Greetings ~
We don't have the homeless problem that many cities have around here. But we still have panhandlers standing at the corners begging for a dollar or more. Cities all over America are plaqued today with these people. You can't hardly see a corner without someone sitting in a lawnchair somewhere with a slab of cardboard in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Help me! No, help me! No help me! It really gets old.
Now, I know that a few of these folks are really down and out. But why? Could it be because they want to be? Let's face it, how many of them that are handed a business card and told to call in the morning for a job actually will do it?
Several years ago, I watched a news show on TV that reported on a guy in New York City that panhandled all day long. Then at around 5:00 pm he walked three blocks to a parking garage. I thought at first he may be living there. No, he parked his Mercedes Benz there. He would change from his "street" clothes back into his sports clothes and drive to the gym to workout then head home to his two bedroom very nice apartment. As they talked to him he showed his day's take on the street corner. $761. And he said he had had better days. He explained that he makes, on the average, around $4,000 a month panhandling. The news reporter asked the man if he had a problem showing his lifestyle on national television. After all, people would see him and not give anymore. The man said that the average citizen was stupid and would never connect the two. So he wasn't worried. $4,000 a month average and paying no taxes on it either. Not bad! And this was around 15 or 20 years ago that I watched it.
I have never given to a panhandler. I do give to charities but I want to know they are legal. I honestly believe that the kids at St. Jude Children's Cancer Hospital are much more important than some 6-foot, 2-inch bozo on a street corner. So are the kids at the Shriner's Hospital and the veterans at the VA Hospitals across the country. Wounded Warriors for example. They really need your money. And there are more.
So, the next time you hand that $5 bill out the car window to some worthless bum on the street because he's wearing a fake Veteran's hat that he bought at an Army Surplus store for $3, and you feel so good now, remember what that money could have done for those children's hospitals. But the creep on the street in now having a beer at the corner bar with your $5.
But I will have to admit, some of the creeps are funny. So I have dedicated this blog to the few that acually know how to spell and make a sign. May they live long enough to get a real job.
Many homeless situations are NOT funny ~
But the following needs credit for creativity at least.