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Don't Fall For It


jeffro

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It only takes a few seconds to figure out if a guy is trying to scam you, like others have said. If the person is truly hungry or down on their luck, I will help them however I can.

 

This.

 

Enough years in sales and training courses plus a decent bit of discernment and I can usually tell if someone is genuine. Am I always right? Of course not. It'd be foolish to say I am.

 

tl;dr of a story: Uncle was in Vegas. Dude begs him for money. He says, "He ya go man" and hands him the only thing in his wallet. a $20. No questions asked. Dude says "thank you" and splits. His friend proceeds to chastize him much like some on here. "He's gonna buy drugs/alchohol" and "He probably makes more a year than you do" and so on. Uncle simply doesn't care. Fast forward 2 hours and they swing by a fast food joint. Who do they see? Begger guy and 4 of his buddies. He took the $20 and fed the five of them.

 

Is this always going to be the case? No. Does this attitude make someone an enabler? Possibly. I'd rather hand a guy a green piece of paper and a "God bless you. I'll be praying for you, and I mean it."

 

Whatever they do with it, they'll be more likely to share the story about not being judged and hopefully think about what they'll do with it and how they got it than the millions where people treat them like trash.

 

Just my .02 though. YMMV.

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You usually see them coming. Ask them first.

 

Roommate in grad school used to do this. It was priceless. They'd ask him for money, and he'd say "shit bro, I was going to ask you the Same thing". You could hear crickets every time

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This.

 

Enough years in sales and training courses plus a decent bit of discernment and I can usually tell if someone is genuine. Am I always right? Of course not. It'd be foolish to say I am.

 

tl;dr of a story: Uncle was in Vegas. Dude begs him for money. He says, "He ya go man" and hands him the only thing in his wallet. a $20. No questions asked. Dude says "thank you" and splits. His friend proceeds to chastize him much like some on here. "He's gonna buy drugs/alchohol" and "He probably makes more a year than you do" and so on. Uncle simply doesn't care. Fast forward 2 hours and they swing by a fast food joint. Who do they see? Begger guy and 4 of his buddies. He took the $20 and fed the five of them.

 

Is this always going to be the case? No. Does this attitude make someone an enabler? Possibly. I'd rather hand a guy a green piece of paper and a "God bless you. I'll be praying for you, and I mean it."

 

Whatever they do with it, they'll be more likely to share the story about not being judged and hopefully think about what they'll do with it and how they got it than the millions where people treat them like trash.

 

Just my .02 though. YMMV.

 

There is a a way to guarantee they use the money for food, offer to buy them something. I don't normally have extra food on me but a few times I did and gave that to beggars. That always puts a smile on their face. If not I will offer to buy them fast food if something is close and I have free time. To me that feels better then handing them money. I rather hand them a bag of food.

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There is a a way to guarantee they use the money for food, offer to buy them something. I don't normally have extra food on me but a few times I did and gave that to beggars. That always puts a smile on their face. If not I will offer to buy them fast food if something is close and I have free time. To me that feels better then handing them money. I rather hand them a bag of food.

 

I do that whenever possible. This winter my wife and I took an old duffle bag and filled it with nonperishable food, bottled water, a coat, gloves, and a blanket. That way if we ran into someone truly homeless we'd have something worthwhile to offer them.

 

Best is when you buy them a meal and sit down with them and learn thier story. Some of these people just need to feel "normal" for once.

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