Or schmooze you into some nonsense that you don't want to hear about?
I agree. I had one woman come up to me like this was her JOB and tell me she needed money for the motel where her kids were staying. Then a few feet away there was another guy begging for gas money. Right. They would just hang in this same shopping center annoying everyone. It was like a group of hustlers.
But, this has nothing to do with people who are suffering. I want to help the needy. Just not the hustlers.
I've seen things very similar to that as well. They say they are from out of town and need gas money to get home. If you tell them to pull their car up to the bay and you'll put gas in it, they have a hundred excuses why they can't.
I ride the bus to and from work everyday, so I'm downtown twice a day. Our homeless population seems to be growing. I talk to them, so long as they aren't talking crazy.
I give them cash. I don't need to talk about it. I can't help more than giving some encouragement. I don't want to hear about it, I can't help. I have no time to take to save them. I try and give a dollar or two when I see someone with a sign or something.
I have fed the homeless. I have not done so in so long, it is hard to say I still DO it. But I belong to a center that is very involved in doing just that. I did it for 3 years straight, bi- weekly on Sundays. It was a very arduous task as far as getting there and making oatmeal and schlepping it over to the other side of Phoenix. And, I confess, I got out of the habit.
So, I try and give what I can until I can do more. I am not good at chatting up anyone who needs help because I cannot help.
i dont avoid the homeless cause ive been there, one of the churches i go to on friday nights near me feeds the homeless before church and anyone else that wants to eat and then they have a church service, a lot of them stay for the service too. i cant judge them cause ive been one myself
Art Lover 