[Karen]

Would you give a dollar to someone less fortunate than you?



Karen

[LucasK]

The question should be, can I afford to give a dollar to anyone?

Besides, a dollar can buy 4 packets of precooked noodles. That's enough for my dinner and lunch.

[ericesquire]

How about I buy them the bus tokens OR a meal - but no, I don't give out cash.

[Onyx]

Well I used to give money to the homeless, but there's so many scammers around these days I've stopped. We all make choices in life and there's no real reason why the guy in the subway can't do waht we're all doing. Besides, although they may have next to nothing, with all my debts I have less than nothing, so who's the poor guy!?

[Karen]

When I lived in Calgary, one of the biggest scams were men who marched around downtown asking for $1.

These guys were wearing three piece suits, clean shaven, and looking oh so business like.

They asked people on the street for a dollar, claiming that they lost their brief case which contained their car keys and their wallet. They just wanted to have a dollar for the bus to get home.

They made a killing.

Karen

[Praetor]

I saw the best scam once. I lived in London, and was outside the tube station one day when I saw this very shabby-looking guy sitting on the ground asking for change. I decided to buy him a coffee (it was cold out), and sat down and had a chat with him (this was during my idealistic "I can save the world" phase). Turns out, the guy was a bookkeeper from out of town, and just came into the city on weekends to get some extra money. He told me that he just throws on some old, ratty clothes, and sits there, usually raking in about 150 pounds a day (that's about $425 CDN). Needless to say, I briefly considered a career change. Especially since it's tax-free money. Now I'm a little more leery about giving money away. Often, the person I'm giving it to has more of it than me.

[Sarafina]

I'm definately weary of panhandlers for a number of reasons.
1. A dollar (or even 10) won't make a difference. I'd offer other resources ie. food bank and shelter locations.
2. They may not really be that bad off. People in Toronto would definately remember 'shaky lady'. Her story was disheartening and made you want to never give a beggar money again. She lived in a well furnished apartment in Toronto but panhandled downtown everyday like a fulltime job. Laziness is crippling....

So in response to the poll, i'd only give money to a kid who lost their bus money because i've been there once....

[Praetor]

Shaky Lady! I remember her! She used to hang out by my old office on Bay Street in the mornings! That one was a shocker, eh?

[focusben]

I gave out money only a couple of times. $1 each time.

Then I started thinking about how much waiters and waitresses get. I used to give big tips, but not any more.

People are in certain situations because they choose where they are. "Extra money" in which it wasn't really earned keep them in the same place. We'd be doing our job as entrepreneurs if we didn't give out as much as we already do. No tips, no handouts - only hand-ups.

[LucasK]

Funny thing is I would find panhandling more "hard work" than a fulltime job. I guess its because I have to add in the demeaning factor.

Reminds me of this guy who posted an ad on ebay asking for donations for his first investment property. He got like $10 or something.

[Onyx]

Originally posted by focusben
I gave out money only a couple of times. $1 each time.

Then I started thinking about how much waiters and waitresses get. I used to give big tips, but not any more.

People are in certain situations because they choose where they are. "Extra money" in which it wasn't really earned keep them in the same place. We'd be doing our job as entrepreneurs if we didn't give out as much as we already do. No tips, no handouts - only hand-ups.

Yup - that's what I'm talking about!

So Karen - did you get the info you wanted? What was the basis of the poll?