What would you do if....

i used to live in california and there was actually a homeless guy that hung out there with a sign i never gave him money however i did bring him home cooked food several times and bottled water deo. stuff like that i sat and talked to him a few times and he had alot of emotional problems that prevented him from working it had nothing to do with laziness our conversation was confidential but the poor guy completely had my sympathy if i could of taken him home with me i would of my point being laziness may not be why he is out there unless u have talked to him how do u know that he can work? nobody (with the exceptions of a few freeloaders) chooses to be out there day after day begging for food and money the gentleman i spoke with was a religious guy i may add

I agree with you, people need to take responsibility for themselves in order to get out of the bad situations. If he asked me for money to get clothing to apply for a job or asked for food to eat, I would be more likely to offer assistance than just a random handout.

I hate giving to people who are fit but roam about asking and begging...when so many disabled people int this world can do some job or other and earn money then what wrong with someone who is completely fit ....U r right in what u say ...dont give him any money ...share with him ur idea if he is really intrested to work he will surely will but we cannot do anything with lazy people also...

I'm going to have to agree with you on this one. I know there are lots of reasons why people can't get a job but from what you know about this man he shouldn't have a problem getting something. On the other hand though, what's his incentive? As many cars come into that parking lot in an hour I bet it isn't hard for him to make an amount equal to or more than minimum wage and he doesn't have to deal with a boss or set work hours. I think I would go get him an application and hand that to hom instead of money next time. Maybe he'll get the point or at least change parking lots once he realizes people aren't as understanding anymore.

I actually had this happen to me too. There is a guy who sometimes hangs out in front of the local supermarket, asking for money, saying that he's hungry. So one day when I went grocery shopping, I bought some food for him that he could eat right away or save for later. I thought he'd be grateful, but he refused it, saying he wanted money instead. So he got neither the money nor the food from me. Obviously he wasn't really hungry and wanted to use the money for something else.

Ok I'm on the fence here. I would give this person money because I just do that sort of thing. I work 40 hours a week and I have been employed since I was 11 years old. I grew up on a farm and so I KNOW the meaning of an honest HARD days work. So I do see your point of this guy needs to get a job. Yeah of course. But I don't know his whole situation. Maybe he has resumes in to all of those places and they won't hire him for some reason or another. Maybe he has a terminal inllness or disability we don't know about. Maybe...maybe...maybe... you see what I mean? So while I might think to myself "go get a job" I would still give him a bit of money. Not anything crazy only a few dollars but I've always been taught to help out others in anyway you can because I believe in the "pay it forward" philosophy. What happens if I needed money one day so badly I needed to ask strangers for it? Yes I would be eternally grateful to any who gave me money and I would be shamed to my core to have to ask for it but I would hope some one would take pity and help me out.

Hello Joyce, In my opinion this man has a full time position as this begging is his occupation as Professional Solicitor. He probably makes more money in a day than many people and certainly more than the local Fast Food joints as they only get paid minimal wages and are taxed before they receive their take-home pay while the Professional Solicitor does not pay any taxes, rent etc or file his taxes each year as he is living off the grid.

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. This old saying is very true. When you are helping the poor and downtrodden remember this. If you make the person dependant on you, (even tho it makes you feel good) its not helping him. Better to walk right past than to teach him to beg for a living. It seems that this man in the Parking Lot is a professional Beggar. I think you are doing the right thing!

You could ask him why he doesn't apply for a job and find out.I'm sure a lot of us would like to know why able bodied people do this.Everybody is asked by these people.If you pull into a parking lot and sit in your car too long you will be asked for money at some point.

I would do what you would do. I don't believe that giving money to those who beg isn't going to help them. If we keep on giving them money,they will just learn to depend on people like us.People like them should be given the opportunity to work or learn to work. In this way,they won't have to ask for money they didn't exert effort on.