What will you do?

I rarely give although I would give food, but not money. Here beggars get on the trains and work their way through the carriages, telling their sad stories and offering biro pens for sale, or some similar little item. People do buy from them I've noticed, but not very often. I do give sometimes to really old ladies who tend to frequent the market place. It is too hard just to pass by and they are probably genuine. What old lady would suffer such humility if she was not desperate? I speak to beggars with small children, even babies get taken on to the street. I tell them to take their babies home. In these cases I am suspicious and I think they are abusing parenthood by using babies to get money.

i'm also a student and i also feel like that first. so i save a or some coins (since my mom gave me a daily pocket money) like because i'm Indonesian so i save like 500 rupiah - 1000 rupiah (+- 0,05$-0,1$)every day and by the end of week i came to that beggar and i give them my savings.. but thats just remain 3 weeks and then my daddy said not to give them again because it will make them stay lazy and don't want to work, so until now i never give them a cents again, and just ignore them everytime i see them..

I always saw it anywhere in the city even here in my shop they always coming to ask some coins. I felt pity on them but I don't know why they love being a beggar. Although not all, but some of them accompanied with good health person. They are lazy, they used their family so that people will pity and give some money for their foods.

i would help them too f i have the money but i think they need more to find a work to help them for longer time and not for a shot time. these beggars or homeless get to a situation they do not like and force out of the home because of closure of thee property as in mortgage and because they had gambling problem and been depressed. so as an ordinary people i would help them in my own little way. but, those in social work such as from the government should build homes for them and give them to wok to more productive.

The last time I saw such a man, I was walking up to Gospel Celebration Fellowship. I don't know what the deal was at the time--I guess I had just 'tried out' a couple of similar "fellowship" (or 'church start-ups' or whatever) which had all petered-out because of lack-of-funds, so I was afraid to invite more people to another one-- but I should've invited the beggar to walk with me to the Fellowship to join-in on the Breakfast-snack, Bible-study, Worship-Praise-&-Prayer (a.k.a. 'church' service) & Lunch-fellowship. So I'm guessing that you--if you can't buy him a meal or a snack or something he needs--can send him someplace he can find one (maybe a 'food pantry' near you, a Red Cross, Jesus House or whatever you call `em).

The feelings are mutual, i rather help a child than a healthy adult. I prefer buying them some food, filling their stomach is far more important than their bucket. I came across an awkward situation where a man walked toward me and start crying, he said i'm so embraced but i need so money to feed my children, i didn't know what to do i just wnan help him any way i could, so i grabbed my wallet and gave him all i had, fortunately it wasn't much. A week later i saw him drunk, i think he recognize me since i was very naively generous, he tried to pull it off again with the same story. I was so angry i wanted to punch him in the face for fooling me instead i walked a way.

We have lot of beggars in our city and I try to help them as much as I can. No doubt there are some swindlers and cheaters among them who are making life more difficult for the deserving people.

As you have all mentioned, we cannot do something for real to help them. We can help in little ways but that couldn't change anything. Maybe, what we can do to minimize the number of such cases it to be excellent in everything that we do so that we won't become one of them. I know it's hard but at least we should try. Cheers!

There are a lot of these kind of people in our city. Sometimes I do offer them food if I get the chance. But sometimes what stops me from helping is the reality that sometimes they are being controlled by an underground group- that is they are instructed to beg for money and at the end of the the day, all the money will be collected and will be kept by this group. I wish the government would have more budget to provide for these people. Not necessarily giving them money every time, but rather provide a program that will teach them to be productive in life.

Well, life is difficult, i guarantee it. But once you accept it as being difficult, you would then feel the ease of being more confident to achieve success even though life is difficult. When i see beggars in the street, i take time to observe them if they are really sincere and hopeless in earning money in their own. I don't believe that all beggars are beggars who are hopeless. Once i observe them as being incapable of earning money for themselves, that is when i pity them and at least give them food i buy from a nearby store. I don't give them money since i know they need food more. Whenever i'm eating at a park or some bench, whenever a beggar appears before me and is trying to get some money out of me, i try to give him/her some food, if she/he does not accept, it means, he's/she's faking it. I hope our governments will do something about it. But i know when i get rich, i would provide shelter that will cater for their basic needs. With support with other rich and willing people. Cheers! Let's solve this dilemma as soon as possible. :D

Giving money to beggars always presents with a quandary: should i give? how much? what will happen as a result. And once we start, where do we stop? do we give to one beggar? five? ten? the entire village?