Everytime I drive by Target Walmart, Food max, etc. theres always a homeless person asking for money or food. I used to always give change but Now I have second thoughts about them. Because they look young enough to still get a job, they either have a bike or dog with them & some even smoke cigs. Where do they get the markers and supplies to make their "have any spare change" "war veteran, needs help" or "anything will help" signs? I always wonder what they will do with the spare change that I give them because of chances of them spending it on food is '????' Cos some of those homeless people are/were drug addicts

I feel bad for them especially the ones that have a child with them but sometimes I don't.

There aren't many homeless people around where I live so I don't really have to worry. But, like two times before, my mom and I gave a homeless woman 20 dollars and gave some homeless guy some chicken from where we were eating.

there's quite a few homeless person roaming around where i live...there's A LOT in San Francisco for sure, basically everywhere you go you'll see one. shopping carts, dirty backpacks and duffle bags, etc. Theres some that talk to themselves or curse outloud, especially outside of macys. their always looking for spare change...yeah I'd prefer to give them food...mcdonalds dollar menu

There is no way in hell I could walk past a homeless guy and not give him something. Nothing less than a 10. I would rather walk around knowing that I may have given money to someone who didn't deserve it or was scamming people than walk around knowing that I did nothing to help someone I was perfectly capable to help.

NEVER. I know it sounds heartless but I live in Vancouver. If you give money to a homeless person you might as well shower loonies on the streets of the Downtown Eastside for the drug pushers.

If a homeless person directly asks me and I happen to be feeling generous at the time, I'd give them a few coins. Once a homeless person stopped my friends and me on the street to tell us about his living conditions and guilt-trip us, so we each gave him a few cents. He ended up saying "I guess I can get a pack of gum" and scowled. Ungrateful bastard.

Now I try to give them food instead of money; that way I'll know they'll use it for the right things lol.

this is how i feel.

I would do the food thing, although I'm way more likely to finish whatever food is on me and then have nothing to give people. So it doesn't work out.

I'd rather give to a food bank and to charity than give to homeless people.

same.

Nope. Maybe I was born into a more fortunate circumstance / family, but I don't believe that they're doing the best job they can by begging. Even if they're homeless, they can get a shit job or something, they can find a way to earn some money. I believe anyone can better themselves if they really put their mind to it, minus extreme cases. I don't believe that every homeless person is one of those extremities however who could do nothing better with their life than beg on a corner.

i feel so awkward in these situations. they don't happen very often at all, but if i have change or single dollar bills, i will give some. but if i only have like 20s or something, i probably won't.

i just hand them a pack of cigs or a bottle of beer or not

I ignore them. I don't make eye contact, I don't acknowledge them. One time though, this homeless person tried to wash my windshield and I had to tell him to stop.

we had a discussion like this back when i used to go was forced to go to church because some use it for drugs or other bad sh*t... so yeah me too i mean i never do because im not the one with the money but if i had the money and chance i'd give.. at least i know that i did something to help.. it's on the persons conscious what they do with it.. at least you did a good deed by trying to help

Agreed.

I just think that if you keep giving them money, they're going to keep thinking it's okay to accept money and continuing living this way since there are always the suckers that feel sorry for them. It might seem like you're helping, but I feel like it's just encouragement for an unhealthy lifestyle.

damn dont mean to sound poor but ima just keep following you around, no creeper

^ Sorry one time deal bro.

Yeah I totally understand where you and Steven are coming from, but I always think about the slight chance that s/he might have a psychological disorder. I mean, schizophrenics who were already financially unstable to begin with have a small to nonexistent chance of holding a job, or even relationships with people who could help take care of them. And thoughts like that always freak me out (or, I guess, guilt me) into giving them something.

Valid point, but I don't think that a stranger giving a toonie is really going to help matters. If I let my guilt take over, then I wouldn't be comfortable with just doing that. So what am I supposed to do, offer shelter for every crazy person on Hastings? I would be out of floor space pretty fast.

So I don't really think that individuals can help people who are actually needy, or people with psychological disorders, but that the government should do something about it. I'm not shunting the responsibility and guilt to someone else, but that individuals don't even have the capacity to help, as much as they want to.

I give to charities that address the homeless, I don't give directly to beggars.

i spend every weekend at the soup kitchen cooking/preparing/serving and i am on call for during the week. i rather give that way.

sometimes i hang out with some of the homeless guys, especially the ones doing art for cash and we have a great time. sometimes i give them money and sometimes not... it all depends on their situation.

Has anyone here ever been homeless? Has anyone here ever really talked to homeless person?

Sometimes its better just to make some small talk than to give them anything at all. You never know what circumstances landed them on the street. And even then, you never know how long they've been there or if there actually is a chance for them to do better for themselves. You also should take into account the number of mentally handicapped individuals that find their way their because they've never received proper treatment.

If I have it, I'll give. If I don't, I don't. But I'll at least try to make small talk depending on the situation.

Same.

I'm a single parent who gets no child support. I'm barely making ends meet (while enjoying a few little luxuries) as it is. I know that there are cases out there, people that cannot find jobs or earn a steady income. However, those are not the people who typically beg. They're embarrassed to be in their situation, they're not going to advertise their financial crisis on a street corner.

When I was in Austin, two homeless people walked up to my friends and me late one night while we were smoking pot in a park. They came up to me and asked us if they could have a toke. We ended up listening to one of them talk about how they were going to inherit a house and they were going to live there and get all the tattoos they want. The other one talked about how he used to work on a farm picking blueberries or some shit (I can't remember the details, seeing as how my memory was slightly impaired at the time.) They asked us for a cigarette too, and we left and they went to go find somewhere to sleep.
It was nice.

i was homeless for two years...
and yes, i agree. a lot of the time, the homeless just want to have a decent, insightful conversation with someone...
when you live on the streets you don't get much of that :/