Panhandler gets caught in a new ride

[funkymonkey1111]

i was in SF back in the Christmas of 2000. A guy came up to the window and asked for $100. I said "what for?"

"That new PS2 that just came out"

[Ah Pook]

I separate the homeless and beggers. A good portion of beggers have a place to sleep and are employable.

I hate buskers more than beggers. Plopping your ass down, in front of a business, and (attempting) playing your guitar for hours on end is just plain inconsiderate. Add singing and it's fire hose time.

[Irving]

Just a week or so ago, I had a lady roll up to me in a Home Depot parking lot in a nice Suburban. She put on her sad face and told me a story about how she blew all her money on this tank and now she needs gas money to make it to Green Rivers (sic). I told her that's a long drive and she wouldn't make on one tank, good luck.

Once a kid asked me for cash while I was down drinking in Denver. I told him no, but offered him a pull off a cigar I was smoking. He opened his jacket and had a nicer cigar in his pocket already. This thread is making me angry.

[crays]

Just a week or so ago, I had a lady roll up to me in a Home Depot parking lot in a nice Suburban. She put on her sad face and told me a story about how she blew all her money on this tank and now she needs gas money to make it to Green Rivers (sic). I told her that's a long drive and she wouldn't make on one tank, good luck.

Once a kid asked me for cash while I was down drinking drunk in Denver. I told him no, but offered him a pull off a cigar I was smoking. He opened his jacket and had a nicer cigar in his pocket already. This thread is making me angry.

No, stranger, I won't buy you a drink, but would you like to slobber on my cigar???? Just...Wow.

[Irving]

No, stranger, I won't buy you a drink, but would you like to slobber on my cigar???? Just...Wow.

I told you I was drinking.

[crays]

Yeah, I got that part, but I had to rib you a bit.

[Irving]

Oh I knew it was coming. It was the first thing my friend said to me while it was happening.

[rondog]

Don't get me started.....I can't stand beggars.

But in all fairness, I have to say that I've encountered a few, very few, that obviously looked like life had shit squarely upon them and were lucky to even be out begging. I've seen guys that had been severely burned or badly injured and were obviously struggling to just survive and even just get around, and felt bad because I didn't have a dollar on me to help them out. But they're rare exceptions. The drunks and the junkies, I wouldn't piss on 'em if they were on fire. But the ones that really piss me off are the kids - the teens and twenty-somethings that are obviously just lazy goddamn punks.

Now that CO has made pot legal, there's been a huge influx of turds migrating here just so they can legally smoke weed. And guess what? Nobody will hire these dreadlocked, tattooed, pierced, smelly turds even if they DID want to work! "Let's legalize marijuana, it won't cause any problems!" Oh no, not at all.

Grrrrr

[cstone]

For the record, I do not equate busking with begging. If done correctly, busking is a voluntary performance in exchange for gratuities. Most buskers perform in public areas and do not block traffic, although if they are good, the crowds they draw can sometimes block pedestrian traffic.

To me, good buskers earn anything I choose to give them. Bad buskers just cause me to walk away a little quicker. Squeegie people are not buskers

I just wanted to add that distinction to the mix, as for me, it seemed relevant.

[Eric P]

Now that CO has made pot legal, there's been a huge influx of turds migrating here just so they can legally smoke weed. And guess what? Nobody will hire these dreadlocked, tattooed, pierced, smelly turds even if they DID want to work! "Let's legalize marijuana, it won't cause any problems!" Oh no, not at all.
Grrrrr

This summer, I went to Telluride for the 1st time in a few years. Our group decided to have lunch in the park and there were two 20 something year olds playing hacky sack. Listening to them you could tell they were stoned and were smoking weed in public. As we were leaving they approached us and asked if they could have what was left in the cooler. I said no. They asked why, and I asked them why do they deserve any of our stuff, what have you done to earn this? This was a play off of what I heard them chatting about, how they couldn't get a job, how the gov was wasting money on the military, THC = total hacky control and other nonsense. They kept following us to the parking lot, get a bit more aggressive in their asking. Well as soon as I open the hatch of my truck to put the cooler in, I think they saw the rifle case in the back and quickly disappeared.

But this is the 1st time I had been to Telluride and saw this type of begging. I have seen them on the main street playing music, but not like this. Coincidence with the new pot laws? I think it is a direct consequence of the new laws. I have nothing against people using drugs, but this is the reason we need drug testing for gov handouts, let Darwin win a few more times.