How do you handle street people asking for money?

[HKaltwasser]

I was born & raised in South Austin, been here for 54 years. Growing up we didn't have homeless/street people as we see now but we did have hobos passing thru. My experiences were with train hoppers since we lived close to a train track. These folk, mostly men, would come up to the house and ask to speak to my parents. They would politely ask for water and/or a meal but offered to do some work in exchange. The work could be raking leaves, picking up workshop trash, splitting wood or just a good conversation with my parents. Now, for the most part, it's a sorry lot of liars-druggies-drunks-lazies that take advantage of one of Austin's mistakes: allowing/protecting them with little demands from them. When they try to hit me up, I try not to acknowledge them, say no or wave them off.

Just curious, did you grow up near the Slaughter/ Manchaca train tracks?

 

[craigntx]

Sometimes i Tell em they can make a couple bucks washing my truck

 

[Big Green]

Sometimes i Tell em they can make a couple bucks washing my truck

And how does that work out?

 

[craigntx]

And how does that work out?

They either dont want to do it or over value their labor.
I once offered a street girl a chance to make a sex movie and she tried to hit me lol

 

[kenboyles72]

When they ask for money, I just wave them off and say no. But, if I can help someone out another way; jump, tow/push, etc, I will.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Ask them if they can break a $100.

You can't, sorry......

 

[BillFairbanks]

I explain how much debt I’m in because of the guns and ammo I recently bought. They usually end up giving me cash.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ROGER4314]

It goes like this:
"Do I look like I have any money?"
Then I tap them for some spare change.

I do that all the time!

Flash

 

[bigwheel]

The aggresive demcrat pan handlers in Dallas like to wait for folks to get stopped in traffic..run up and wash their windshield uninvited and demand money. Thats where pepper spray could come in real handly.

 

[gshayd]

Don;t have any cash on me and walk on bye

 

[Charlie]

No "street" people in Kerrville.

 

[Hoji]

If I know I am going to be in an area that has an abundance of feral humans, I open carry. Works like deet on the homeless.

If I am not OCing, a simple no works great.

 

[toddnjoyce]

No "street" people in Kerrville.

One of the things I like about that place.

Last time I was in San Angelo (2011), none there either.

 

[BuzzinSATX]

I used to keep 15-20 $1 bills in the console and hand out a few dollars to folks back when panhandling was uncommon. Then, it got stupid popular, so I got more selective who got a handout.

Fast forward a few months, and while sitting in my car a long way back from a red light, I saw a "homeless guy shift change". What happened was I watched a "homeless dude get out of a late model passenger van, walk up to the guy already on the street, and the guy on the corner walked over to the van. He got in and the van left, with the new guy now on the corner. The van, with several other homeless looking folks, drove away.

I'm now convinced it is an organized effort, and I won't give them squat.

ON a funny note, I saw a guy on an intersection with a sign asking for "donations" to help him get to OK City...but the funny thing was the sign wasn't the typical cardboard marker sign, it was a white laminated sign with large letters, professionally made by some shop. I couldn’t believe some folks were funding the guy!

 

[Jakashh]

I just carry some crack rocks with me everywhere I go. Whenever someone approaches me and tells me a sob story I just hand them a rock out of my pocket. Cuts out the middleman for them.

 

[Big Green]

I open carry. Works like deet on the homeless.

 

[Moonpie]

The mooches that really torque me off are the ones that bother you while you’re seated eating at a restuarant.
Its always the same B.S.
My name is Joe Blow. I’m from (a town about 50-75miles away) and my car broke down, ran out of gas, or whatever. Can you give me something?

 

[craigntx]

I couldn’t believe some folks were funding the guy!

I had a condo in galvez next to the walmart and one day a guys parked illegally pretending like he ran out of gas right there, mooching.
Next day guy is in the same spot, same scam.
I rush down there just as a girl is giving him some cash and loudly proclaim "hey it's kinda funny you ran out of gas in this same spot yesterday"
Good times

 

[Chili Palmer2]

Just curious, did you grow up near the Slaughter/ Manchaca train tracks?

Man, that was the sticks(rural) when I was growing up. No, I grew up by one of the Gateways to South Austin, off of South Lamar/Treadwell. This part of South Austin was so semi-rural that our caliche rock street was paved around 1970. A lot of open land in the pre-Slaughter area which was great for a kid that liked spending time outside.

 

[TxStetson]

Back when I lived in Corpus Christi, they had a horrendous homeless problem. There was actually a “homeless city” in Flour Bluff on a large parcel of land owned by a Canadian Corporation. Finally the state stepped in and cleared out that little shanty town and ran everyone off. Then they set up on the beach in an area that was between where Nueces County ended Padre Island National Seashore started. This few miles of beach was in Kleeburg county, but was hardly ever patrolled because the Kleeburg Sheriff’s Deputies had to make a couple hour road trip through Corpus Christi to get to their little 3 miles of beach. So the homeless and the meth heads started living there together, and collecting stolen vehicles and some old junky RV’s and tent/cardboard dwellings. That was a very rough area for a few years. Finally the State Police came in and ran them out of there and brought a dozer in to drag all the vehicles and RV’s off the beach. I moved out of the area around that time so I have no idea where they all settled after that.