I met a young guy about 4 years ago who came to my shop asking for work. I talked with him for a few minutes and he basically said he was desparate and homeless. It was raining. I gave him a few hours work which he did poorly and I let him stay at my house for a day. Make that a few more then a week and a month. He was there a while, always doing just enough to get by and always eating and smoking a lot which I paid for so long as he would stay busy. Then he got so he was worthless as a helper because he stayed out til 3 am nightly and usually came home drunk. So I asked him to move. He said that is how "bad" the last family treated him. So when I first met him he had been kicked out for the exact same behavior.
So it is Christmas time and my son sees this same guy today on the street with a homeless sign. We took him to the shop and gave him twenty minutes work and I paid him the only cash I had $5 in my pocket and he told me he had made $40 standing on the corner acting homeless. Actually he is living with a guy he has known since high school in a huge, luxurious home. (The same place he got kicked out of just before I met him)
He also has my last five dollars.
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Blogs by wordsenchanting:
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SallyF
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Dec 13 @ 11:29PM
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Good for your karma :-)
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madamegeek
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Dec 13 @ 11:36PM
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Five dollars is not a high price for the valuable lesson that you are still impelled to kindness even if it may be abused.
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Journeyhawk
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Dec 13 @ 11:37PM
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I get a lot of mixed emotions when I read something like this. If someone truly needs help I will help them. I will not help a beggar on the street. They absolutely - and without a doubt - make (sometimes) hundreds of dollars a day. I make a little over $8.00 an hour and have bills up my behind that I am lucky to get paid every month.
I worked in a women's Domestic Violence shelter for a short time several years ago. We had a woman come into the shelter who got the crap beat out of her because she did not make her "quota" of $400 for the day. Our city was supposed to have cracked down on these people but they are still out there begging. There is a saying that God helps those who help themselves. I don't think that was exactly the concept that the Lord was referring to.(street begging). I may have a sucky attitude, but if I have to work and make a little more than minimum wage, so can these people. They are just too lazy, in my humble opinion.
Quite a few of the street people do not want to go to the homeless shelters in town because they have to abide by the rules. They prefer to not live by anyone's rules but their own. I am going to stop while I am ahead.
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xoSweetAngelxo
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Dec 13 @ 11:40PM
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I think it was very nice of you to help him even if some people abuse other's kindness.  I wish you and yours a very Happy Holiday season.
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onoudn
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Dec 13 @ 11:44PM
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The thing I hate most about these types of discussions is they always focus on whether the homeless are honest and deserving, and never on the fraud, waste, and abuse of the public funded programs and faith-based organization that are getting rich of the misfortune of others. It really bothers me being a Veteran and knowing that some of the people being exploited are Veteran. In fact, the latest stats indicate that one in every four homeless person is a Veteran. Instead of blogging about we should be writing our congressional reps and other public officials to do something. Talk is cheap.
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cartay25
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Dec 13 @ 11:46PM
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At least you tried, the next person might actually be someone in need. Sorry about your $5 but one day it will come back to you.
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Journeyhawk
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Dec 13 @ 11:49PM
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onoudn,
You have a valid point. 
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xoSweetAngelxo
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Dec 13 @ 11:59PM
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I agree with cartay25 it will come back to you, karma can be a great thing.
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wordsenchanting
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Dec 14 @ 12:05AM
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Talk is indeed cheap but congressmen cost money. You can write until you are blue in the face but no amount of government involvement will affect the homeless situation in America. The government is far too "out of touch" for that. I have not simply dealt with this one case in point but with hundreds. There were a few I could actually help but they represent the 1%. If you want to help the homeless, get to know them. Invest your life and not your money. Give a meal, not a 5 dollar bill. I knew this kid I paid him generously for what I owed him.
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WouldntItBeGr8To
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Dec 14 @ 12:21AM
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Giving money most likely won't help. There is a good chance it will go for booze or smokes. Money is too hard to come by as we all know, especially the homeless.
Give money to a charity, you know it is headed in the right direction.
Peace and good will to all men/women.
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JeansToTight
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Dec 14 @ 9:52AM
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First ,,,,kudos for you for giving ,and learning a lesson .
The thing I hate most about these types of discussions is they always focus on whether the homeless are honest and deserving, and never on the fraud, waste, and abuse of the public funded programs and faith-based organization that are getting rich of the misfortune of others
because its not about the public funded programs its about people sitting on there ass's begging for money when they could get a job.
When "we" see it with our own lesson ......Not sure it matters who or what "they" were.
if they won't work for a dollar like the rest of us....dishonest is dishonested......period
Sorry but most of these types ,,,,,sit and make more money then most middle wage people do.
There are place's they can go......But some ,not all choose not to...
Why is it,these types of people think.....everyone else should care for them??????
Why ??? because ,,we live in a world ,,who likes to blame anyone else,,for there miss haps,,,,when it might be karma biting them in there butts.
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Journeyhawk
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Dec 14 @ 10:06AM
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when it might be karma biting them in there butts. I never thought of this angle, but you just may be right about this. Good (sharp) point! Ouch! 
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EternalFlame
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Dec 14 @ 10:26AM
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Have you ever been to San Fransisco? I love the street people there...the street performers. There are two people I donate to every single time I visit the city....the man that makes up rhymes at the base of the stairs to Ghirardelli square, and the 'Bush Man' near Fisherman's Wharf. I know these guys make hundreds of dollars a day, but the smile they put on my face is well worth the $5 I toss in the bucket 
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Journeyhawk
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Dec 14 @ 10:59AM
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I know these guys make hundreds of dollars a day, but the smile they put on my face is well worth the $5 I toss in the bucket The only place I have been in San Fran is the airport while passing through. I am not a city person - per se. I am glad that the individuals you speak of are halfway decent.
Most of the homeless I have seen around here work the system for all it is worth. I knew of one individual, in particular, who was receiving government assistance for housing. She had been a street person and finally was lucky enough to get an apartment of her own. She continued to beg even though she received help. On the side, she had a gambling problem. She would also sublet to anyone that she could coerce into getting money from. She would go to the flea market and into stores and steal. Karma finally got her in the butt and she was evicted from her apartment.
Many years ago, I was a single mother with two children, living on Welfare and $200 a month - with two children to take care of. I worked hard, went to school and became self-supporting. I had the will, the determination, and I did it. I never owned a car of my own until I was 40 years old. I walked everywhere I went. It was a way of life.
Most of the street people I see work the system and have problems with substance abuse. The want to continue in their begging lifestyles and do not want to better themselves. Since I knew the struggle and also know that "one" can get off the system if they want to do so, I don't have they sympathy for these people. I will help anyone in need, but not people who refuse to try and at least make an effort to help themselves.
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Jankia
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Dec 14 @ 6:03PM
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Homeless prople are as different as everyone else.Some with that label are hard working people,some are scammers,some are disabled, some are just lazy freeloaders etc.That was great that you offered work and gave to help out one,because he was a scammer doesnt mean they all are.While working in Minneapolis years ago I watched an elderly man pleading for anything on the street corner all afternoon.I went up and gave him $10,I didnt know if it were for drugs,alchohol or what he would do with it until after I gave it to him.
He walked across the street to another homeless man and took him to a local diner closeby and they both had a meal on that 10 bucks.
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ttomtarr
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Dec 14 @ 6:49PM
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When I lived at Venice beach in California I knew several panhandlers. They bummed for money whenever they saw a mark (likely donor) and most of them had enough cash in pocket to buy the things they panhandled for.
There are various types of homeless, and many will not bum (panhandle or beg).
I lived in my van several times, usually in the Florida keys. It was a lot of fun, with lots of time to swim, fish, and share some adult beverages with friends. Jobs were always available, but I prefered to take it easy. If I needed cash, I could always get a job. It was and is, a matter of choice.
When I hear people whine of no work, I look at the Mexicans I know, who don't know our culture, arrive here poor, and can't speak english when they come. Yet I see them, get jobs, work hard, learn our ways, get promoted, and have a good life, with home, friends, and money. I have seen poor black Hatians do the same. The commonality is that they work hard.
Where there is will there's a way.
Where there is whine there is usually wine.
That is what Ttomtarr thinks.
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LovelyLady48
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Dec 24 @ 1:40PM
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Hi Again,
I always look at the situation this way, if I feel "compelled" to give money, no matter what it is used for..(I know what it is like to have children to feed, and sometimes that is what those signs read)
once the money has left my hands, once a fellow was so downtrodden looking, I wasn't too sure so I wrapped a $5.00 bill around 2 quarters and tossed it at the guys feet, not sure if he should approach my car (God forgive me.....I thought to myself) but after leaving my hands as I said, then it is not for me to decide, for I am not the one who judges, and he wasn't holding a MD 20/20 bottle, or any kind of pipe so who am I to say... I am NOT restrictive religious, more spiritual, and have some beliefs some don't like, and if I lose sleep it is not because of THAT! I simply cannot judge who is and who is not worthy of what very little help I can give, and I do know that if I have ever not given because of a preconcieved notion, and some child could have eaten that day, I feel badly, because I do think of things like that when I do not help someone, but there are always so many here in the winter, and still having a minor child (16) I cannot run myself out of rent, food, and other essentials money
All Blessings,
Shirley
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Loyalover
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May 18 @ 1:39AM
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L.M.A.O.!!!
I'm suddenly reminded of how when one day in desperate (dire) straights...[on our way to getting a job and the dollar store thereafter for bread in Los Angeles,CA.] My brother and I were walking along when suddenly we were approached by some homeless guys...as we neared them on our way past them,my brother whispered to me {knowing I was feeling weary from a days hunting for recyclables and was in NO mood to have someone mooch money or beg from me/us} and had said;"Let me handle these guys,I know just what to say"...and when one of them approached us..with his mouth brimming full of cockamaymee rhetoric and jive readied to be spewn upon fellow homeless men,my brother lurched forward to this guy as he was spewing his "brother got a dime" speech..my brother overlaid his words almost in direct unison with these;"Hey! Can you spare a Dollar?!"--with which the guy reeled back saying; "Damn,you guys ARE desperate...worse than me even...geez, A Dollar!"
Needless to say the others just stared at us as we went our merry way grinning...I told my brother I had plenty of change I would've gave the guy a quarter,but appreciated him stopping the idiot from bothering me after a long day of grinding 4 penny scrap...(recyclables is the key to a lot of problems,folks!) Pollution sux!!  Give a h00t,don't pollute! 
Yeah...homeless is as homeless does! 
I guess $5.00 coulda' got ya' a gallon of gas or a subway sandwich or cigs...but then,what will people that exploit the misfortune of the unfortunate or paupers get when they TRULY need help?---like the lady said;KARMA.
When asked what he attributed his longevity to;my Great Grandfather (whom lived to be over 100 and was a leap year baby at that) said;"I mind my own business and after working hard all day I eat two solid meals each day and then relax with my pipe" He was chopping firewood at 98 y.o. and was father to a large family! Agrarian society,wherefore art thou now?!  
Motto for the day:~"Let go & let God".  
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