I tried to give a homeless man my nacho chips and he turned me down

**cicy33** · 08-10-2007, 07:10 PM

Or perhaps he should not be so picky! I think fat and calories are the least of his worries. I am sorry but if you are begging for food and someone offers it to you, and you refuse it then you are not truly hungry. Truly hungry people eat whatever they can find.

**simpleyme** · 08-10-2007, 08:42 PM

for some reason people who are hard core drinkers cannot seem to eat anything other than peanuts or jerky-- that observation is from my years in retail

there was an old guy who lived at the mission he would cruise about our neighborhood picking up cans ,we always gave him ours ,one day we tried to give him food and he did not want it , he said the mission fed him he just needed money for cigs and beer ,while we appriciated his honesty we never gave him cans again

**rob62521** · 09-01-2007, 06:35 AM

My dh has been giving change to the panhandler near the library (where dh works) and some of his coworkers told him to stop. When the guy hit him up this week, dh said, "My coworkers told me I shouldn't do this so I'm not going to give you any money." After looking at the guy, dh said he was pretty decently dressed and probably used the "change" for cigs. The guy went on without an argument which is good.

**n_vizion** · 09-12-2007, 02:28 AM

That's funny that the guy had the nerve to actually go up to your husband and follow up with him about not giving his daily allotment of change.

**Broken Arrow** · 09-12-2007, 04:59 AM

I don't give professional panhandlers out there anything. Yes, there are professional panhandlers out there. My favorite one is this guy works at an intersection with a cast and crutches. During his "lunch break", he would pick up his crutches and walk over to a nearby McDonalds with his cast still on.

There are plenty of people who are worthy of our charity, but I find that professional panhandlers are not one of them.

**Aleta** · 09-12-2007, 10:29 AM

If a person is homeless and with their hand out - how can they say what they are going to eat. If you're truly homeless and hungry, you'll take whatever is given to you.

There is a verse in the bible that says if a man doesn't work he shouldn't eat. It sounds a little hard but I've heard it said that the worst thing you can do is to put money into someones hands that don't work. I'm all for giving people food or clothing. I have gone to McDonald's and bought food for someone that I knew was hungry and they didn't refuse it. You have to wise as a serpent with people like this.

**rob62521** · 09-14-2007, 03:41 PM

Originally posted by n_vizion View Post

That's funny that the guy had the nerve to actually go up to your husband and follow up with him about not giving his daily allotment of change.

Guess he felt entitled. Pretty sad, eh?

**InDebtInDC** · 09-16-2007, 04:22 AM

How about the fact that a lot of homeless people have untreated mental problems?

Our health care system doesn't help uninsured people.

**Viriatha** · 09-16-2007, 04:26 AM

Truth in that. Were I homeless, I'm afraid I'd have had to turn down the nachos, too. Untreated gallstones hate them.

**Aleta** · 09-17-2007, 07:45 AM

Well, when you are hungry - you are not thinking about your gall stones. Your're trying to survive and what you need is survival food not health food. I constantly buy cans of food for the hurricane season that I wouldn't normally consume everyday, but I know when push comes to shove that that canned food might look pretty good to me. I've already been there in that situation with Hurricane Andrew.

If someone is being choosey, you shoudn't give that person the time of day. Tell them to take their energy over to the next McDonald's and get a job or to a grocery store as a bag boy. I see alot of older and retired men working that I know for a fact have health problems and would probably benefit from being at home and doing chores around the house.

**budgetmom** · 09-17-2007, 12:04 PM

I just thought I would add my two cents to this post, considering that I've been homeless before.
O.K. I admit that there are a LOT of scam artists and such out there that take advantage of every opportunity to get something while they sit on there duff and do nothing. There are just as many individuals out there who are truely struggling. The change guy, I don't know, sounds like a scammer to me.
The homeless man on the other hand...
People may be homeless, but it doesn't mean they are starving.
Maybe he got a meal at the local shelter earlier and wasn't hungry when you offered. Maybe he didn't want to accept the offer because of pride. Maybe pride played a role in that he just didn't want to eat after someone else (Think about it. Would you want to?) I mean, the guy is homeless, but he's still human-with all his human faults.
n vision, I say you did a good deed in offering, even though he didn't accept. You have a truely positive attitude about your offer being declined also.

If someone is being choosey, you shoudn't give that person the time of day. Tell them to take their energy over to the next McDonald's and get a job or to a grocery store as a bag boy. I see alot of older and retired men working that I know for a fact have health problems and would probably benefit from being at home and doing chores around the house.

Here is the problem:
In order to get a job at these places you have to report an address for tax purposes. Homeless people don't have addresses.

**simpleyme** · 09-17-2007, 12:43 PM

sure they do ,my Drunken uncle always received mail at my grandmas house

my homeless by choice brother gives out my address as his, i am sorry like most homeless are concerned about taxes puleeze

**Viriatha** · 09-17-2007, 01:10 PM

Actually, you are thinking of your gall stones. You're remembering being doubled over in pain worse than labor (I've had 2 kids, I know); you're remembering how you're just going to throw it up later anyhow and so you still won't get anything out of it so why eat it in the first place?

I spent 3 months on the street at 19 and didn't scruple to steal from dumpsters when I was hungry enough (yeah, it's gross but I lived through it) but I couldn't do that now. Thank god, I'm no longer homeless. I doubt I'd survive it these days.

Thank god for the good friends I have and all the blessings the gods have seen fit to shower me with. I'm frequently broke and often carefully picking and choosing what I buy with the dollar that stretches so thin these days.... but I have a roof and people who care about me. I have a computer and enough clothes to go a week without doing laundry.

**Viriatha** · 09-17-2007, 01:22 PM

You know, I'm going to double post here because this just reminded me of a story. I was in my early twenties and dating a man who could cook well enough to do things like stroganoff without a recipe or a box. There was a rice dish I grew up with and I made it for him, hoping to impress. I was nervous about it and really wanted him to like it.

He was also in his early twenties and like most of us at that age, braindead on the subject of tact. I got to hear alot of comments about how I could improve the dish (a dash of this spice, a pinch of that) but not one word on his opinion of it. In retrospect, he liked it or he'd not have offered comments on how to make it better but... I was young and didn't hear that part; he was young and didn't say it. Needless to say, I got upset and left the house, got in my car and headed for the river (watching waves is sooooo relaxing).

As I was waiting at a stop light with my window down to catch the evening breeze, a man with a sign "Will work for food" looked at me and said, "You know, it can't be THAT bad! Smile!" and he grinned at me before turning to wave at a different car. The light turned green and I kept going. A few blocks later, I turned around and picked this man up, took him home and fed him.

Why? Because he didn't know me from Adam but went through the trouble to try to cheer me up without wanting anything from me than a chance to earn dinner. From me, that was enough to earn dinner.

Was he a professional panhandler? With that sign, it's entirely possible - they sprout here like flowers during the summer. I didn't care and still don't because when I needed someone to care, he did - proving that no matter what path a person takes in life, they're still and always human and worth my respect and good manners until they prove otherwise.

I tried to give a homeless man my nacho chips and he turned me down