He was driving a "beater" and at a gas station across from the Denver Starbucks I'd just come out of. There were enough people milling around that I didn't feel threatened (though I do carry pepper spray as a keychain with me on most occasions) so I gave him a few $, hoping he was on the up and up.

I have ignored my share too, but this one caught me on a less cynical day, I guess.

Esp in NC. Its a sad scam, imo.

and usually I make a decision on a case by case basis. It's hard to judge and I usually err on the side of giving someone some help if I have it. But you should always trust your gut.

when I lived in the city. If I had it, I would give it. Usually I only carry a few bucks in cash. I don't care what they use it for.

If I have it, I give it. If the guy wants a pint of bourbon, so be it.

I'm not qualified to judge.

It's in the giving.

gave him a few bucks. Hey, it was a hot day and everyone can use a cold one on a day like that. For originality if nothing else.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

A kid on his way to a job interview, or so he said. His car was at the pumps so I used my debit card to give him 5 gallons of gas. No cash to him. I hope he did well at the interview.

when she recognized us recognizing her she hastily turned and walked the other way.

Beats working for a living if you have no pride.

One week I gave Metro fare cards to a man who said he was trying to get to ___ to meet his wife. The next week I chanced to encounter the same man again, who had precisely the same story. Only the week was different.

There are many, many people who need my help but aren't going to come up to me on the street to ask. It doesn't mean they don't need my help. It does mean that they are not first in line.

Who knows what her circumstances are? I have no respect for people who film strangers in public and then do this shit - just tell her no, and move on, DB. Not really interested in your self-righteousness.

the Ralph's grocery store parking lot. There was one young guy (20-25) with a Nissan Sentra at a 7-11 gas station in North Fontana who would stand around asking for gasoline money from everyone. I always gave him $5.00. Then he'd ask other people there. At that same gas station, I've given money to an African American man with his wife and two children. Twice.

If I have it, they get it, but if I don't, I tell them honestly that I don't have any money on me. I don't care what they use it for since in my faith, it's not my business to decide whether or not they'll use the money for gasoline or something else. It's only my choice to either give it or not. But that's just my philosophy.

I just politely say, "I'm sorry, no." And walk on.

Besides, I rarely carry cash.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

You may then be shoved into the car and kidnapped

did you forget this?

A guy was standing by a gas station in Georgetown, DC with a gas can asking for money as his car had run out of gas. I walked by the same station a week later and same dude was there pitching the same story.

It's the same deal with people generally asking for money so they can get on the DC metro.

The best way to test it is to by offering to pay for their gas directly. If they only want the cash it's a scam.

while he sat in the car with an adult female and younger children.

that he's stranded in New Haven and needs money for train or bus.

He's asked me like 10 times over the years.

Couple years is a long time to be stranded.

a guy asked for spare change at the gas station. I gave him a 20. The look on his face, priceless.

No gas can, his car was pulled off the road on the shoulder, and he had a young child with him. When I came out of the grocery store, I found him (still asking people), gave him $5.00, and someone else gave him a couple of bucks. I watched him after I finished putting the groceries in the car and he walked to the gas station on the corner and one of the attendants there took a gas can, filled it and walked him to his car.

I figured $5.00 wasn't going to break me, and if I saw he got in his car and drove away, it would probably have been the last time I did that. Since he seemed like he really needed it, I felt good that I was able to help him. He thanked me when I gave it to him and I just told him to pass the good deed on.

I had someone ask me for gas money when I told him I had a 5 gallon gas can in the back and I'd give him that he told me to fuck off.

money or bus fare.

Someone requesting money clearly needs it. If they say its for gas, then so be it. But regardless, they are needy and require assistance. If it was a banker, that would be one thing, but its not. Its an individual who needs help. So its not a scam.

as many have said, you have to use your own judgment. Maybe give a couple a bucks and never think about it again. UNTIL the same person asks you again (hey, weren't you trying to get to another city and you ran out of gas?)

I had a lady ask me for money and she had a long story. I gave her the names of several places I thought would help her but she had every reason why she couldn't visit them (I offered to take her.) She said she needed money to buy tampons but when I offered her the ones I carry in my purse, she refused. The truth is, I didn't have any money with me but I had a way to get help for her. She only wanted money.

And she made up a cover story. But that didn't change the fact that she wanted money. And NEEDED money. She had a valid reason, she just didn't care to share it. So that doesn't make it a scam. Its just a human being who needs help.

That's usually why they do it. You have no idea if her reasons were valid. And I don't either. The point is she told me about all kinds of things she needed but all she would take was money.

Either anonymous (the fictional "Nigerian Prince&quot , or seeking to separate you from a large sum of money.

Someone panhandling for a few dollars isn't a scam artist. Its a person in need. We need to stop hardening our hearts to everyone asking for a few dollars. Who would go to the trouble of asking for what is in essence pocket change unless they really needed it?

And before you judge, I think many of us are the type to give without question. As I said, I had no money but was still trying to help.

or just a few coins there could easily be a few who give 5, 10, 20 etc.

There was a woman who hung around the local train station asking people for for $10 so she could get to her job in the city. The first time she approached me was the week after I got laid off: I was not overly sympathetic at the time. She worked that station for a few months before moving on. But if she managed two contributions an hour, that's $20/hour tax-free.

I'd say 9 out of 10 similar stories are scams: a small enough amount of money changes hands that the "donor" doesn't miss it, too small for the police to deal with unless there are a lot of complaints, and a small income for the beggar.

she clearly didn't need to shoplift in order to get those items.

many people enjoy getting away with things like this.

My heart, head and wallet all get a vote. 2 out of 3 decides.

The last guy I gave gas money to didn't ask me for it. He was sitting on his front bumper and he looked like he'd eat the business end of a 9 mm if he had the chance. I engaged him in a conversation and he said he was out of gas. I asked him if he needed some gas money and he said yeah, but don't bother, he was leaking brake fluid as well and was dry. We pushed him to a station about 100 yds away, I gave him a couple of gallons and bought him a can of brake fluid. This dude, a big burly guy, broke down and bawled. I wasn't sure what to say. He finally got himself composed and said he wasn't crying because of his misfortune, he was crying because he knew he couldn't pay me back. Most of them are scams, some aren't.

It is called "being poor in America". It is a sick fucking scam. These creeps should just get a job or win the lottery or praise jeebus or something.

but having a wife and a child and only one job i dont usually have any

He would have needed a tanker truck to deal with all the donations.

With a description that they need to get to a job interview!

One guy asked me near the bus stop for $5 for his fare to Denver. Well, I'm a bus rider, so I pulled out two local bus passes & said, "This should get you to Denver." "Forget it," he said with disgust.

The second time, I saw a woman in the parking lot of Home Depot with her kid. That should have been my first clue she was a scammer - bring the kid to pull at the heartstrings. I gave her a grocery store gift card that a friend had given me for taking her to the doctor. All the woman said was, "How much?" as she snatched it out of my hand. Saw her the following week with the same kid in a parking lot across the street. It pissed me off, but in the end, she is still more needy than I am.

If I have a couple of bucks, & see someone on the side of the road, I'd still give it to them. No more gift cards or passes, just a couple of bucks, only.

There was a DUer who posted their story some time ago. He/she said that they keep an envelope in their car with a bunch of singles & the family calls it "money for Jesus." The kids shout out, "Oh look, there's Jesus!" when they see some one with a sign on the road and they grab a dollar or two to give.

the people who scam just make things all the more difficult for the people in genuine need

Why would this person go to the trouble of asking for a few dollars if they weren't in genuine need?

You would say to yourself, why go through a degrading charade if you don't have to?

I'm not sure I can dig into the mentality that fuels it - it's alien to me - but it definitely occurs as that video that was posted earlier illustrates.

They've just approached me in a parking lot and told me their story. I tell them to let me see their gas gauge, and if it was on empty or close to, we would go over to the gas station across the street, and I'd buy them a tank. I remember one of them was on empty, and he had his wife with him and quite a few possessions in the back. He got a tank. Another one got a cross look on his face, muttered, "Never mind," and went looking for others.

Now another time, there was a guy on a median with a sign. I figured I would give him a few bucks. I was in my van which advertises my business (magic and balloon twisting), and after giving him money, he asked if I could twist him a dog so I did. He was very appreciative and said his girlfriend was going to love it. "Oh, you have a girlfriend who likes dogs?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could. "Yep, our house is filled with little dog knick-knacks and figures."

Light turned, and I drove off laughing at how brazen he is, and how he let the scam slip. It was worth a couple bucks.

TlalocW

This is a scam.

pays out
Some move around to difrnt locations rotating some have a script. Car is prop and sure if you offer gas they will take that too gets them to the next work place
What is sad if for the real folks in trouble not working the gig to get anyone to listen when they are in distress

If they have kids or dogs as props I am turned off and tend to thing druggies do that a lot ( use dogs/kids to get cash etc.)
I do not engage and ask why the kids are not in school .they could be sick or anything but I have seen too many times kids used by druggies( not just these gas scams ) so past experience makes me judge perhaps unfairly I know.....

I have been asked for gas money at the gas station at 4:30 in the morning.

Another one going around was having a woman walk up and say she needed money for gas fare or bus fare or whatever because she had a child in the hospital here and she was trying to get there. I had that one pulled on me at least twice.

But even it is a scam those people are still having a terrible time of it. No one stands on the street corner and begs if they have a good place to live.

I do think that most of guys and women with the signs on the street corner are just trying to get money for food or dope or drink. They stake out their corners and come every day. Most of them probably aren't job material.

child in his arms.

I was approached by a woman who claimed she needed cash--I forget her reason--a prescription, maybe?--
and she wanted to go through the line with my cart, pay for my groceries with her food stamps and have
me give her cash.

That was a new one on me.

If I have time, I'll listen to their stories and give them whatever cash I've got, which usually isn't much.

The regulars smile and wave at me, and if they hit me up for money it's usually because they need it, maybe just for a beer, who cares? The strangers sometimes avoid me because I frequently look as shabby as they do, especially driving my mid-'eighties car that I never wash, except for the windows.

Many people like this are unemployable in their present circumstances because of addictions, mental illness, or various personality disorders. A woman who stands on the street corner throwing trash at passing cars and yelling obscenities at the drivers is not going to "get a job" even if she's cleaned up and taking her anti-psychotics. But maybe she won't be a further victim of violence and die on the streets.

We really ought to be spending more on social services and less on our military misadventures. The welfare system ought to be generous enough to provide a safe place for everyone to exist, no matter how obnoxious they might be, or how resistant to treatment their addictions or mental illnesses are. Even the violent people deserve safe, comfortable places to be. Punishment is useless as a tool of rehabilitation. It only makes everyone meaner; both the punished and the punisher.

Such programs ought to be federally financed too otherwise the homeless who have broken all contact with their families and home communities, for good reasons and bad, migrate to places where the weather and streets are not deathtraps.

There was an old guy in a parking lot with a sign that said he needed $17 for a prescription, so I gave him $5. I later learned he was a scamster. Oh, well. At least he was good at it. LOL.

Different stories, but few different faces (sorry, a bit poetic there)
Seriously, though - they certainly aren't getting rich off that sort of begging, and most of them are incapacitated somehow and even if it was a substance abuse problem, co-dependancy, mental ilness, or the just plain ol' "don't give a shit 'tude" that got them to the Street, they're lucky if they make enough to pay for monthly rent at a cheap hotel, not to mention whatever they're probably self-medicating with.

I'll buy groceries or food or gas for them, or give them spare change if money was all they wanted, but I still try not to judge. because -
Very few people can do more than survive on the underground economy. Especially those who beg to supplement a day-labor job-to-job living. In the long run, if it is a scam they are pulling, they are actually playing on themselves. There has never been any future in begging, just as there really is no future in gambling.

Those "averaging $500 tax-free a week at the freeway offramp" guys are usually divvying up their collections at a flop hotel where a couple of them are most likely sharing a room - until they get mad at each other - and maybe one has a car for transportation to get to the real job option when it comes up so they're not always working the freeways. I've had a few freeway beggers working surge labor for me when I was running jobs at the shipyard. They're certainly not living in a nice neighborhood in a stable home. Their options for survival are typically very limited.

Haele

I actually gave the guy money and then he hit me up again 2 days later so it kind of bummed me out.

Told him to hand me his gas can. Didn't so, f... im.

If you'd offered to drive him to a gas station to buy some himself he almost certainly would have declined.

I think they gave them "Mac" machines down there. It was right next to a McDonalds. A lady asked me for money. Instead of giving her money, I offered to buy her a meal at McDonalds. She declined. Maybe she doesn't like McDonalds, but she wasn't getting any money from me after she declined my offer.

I've had people with variations on this approach me many times.

is when they use a dog as a prop. The sign usually reads "Help me buy food for my best friend". Some poor dog is laying there in the hot sun while the "owner" holds a sign, often at the entryway of a Walmart. I am tempted to pull over and offer to take the dog off their hands so they won't have the burden of feeding two mouths. It wrecks my day, trying to assess whether the sign holder is down on his luck or not.

BYW - I do give generously to those who I feel are truly in need. I could not live with myself if I didn't, but I hate having to try to weed out the scammers from those who are honestly in need.

fare. I tell them I don't have any change.

a free bus fare might brighten their day.

Yes, I put that cost on all of us as the system has to balance its books.

I think a little taxation at the bottom for the bottom is rthe best Robin Hood impersonation I cant do.

about a family member .

a few times he said he was raising money for a funeral for a family member and other times money for some medical bills for some sick relative.

the first few times i didn't really take notice and didn't give anything because i didn't have anything but i did give something once and that's how i remembered him when he came in again .

Fortunately, that happens next to never.

so I could not help him. This happened in the Kroger parking lot. Another time, a man approached me in the same parking lot begging for gas cash and proceeded to show me his medical records showing he had cancer. I couldn't help him either.

Indian Reservation, which has a terrible poverty problem that leaves many people living on the street, even in horrible weather like we have now. You can't go to the post office, the store, the one restaurant in town, etc., without this kind of thing happening. It's horribly sad and we try to do what we can for them, but its like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. There's a homeless shelter in town that the tribe runs, but it's plagued with leadership problems by people who are more concerned about being in charge than in keeping desperate, needy people warm, fed and clean. I'm afraid its only going to get worse now that the pukes have completely taken control of everything on the state and national level here.