In this month’s Rake, Brad Zellar gets the real story on the panhandlers who work the Broadway and Washington intersection, sparechanging their way from Jug Liquor to B.J.’s and back again. Zellar notes, “A guy is given an opportunity to hold down a spot and make some cash, but everybody seems to have a clear concept of when enough is enough; when somebody’s obviously wearing out his welcome, the others who are waiting around won’t hesitate to let him know.” I personally witnessed an extremely violent, uh, lack of hesitation two weeks ago, when one vagrant approached his drunken brethren with a worn down two-by-four and started beating him away from a prime spot on the median. It was not yet noon, and the combination of bright daylight and the blasé reaction of the observing drivers — who had to swerve around the victim as he was herded into one of the traffic lanes — made the prolonged, clumsy skirmish seem completely unreal. Zellar mentions that “if I encounter one of them at a red light, I give him some spare change or a buck.” In a world where the value of high-yield Broadway turf is increased with every dollar passed out the window, how do you deal with the downtrodden?
Straight From The Mouth Of Bums
Aug 2 2005 — 2:00am
12 Reader Comments
2:02 am
Like all good yuppies, I guiltily look away and pretend I don’t see them.
10:10 am
I’ve mastered the ability to stare right at them and ignore them at the same time. I’m certain they respect me for that.
12:26 pm
The only time I’ve ever given one of those guys money is when my car broke down right next to one of them and I knew I was going to have to wait for the tow truck next to the guy. If they actually needed it to live, I’d feel differently, but I need my spare change so I can get MYSELF drunk.
12:49 pm
Look, all I can say in my defense is that I have a lot of guilt, and nothing makes me happier when I’m sitting in my air conditioned car at a red light and blasting…um, blasting…let’s go with blasting Gerry Rafferty, than to turn some poor fella’s frown upside down (insert one of those super cute key-stroke smiley faces I don’t know how to make here).
Plus, I’m way loaded.
And three of my four siblings are homeless drunks.
5:42 pm
Zellar certainly killed that thread!
8:06 pm
Related: I saw a guy on Broadway this morning at the 94 on-ramp with a sign that said WHITE NEED BEER.
4:05 am
Brad,
I’m glad it makes you happy, and I didn’t mean to be (very) snarky. I just think you’re throwing your money away and not actually making these guys’ lives any better, unless giving them the means to go buy a bottle of Listerine and suck it down for the alcohol content is making their lives better.
9:14 am
An old co-worker of mine once told me about about a time when he was approached by a man asking for change. The dude gave the usual “I need food, yadda yadda yadda”. After talking with the begger for a few minutes about his situation, he learned that the dude just wanted some food and a place to stay. But instead of giving a begger spare change, he walked him to a small market and bought out their selection of pens/pencils. He then gave all the pens/pencils to this man and told him that if he really wanted that stuff he had to work for it. He told him to sell these items on the street to business people/students. Months later one day during lunch we were walking around downtown and there was this same dude selling pens and notebooks and folders. He remember my coworker, thanked him and apparently he was able to get a little change in his pocket and even afford a place to stay.
10:22 am
My favorite is the guy whose car got towed away and needs money to get it out so he can get to work. I’ve had the same guy give me this routine at the exact same place on consecutive days and even encountered him on the other side of town several YEARS later delivering the same routine. I tell you, one day that guy is going to get enough money to get his car out…and then the sky’s the limit.
11:08 am
Did that guy start off by asking you if “you like to do kind things for people”? He’s hit me up a few times.
12:34 am
[sarcasm]Why don’t you just give malt liquor right to the vagrants there at the intersection? Cut out the extra step. [/sarcasm]
Next time you feel guilty, donate to a homeless shelter instead. You’ll do more good that way.
12:53 am
The same thing happened to me that happened to Adam (car got towed away and needs money to get it out so he can get to work) except I was in Dallas. I fell hard for this one. A few days later my wife saw the same guy pulling the same stunt. Ever since then, it has been so easy to ignore these guys and just give them a straight NO! Foster is right, I only donate to church sponsored programs from now on.