Do you give to bums?

[Animeniax]

So I'm in Japan, the land of productivity and hard work, and there's this bum sleeping on the sidewalk in Asakusa. For some reason, it might have been the beer buzz after a delicious bowl of kimchi ramen, I dropped a 500Y coin next to him while he slept in the cold and people walked by looking down on him.

It's not usual for me to donate, and I don't know why I took pity on this poor bastard, but I did it, and wondered if maybe I should do it more often, or if I was right in thinking they were worthless trash who should just go get jobs like the rest of us.

[BioAlien]

It depends.. I don't like pushy ones who comes to you asking for every single cents you have on you. But if it a elderly/handicapped, I may give some money.

Though I rarely see any.. And the last one I saw.. wasn't really on the bright side.
This happened 2 weeks ago, lets call the bum "Bob".
Bob thought about doing a good deed and decided to clean the floor inside a Metro waggon. Problem is, he was doing it with some dirty rags that may have been socks one day and his spit. I don't know what was going on in his head, but that's just pass beyond stupidity. I would never give any cents to someone like Bob.

[Assertn]

In the US anyway, bums have places to go if they really want to seek help. I don't give them anything.

[Ryllharu]

On principle, if I give them anything at all, I give them food, typically fast food. (Because who would trust a sketchy ham sandwich from a stranger?) But I live in the country, so I don't see many unless I go on trips.

When you give bums money, they probably won't use it for anything but booze or drugs (probably crack).

As a side note, I do give generously to talented street performers. There were some really good ones at Pike Place Market when I visited Seattle.

[Board of Command]

I would never give in to a bum on the street.

[XanBcoo]

If I have change and I see someone busking, then yes I always give them whatever loose change I've got.

1. Because they're making an effort to earn people's money, rather than simply begging. Also it's nice to listen to live music when you're walking down the street.

2. Because I hate loose change.

Otherwise no, I don't give to bums.

[Animeniax]

It depends.. I don't like pushy ones who comes to you asking for every single cents you have on you. But if it a elderly/handicapped, I may give some money.

Though I rarely see any.. And the last one I saw.. wasn't really on the bright side.
This happened 2 weeks ago, lets call the bum "Bob".
Bob thought about doing a good deed and decided to clean the floor inside a Metro waggon. Problem is, he was doing it with some dirty rags that may have been socks one day and his spit. I don't know what was going on in his head, but that's just pass beyond stupidity. I would never give any cents to someone like Bob.

See that's what I felt too when I saw this bum last night. I was thinking, if he comes over and demands shit, I won't give him anything, because who is he to demand shit from me? But then I thought, how fair is it to put my judgments on him? Whatever has happened in his life to make him this way probably rendered normal social conventions meaningless, like showering regularly and not sleeping on the sidewalk. None of that matters to a bum anymore, he just wants to eat, maybe get his fix, and not die (I imagine). I don't think there's a "proper" way to beg. It's a little silly that we'll help only if we think they are a "good bum", as if there is such a thing.

[masamuneehs]

i usually do. i know they are probably in it to buy drugs or booze or whatever, but, honestly, is it really any of my business what they use it on?

I'll never forget one time I gave a homeless guy half of my sandwich while on the way back from a lunch break. He was just pretty pitiful on the sidewalk with a cup, so I gave him the sandwich. A few steps later I'm shocked, as the sandwich suddenly hits me in the back. I look back (others were staring too) and the guy mumbles something that sounded like "If I wanted food I'd ask for it". So, yeah, unless I actually get into a conversation with a bum who I won't give money to and he says he just wants to buy something to eat, I don't give them food anymore...

[Assertn]

i usually do. i know they are probably in it to buy drugs or booze or whatever, but, honestly, is it really any of my business what they use it on?

perhaps you should try that rationalization on pigeons and see what happens.

[XanBcoo]

This one guy I always see at this intersection has a sign: "Why Lie? I need a beer"

He's also got it in Spanish. He does not discriminate.

Edito: What? Pigeons??

[Phoenix20578]

I try not to, cause I know all the bums in my town. They were all regulars, and probably still are, in the ER I used to work in. I know their all stupid, smelly, and have no consideration for anyone. Everyone of them was drivin out of their homes because they made their family's lives hell, so I feel no pity.

Yea, I know, I;m a dick. Work in an ER for 2 years and deal with these idiots on the graveyard shift and we'll see how compassionate you get.

[Animeniax]

The way I see it, each and everyone of us is one or two catastrophes from being in bad situations ourselves. Say the job market for your field dries up, the country goes into recession, you have a bad accident, or your home collapses and the insurance company won't pay because of an exclusion in the fine print. I know most people don't keep that much money in savings for a rainy day, which is their own fault, but it can lead to all sorts of problems that have you end up living in your car or on the street. Personally I think I'd make a good bum because I'd be courteous and thankful for every cent I get, but I think maybe that sort of bum wouldn't have much success.

@Ryllharu and Xan: the thing with Japanese street performers is that they aren't doing it for handouts, but to get noticed and possibly make it in the music world. That's a generalization of course, but I've been checking out street lives here and I have yet to see a handout cup or hat.

@masa: actually yes you should feel some responsibility, because that donation you give them could buy the last hit that they OD on, or the last bottle of booze that has them walking into the street and getting hit by a car. Alternatively, they could choke on that sandwich, so it's a lose-lose scenario.

[Junior]

Well...I can't say since I'm never outside but my father does. He also gives to security guards who work through the night. I know there's one that works around the corner and my dad occasionally gives him dinner.

[Genma]

Bob thought about doing a good deed and decided to clean the floor inside a Metro waggon. Problem is, he was doing it with some dirty rags that may have been socks one day and his spit. I don't know what was going on in his head, but that's just pass beyond stupidity. I would never give any cents to someone like Bob.

I read somewhere that the majority of homeless people have some sort of disability (be it mental or physical), and the fact that you refuse to give money to an obviously deranged man simply because he shows signs of stupidity makes you a total prick.

Obviously none of you deal with the mentally handicapped on a regular basis. I don't either, really, but my mom specializes in kids with "special needs." Her best friend has three kids, one normal, one that is in the special ed. classes at school, and one who is severely retarded. Whenever my mom asks her friend what she'll do with the latter when she passes on, she can never come up with an answer.

Thus, many mentally handicapped people have nowhere to go once the ones who took care of them die or disown them. Usually by this time they're adults, and unless they have a Mother Teresa relative who will pay the thousands of dollars it costs to keep them in a home, they're off to the streets. And for all you dorks who think they should "get a job," a lot of them can't. My mom's friend's kid who I was mentioning earlier is like, 15 now, and he can barely even spell his own name.

So next time you see a guy like "Bob" cleaning the floors in a strange manner, try to picture telling an infant to clean the floors... instead of being a total douchebag and claiming that they don't deserve your money. If anything, they deserve your money more than those capable of getting a job, because at least with booze or drugs they can forget about their problems for a while.

As for me paying the homeless here, uh... there's honestly not too many around. The only one I see consistently is some lady who holds up an illegible sign at the corners of stop lights, and since I'm usually driving I can't just stop my car, get out, go pay her, and then get back in. People in SoCal are total pricks and I'd probably get yelled at. The rest of the homeless are usually driven out by stringent cops with nothing better to do. When I'm in other cities and walking, though, and the homeless guy doesn't look too sketchy (like, he'll pull a knife on me if I go for my change or wallet), then I'll usually cough up a little bit of cash.

[Kraco]

There aren't any in this town. The last time I visited the capital a few appeared out of nowhere as soon as I stepped out of the train, but they were bloody better dressed than I was (and I don't generally look like a bum, myself, as a disclaimer), so I didn't feel like giving them anything.

I have given some change to some genuinely sad cases abroad, though, in the past.

[Idealistic]

I don't give them anything either. A lot of times, the bums are what they are because they deserve it. Yes I know, not all of them are like that, but still.

However, sometimes I give the people who sing or play their instruments and stuff some change when I see them. That is, if they are good.

[Chiodos]

I gave once some money to a someone who played violin in the Subways. Strangest thing was he walk up to me and gave the money back with a big freakin' smile.

I didn't really like the smile so I ran away.

[Kraco]

I bet he was the (in)famous subway violin string strangler. Good thing you ran away.

[itadakimasu]

in the rare occasion that i can in some way sympathise with said bum i will maybe give a few dollars, this has only happened once. one time it was a guy i had a class with who'd been kicked out and obviously had been on the streets for a while since he was really dirty and unshaven.. i gave him probably too much.

Now... the last guy i gave money to said he was from new york and needed money to catch the bus... i had 75 cents and gave it to him and kept walking only to see that the 75 cents i gave him was the gap seperating him from his next beer he would buy from the liquer store he then entered...

i work way too hard to give my hard earned money to somebody like that.

[Assertn]

I kinda got tired of giving to bums only for them to respond with, "can you give me some more?"

I think they prefer to live off free handouts than to actually do something productive.