Secrets of the City

The guy at the bus stop this morning was asking for $1, which is way more than anyone’s ever asked for from me. He (or so he says) lives in Apple Valley where he just left “his woman” and has “worked his whole life” but now needs to “just get back on [his] feet” with at least $1 from me, which he did not get because I was listening to my iPod.

and all I have is $20s anyway b/c that’s all the ATM gives out.

Wouldn’t know if they’re neccessarily scamming or not, but I get asked for the wierdest amounts…like 37 or 51 cents. Hey, if you’re gonna ask, may as well round it up…

Maybe he really was looking for an Absolut Raspberripolitan!

Don’t forget to verify your age!

“What’s the deal here in Minneapolis? Are these people legit, or are most of them scamming the tender-hearted freeway drivers?”

i don’t understand this question. what exactly is a “legit” beggar? One who really needs the money? why would they be begging if they didn’t need it? do you think they do it for fun?

Don’t get me wrong. i never give money to beggars, because I think that it encourages them to continue doing something that ultimately doesn’t help them. But that doesn’t stop the fact that they really are at a low point in their life and need help- some kind of help from somebody.

Nate, I used to think this way too. Then I met this guy Jerry in Kansas City that pan-handled on a daily basis. He had the same line, “Can you spare some change for a down-payment on a cheeseburger?” After giving Jerry money several times, I found out that he, in fact, owned a home and had plenty of money. He just saw pan-handling as prefereable to a normal job. From then on out, I stopped giving money to people on the street and instead donate it to organizations like the United Way that help people through proper channels.

Nate- I think he means beggars out there that make bank on handouts and are able to get legit work, and often already do, but would rather just get handouts…

One day, my wife rode the 10 to work in C-Heights, along with one particularly loud sign-holder who had turf somewhere along 694. Quoth the holder:

People ask me what I do for a living, so I say: "I’m a beggar. Gimme five bucks!"

I don’t give them any money, but then I don’t have take highway offramps, either. Clearly there’s a market for that kind of art, if not this:

I bought a product red phone, which helps Africans, who have never asked me for anything.

Last Sunday I did actually give some cash to a guy on the street. I was sitting in my car on 9th in front of Haskell’s waiting to pick someone up.

A man talking on a cell phone obviously distressed came over to my open window and asked for $1.50 to get home to his group home in Richfield. Then showed me his Catholic Charities group home card. He said he had AIDS and was at HCMC to get his pills and his transfer ran out. I gave him $2 then watched as he went down to Nicollet and hopped on an 18 heading south.

In college I lived in income based housing for a while run by the Catholic Charities and paid $0.50 cents a month since I had no income. I figured I still owe them a debt. The Catholic Charities people are good folks.

They’re total professionals/freelancers or are working for “The MAN”. Now, I am not sure who “The MAN” is, but I’d be willing to bet that they have ties to big oil, etc.

I’ve given money to a lady that was in need of bus money, she was rifling through her wallet in line with us and was surprized that she hadn’t any change.

I carry cans of Spam, bottles of Ripple and old army surplus wool blankets in my car for the sign carriers. You should see their dirty and haggard faces light up with awe and appreciation as I roll down my window, and thrust a blanket, bottle and can into the arms. Sometimes I include a copy of the Holy Scriptures as well, for good measure.

Sometimes, as I drive away, I hear their happy cries of joy. Some even drop their gifts and do a jig of pure joy, or chase after my car to thank me.

My friends and I were approached by a man and woman in a Perkins parking lot in Highland (now Chatterbox Pub) a couple years ago. They had this really convincing story about coming down to the cities from up north and now they were stranded and their 14-year-old daughter was really sick and they needed money to take a Greyhound home since they had no car. My friend is easily swayed, believed their story and handed them a $20. We watched as they turned around, jumped in a van and left the scene. Amazing.

What I like are the kind of folks who are “just passing through,” but are a couple moving from Millville to Litchfield, and aren’t the least bit stranded. They will meet you at the Bridge Street Subway in Owatonna and smoke you up. Sorry if I don’t remember your names, but that was like 10 years ago and I only remember that one of you is a very fetching lady named something polysyllabic like Desdamona.

Something very similar must have happened when I lived in Mankato, but those 22 months are pretty blurry.

I work in a professional office in the warehouse district on the first floor. We often get riff raff who come in from the sidewalk and ask for money at the front desk. One guy came in at 3:30 on a Thursday afternoon. He said he had a favor to ask: He needed $18 because his daughter was in a car accident that morning and he needed to get her car out of the impound lot. Or maybe take a cab to the impound lot. I interrupted him before he was done and said “Sorry. We can’t help you.” Then he asked to see a manager and tried to finish his schpeel. Finally one of my larger male coworkers wheeled his chair out of his cubicle and said again “We can’t help you.” And he muttered some rude comments and left.

That guy was not legit.

$18??? Come on.

I once gave $10 to a guy who said he simply wanted to buy smokes and beer. Seemed like an honest chap to me.

Some of these comments make Minnesotans look really DUMB.

You’ve never been anywhere where there’s professional beggars?
You’ve actually fallen for their parking lot stories?

Wow. No wonder L.A. boy wonders what the deal is with people here.

My favorites were the guys on The Mall in DC who would try and sell you the free maps for a $1. I wonder how many tourists they conned? BTW, I wasn’t one of them…

that doesn’t stop the fact that they really are at a low point in their life and need help- some kind of help from somebody.

Nevermind themselves.

Some of these comments make Minnesotans look really DUMB.

Wow. No wonder L.A. boy wonders what the deal is with people here.

I think that it’s been established that there are professional beggars here. And also, if people in L.A. make professional begging possible, obviously there are people there that fall for it too, huh?
Smartass.

The Dude, from Los Angeles. And even if he’s a lazy man – and the Dude was most certainly that. Quite possibly the laziest in all of Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin’ for laziest worldwide.

From The Big Lebowski, from Minnesota filmmakers, the Coen Brothers.

I used to pack an extra sandwich and soda in my lunch a few times a week to make sure the “Absolute desperation” guy had something to eat. In the winter I gave him a Starbucks card I had been given as an Xmas gift. I didn’t want it and I figured he’d like an excuse to hang out in a nice warm place for at least a few minutes.

What I have noticed in the last few weeks is that now there are two guys and a gal that use the same sign at the exact same intersection. Does this make it an enterprise?

andrew…I want smokes and a beer and my mortgage paid for a month

Did you wanna run off with this guy?

He’s got a point; the beggars in Chicago are much craftier. I broke down and gave a stranded girl with a cat a dollar. It was more for the cat though.

You realize that the cat probably went straight out and spent your money on catnip or meth, don’t you?

I get really disturbed when I see people panhandling with a pet. I saw a panhandler with an obviously underfed dog and I couldn’t help but feel that it was done intentionally so that people would give the man money for the sake of the dog. I believe someone reported it to animal welfare but whether anything was done, who knows.

“Eat your dog.”

I feel bad for the pets but I don’t think I’d feel able to take away a source of companionship or comfort from a homeless person. Particularly if it means that the animal will end up at the Humane Society where it will likely be destroyed.

It might get adopted. A lot do, but I don’t know the success rate.

I do think if you can’t adequately take care of yourself you shouldn’t drag a pet into the picture.

My wife and I were hiking the Applachian Trail a couple years back. Got to talking to couple women who said they were going to whole trip, Georgia to I think Maine. They had a dog with them.

In don’t think the dog knew he signed on for that.

I know an animal can be a wonderful companion for someone in desperate straights, but the dog I saw with the homeless man was so thin I could count its ribs. If it were my dog, I’d feel so sad seeing him like that I would surrender him to a shelter with a no-kill policy – perhaps one with a foster program – in hopes that he’d have a better life or I might be able to get him back one day.