Do you ever Support Street Bums? Why, Why Not?

Yes I have helped what you call street bums.

I don't want to bore you with the details unless you want an example of why I did help.

considering that I have already asked that comment is bizarre.

BTW you prob know how Oly has become over run with bums, the downtown is dying , a sad case of the city leaders not having the first clue about where the money comes from.

No I didn't know about Olympia if that is what you are talking about. That area is south of where I live.

I was in Vegas and everyday I walked down the street to get a pop from a small store. There were 3 guys sitting on the sidewalk and they appeared to be homeless. When I walked by them, I said hi and they said hi back.

On the 4th day I stopped and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. I told them I was going to the store and taking orders. I said they could each have 3 items a piece. I actually told them if they wanted a beer, cigarettes it didn't matter.

It looked like they were shocked. What they asked for was milk, bread, orange juice, water, lunch meat and fruit. I wrote it down, bought the items and on my way back gave it to them. They asked why I did that for them. I told them it was because they didn't ask me for anything everyday I had walked by and because they were nice enough to just say hi.

I was leaving the next day and never saw them again. Sometimes I do believe there are people who could use a little help and they aren't taking advantage of the system.

I had to drive three hours to get to a relative's house. Just off the freeway a guy was standing there with a sign that said "OUT OF WORK" - scruffy and seeking money at the stop sign.

Two months later I returned and he was at the same corner.

I'm considering this as his full-time work.

(A "bum" told my niece, who spotted him at night in an upscale bar, and confronted him, that he made an additional $34,000 each year by pan-handling in San Francisco. )

out here the bums seem to even have a schedule, I very often see shift change were a bum shows up at the corner and the one who was there packs up and leaves. I have been tempted to ask if they have a revenue sharing scheme like the NFL.

A potential revenue "sharing" scheme, where the bums "share" their money with the boss -- some thug who decides which bum is allowed to stand on which street corner -- is the main reason I almost never give money to panhandlers.

I live in a city with 400 homeless and about 20 decent places to panhandle. What determines who gets to beg at the prime spots? Aggression, that's what I expect determines it. If you give money to the people standing on traffic islands, you're not just supporting the hobo lifestyle, you're supporting the most aggressive and violent-mannered among those living that life.

I don't hand over money but I will buy food for them. If I get an argument I explain I earned the money and I get to decide how it is spent. Very few argue - most are happy to get some food.

I posted a few month ago about a guy who hugged me after I bought him a meal. I hope he's doing ok. He seemed like he was on the verge of things going well.