Another panhandler's sob story debunked

I had a lot of knocks on the door asking for money, I let them go on and on about their situation and when they are done, depending on what I feel about the amount of truth in their story I will help them out by buying them something or offering them something other than money or if I don't believe them, I offer them some money which they readily accept handing them a bag full of pennies. Most of the time they hand it back to me and say something "nice" about my offer.

When people like painters or electricians came up to my truck, which I had a bunch do when I was in the south, I would ask them what do they have to sell seeing that if they were actually hard up for money for gas or food, I wouldn't hesitate to buy something from them. Only once I had someone actually sell me a complete took box full of tools because he needed to get home to get money. He offered to pay me back and asked for my address, which I do not do for any reason but I told him if he returned back by morning with the money - minus the cost of gas to get home, I will gladly give back his tools. He agreed and came back at 6am with the money minus the cost of his gas to come back.

A couple times I was sitting in Fremont IN at the pilot, minding my own business and some girl would whip up to my truck in a jeep with a couple kids in the back. She would give me a sob story about money, trying to get home from seeing the kids daddy and so on. The problem was that after the first day, she seemed to forget who she hit up and came knocking at my door more than once. The last time I saw her was when I told her she needs to get a new cover story, it gets old after a few weeks.

 

let me guess he was trying ti get back to ft bragg, black guy right. he works I-20 from Madison, ga to dang near Columbia, actually drives a white cadillac

 

It's pretty easy to spot someone really in need and someone who is scamming you or just doesn't care to try. I've offered people food out of my truck. A few have looked like they were going to cry because they were so hungry. I don't mind helping when I know that they are really in need. When I see that, I'll hand them a few bucks with the food I'm giving them. But there are a lot that always seem to find the truckstop. Lizards, dope heads, etc. just lazy people. I don't help them. You can spot them a mile away.

 

I bought gas for someone in a similiar situation ezider -- the Wednesday before Thanksgiving a college freshman left her wallet in another purse in her dorm 100 miles away and was fighting back tears while on the cell phone with her dad. She was passing the phone back and forth to the clerk so the out of state dad could buy gas with a credit card over the phone, but the pimple-faced desk jockey wouldn't have it & the father's helpless frustration could be overheard standing three back in line.

I tell you what, that $34 could never have brought me more joy than what I felt when I saw the relief pass over that young girl's face -- it really lit up the room.

Ha, they have those card swiping attachments for phones now, but that might be a giveaway.

 

Years ago my dad and I had come back from a trip to Mexico. We were at the Greyhound station waiting for my mom to come pick us up. Our friend down in Mexico had given us a bunch of Mexican coins for my mom's money collection (she collected money from every country she traveled to with my dad while in the Army). The coins he gave us were way old, pre 1993 pesos that were taken out of circulation years ago and were no longer useable. A guy would not stob bugging us for change. We finally told him we had just come back from Mexico and all we had was Mexican currency. He said "No problem, I'll just change it out." My dad gave him some of the coins that we had extras of. Figured we gave him roughly MX$500 in the old currency ( roughly equivalent to MX$0.50 in today's currency). This guy was obviously not from the area as he didn't recognize them as being pre 1993 vintage pesos. I often wonder what happened when he tried to change the coins at the local change bank there in downtown and was informed that the coins he was trying to exchange were not in circulation anymore!

 

Yea, but would they of been of any value to a coin dealer?

 

Maybe today they might be worth something to a collector who lived on the east coast who never see Mexican currency, but here on the border back around the time this happened people probably still had tons of those old pesos lying around.

 

There was a guy in Houston with an unbelievably long sign standing at the corner panhandling. Said something about being abducted by a spaceship, taken to another planet, got analy probed, and needed money for counseling. The whole thing was too long to read, but I found it humorous. He looked the part, too.

I used to try to give people asking for money the benefit of the doubt, but after years of driving in Houston overnight, not so much anymore. I get hit up several times almost every night, and some are quite aggressive. I've heard every story from some big black guy trying to buy maxipads for his girlfriend to one guy flat out demanding money.

The one demanding money was yelling that he needed help at a light at like 3 am. I gave him the go away motion, and he goes off that he "ain't no gd robber", "I need $3.75 for some gd gas" and "give me $3 gd 75". He started to climb on the steps of the truck right as I was taking off to run the light.

I could hear him yelling and cussing up a storm as I was driving off. Him demanding, not asking for, money was a borderline robbery attempt in my mind, and I don't think he realized how bad his night would have become had he made it a little closer up the steps.

After years of countless sob stories and wasted time, I now just tell each and every one to f- off. Nobody ever hands me money. I hate to sound bitter about it, but the beggars brought it on themselves.

 

^ I'm in the same boat toothy. They get the 1000 yd stare and I don't care. I use to but not so much anymore. Guess you just get fed up with it after awhile.

 

There's a guy at the Pilot off Bouldercrest in Atlanta that has been trying to catch a bus to NY for at leasst 4 years now