What do you do when a hobo asks you for money?

Its as the title says. Theres time when you're just walking, be it alone or with a group, and you'll have a homeless (or seemingly homeless) person come to you and ask for money. How do you respond?

Me? Before I would feel bad for them when I was younger, but I began to see that theres actually people who fake it just for free money. I've seen people use the same little "Im deaf and need help god bless!" paper/letter in three different states. I've seen a guy in my area who gets dropped off by either his wife or mother or sister or whoever, and he just goes around the shopping center I use to work at (this was like 5 years ago) begging people for money saying hes homeless.


After seeing such instances, now I dont give out money to them, unless its some loose change that i DONT need in my pocket or some shit. Alot of actual hobos just use the money on booze anyways :/ So i feel bad for legitimate homeless people who need help, but those swindling assholes have damned them from ever getting anything above 80 cents from me for all eternity. Maybe karma will eat those guys alive or something

Also I prefer to NOT give them money, because if its a local/constant person, they will actually single out and target/remember people who actually generously give them money, and wont leave them alone. I had that problem back when I was 16 or so.

Yeah, not to be a bad person, I tend to not give them any. I used to feel bad too when I was younger, and I feel bad when i see homeless kids. Nowadays I don't feel so bad, unless it's a kid. But I remember seeing one guy that said he was homeless. He had brand new shoes and a shiny rolex watch.

Call em Stefan.

No seriously, it's hard to say. I'll give them money if they show that they're working at it. One guy was like, selling postcards, and was really friendly. Or if they're like, disabled in some way.

But a lot of them aren't as bad off as they let on. I'm sure they're not fibbing completely, but it's hard for me to sympathize 100%.

Ideally, I'd just take em out to dinner. I'm sure they have plenty of good stories. Plus, it gives them a good meal, you get to know them, see if they're chill, then give them money.

Mufasa wrote:
Ideally, I'd just take em out to dinner. I'm sure they have plenty of good stories. Plus, it gives them a good meal, you get to know them, see if they're chill, then give them money.

Please don't do that. That a big gamble, it could be really unsafe.

Deidara wrote:

Mufasa wrote:
Ideally, I'd just take em out to dinner. I'm sure they have plenty of good stories. Plus, it gives them a good meal, you get to know them, see if they're chill, then give them money.

Please don't do that. That a big gamble, it could be really unsafe.

Im gonna assume you've never done this right? I hope not. Like she said that could turn out really badly D:

What, if you walk to a public place and buy them a meal?
Granted you do it with a group of people. You don't be stupid about it

id rather not give anything after an experience vietnam.... dont want homeless mobbing me asking for money...

besides. humans suck. and most humans are really just sheeple, though i might need a word that dosent offend sheep...

I never give any money to the homeless in my area, there's literally one guy who just wanders around the shopping center in my town and asks for money, and that guy is pretty fucking well off to begin with. Though in the end if they were really homeless and needed help and I had some like spare change I'd give it to them.

Mufasa wrote:What, if you walk to a public place and buy them a meal?
Granted you do it with a group of people. You don't be stupid about it

That first part is still completely unsafe. You don't be stupid about it. D:

If you do want em to eat I say just give em the money for it, if they squander it on something else then they deserve to not eat.

Masu wrote:If you do want em to eat I say just give em the money for it, if they squander it on something else then they deserve to not eat.

This

i look at them first to see if they're really homeless or not because after working in D.C. I know a thing or 2 if they really are or not, also if you're smoking while asking for money i just say go kill yourself some other way. but most people i see asking for coffee instead of money and I actually do it because I can see they're actually homeless AND on rare occasions they have like skin cancer or something

90% of the time i dont give. I just ignore them and continue on. But sometimes when i have change in my pocket i might give it.