare a dime?"