Out of gas in Murray KY on way to AZ

[Gale_Hawkins]

A guy was at Walmart trying to raise money for gas and food in a class C so some others helped out and I topped off tank. Hoping he makes it to Phoenix.

[All_I_could_aff]

I walked over to our local 7/11 store in Hackensack, NJ one day to get a gallon of milk. A pretty young woman came up and said " please can you help me, my car ran our of gas a few blocks away (pointing in the direction of my house)."
I replied " sure! I live over there, let me just drop of this gallon of milk and I'll grab my lawnmower gas can out if my shed"
She replied " no, that's not necessary. If you could, just give me a few dollars and I can get it myself"
I say "but the nearest gas station is a mile away, and you'd have to get a can first!"
Then I saw the light! And wished her luck in her fundraiser

[oldmattb]

I too am skeptical of these stories offered by people on street corners, and have witnessed ample evidence that the stories are generally BS.

Three thoughts:

Give because it makes you feel good.

If you have expectations about how the gift will be used, it is a business transaction and not a gift.

Money handed to people on street corners neglects the people who are bucking addiction, sleeping in shelters, and clawing their way back out. Those people are hoofing the streets looking for work, applying for housing, or patiently waiting their turn at the temporary labor company. Find an organization that really changes lives and consider supporting them.

Matt B

[irishtom29]

Begging is often a guy's business; how he makes his living, his job so to speak. As a free market libertarian guy I defend a person's right to engage in such a business. Nobody says you have to patronize him.

In any event I think many people want to think all beggars are cynical businessmen rather than unfortunates so they can rationalize being miserly and cold hearted--thus the number of no doubt apocryphal stories about beggars with Corvettes and so on.

[Gale_Hawkins]

lbrjet wrote:
Gale, that was a really nice thing you did.

Thanks. This morning I wished I had given him $100 more so he could have bought the third tank. 🙂

It turned out he did have 5 gallons left in his tank when he parked at WM. At 5pm Christmas Eve he really was short on options if he was broke.

He was not lying about being out of gas. He went back to WM and parked for the night like he said. I expected he used the $25 WM card a woman gave him for food as he stated to me.

There are a few posting that the state of your heart concerns me. We need not become automatic zombies towards human needs with out using our brains case by case.

[rockhillmanor]

midnightsadie wrote:
guy on Tv said he makes over $60k a year begging.

YUP!
They did one of the TV reports right here in the Villages in Florida at the Walmart! Largest community of seniors and snowbirds. They consider it the best place for easy pickings.:R

They professional beggars stand on the divider of the driveway out. Many in Military uniforms dragging a poor little child with. 😞 See the SAME ones each time I go there. And they were the ones the reporter was talking to.

AND

VERY sadly I ALWAYS see the seniors stop on the way out and give them money from their limited income. :(:(

Law enforcement need to STOP this. But somehow these people have achieved a 'right' to steal money from the citizens.

Ocala managed, barely, to pass a law to be able to arrest the ones that sit under the overpass and then come out and attack you on the exit ramps. Been there done that, they come up and get in your face and all over your vehicle. Last I heard the ACLU was trying to get that law overturned. double:R

[cbshoestring]

I always wonder where the guy needing a dollar for food, got the money to buy a marker to make the sign :h

Our local panhandle has been know by the locals for over 30 years. Same corner....everyone knows he owns a cadillac.

He has recently been affronted by social media, so he moved to another corner. Probably hoping that people won't know he is "that guy".

The thing that upset DW and I the most....recently he has traded in his tradmark dirty beige jacket and pants, for military style CAMO. His sign still just says "homeless", put you know he is trying to imply a military connection. Pisses me off.

I am sure there are many that do need help...so help if you are so inclined. Giving says more about YOU, whether it is really needed or not. I just prefer to give where I KNOW it is needed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

[lbrjet]

Gale, that was a really nice thing you did.

[mockturtle]

rexlion wrote:
I don't help the ones who ask for money. But I do help people I see who appear to be hard up, and who aren't asking.

X2 Most of those who really need the help aren't out there with the cardboard signs.

[PapaNIes60]

We had a guy approach us at a Colorado Springs Home Depot parking lot within minutes of returning to our TV. This guy was hilarious. He started by saying he was from Oklahoma (I know he looked at our license plate while we were in the store) and proceeded to tell the most amazing story. He was very animated and my DW and I were entertained, while trying to hold our laughter, during his 10 minute presentation of his "dire" situation and his sick little daughter he had to get to. I finally asked him to kindly step away while I and DW discussed his request. I then called him back to our TV and said "I don't really buy your story but you could make a lot of money in the entertainment industry." We gave him $20 and told him that we were giving it to him because he put on a terrific show and gave us a good laugh that will always be remembered. The look on his face was priceless at that point. To us it was $20 well spent. Yes, I know he was going to go buy a bag of dope but that's just the way it is.

[RVcircus]

The pan handlers near us rotate. I've seen a van pull up to drop one off and relieve the other. They're in all of the major shopping centers around us now and this just started a few years ago here. We're pretty far out in the suburbs bordering on where farm land starts and I've never really seen this area before. There's a lot of $$$ in the area, so I guess they're working smart and i'm sure they make a killing.

[nbking]

I saw those people in North Carolina last year. They sure do get around for people who have nothing. Maybe we should all try that scam.

[soren]

coolmom42 wrote:

Gale Hawkins wrote:
A guy was at Walmart trying to raise money for gas and food in a class C so some others helped out and I topped off tank. Hoping he makes it to Phoenix.

Sometimes it's a scam, sometimes it's not.

I figure if I help someone and they are lying/faking, it's on them, not me. If I don't help them, I may have turned my back on someone in need.

A while back a minister who ran a soup kitchen did an experiment. It was in Texas, IIRC. Every time he, and some of his followers, we panhandled for money for food, they hand out a free meal coupon to the soup kitchen. No strings attached, no preaching, just a free hot meal. Six thousand free meal tickets were handed out, a small handful were used! The reason is simple. The vast majority of panhandlers are addicts. Your desire to be sure that you are helping somebody in need, is nothing but assuring that YOUR money is buying THEIR drugs and alcohol.

The best policy is to NEVER hand a dime to anyone who is begging. If they need money for gas, tell them that you are willing to use your credit card to put a few gallon in their tank. If they are hungry, tell them that you will walk them to a local restaurant and prepay for their meal. 99.9% of the time this will get you a response that varies from, "no thanks" to hostility, for one simple reason. You are negotiating with a lying drug addict who has no interest in your charity offering, but wants your cash to score the next fix.

[sjholt]

I see them at every major intersection and major on ramps here in Vegas.
If you look real close- you'll see that all their cardboard signs are hand printed by the same person.
All kind of scams in the Las Vegas area.
Keep you money in your pocket or give to the Salvation Army.

[wildtoad]

I really don't understand how people run out of gas these days, especially more than once. Exception is for those that have a broken gauge, but even then not much of an excuse after the first time.

I'm am glad that the op has the character to help someone in need. Too few do these days.

[egh33]

I just tell them to get outa here, I'm working this side of the street.