In my area of Los Angeles there are several people begging. The same people begging in the same few spots. A guy on a bike, a woman with a dog or rabbit or whatever she has that day or my personal irritant a woman with her kids.
Most of the time I ignore these people. They are outside of my post office or sitting at the off-ramp of my exit on the freeway. I’ve seen a lot of different people working the off-ramps and on-ramps of high traffic area in Pasadena. One on each corner. One young woman, looked hale & healthy & was actually smiling as she walked the line of stopped cars waiting… held captive by the red light… holding out her “Please help” can.
There was a news spot a bit ago that followed some people begging on a corner. They surveillance them for a day and at the the end of the day they watched these “homeless beggars” walk over to a waiting car and drive to a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood. Seems free money had become very lucrative for them. Tax free, also.
It is with this knowledge that I explain to my kids the need to balance the possibility people are telling the truth with the possibility they are lying. Explain to them why I’m ignoring these “shoved in my nose” pleas for help.
Then several months ago I see a woman with her 4 year old sitting in front of my post office begging with a sign. And I’m disgusted. One… if you are truthfully homeless… you better HOPE child services doesn’t find out and remove your child from your custody. And Two.. if you aren’t homeless, just what the hell are you teaching your child! On one such occasion I walk past her I said, “You are lucky I don’t call Social Services.”
So the other day I go to the post office and sure enough … there is a man there with his 3 or 4 year old in a stroller with a “please help” sign. He looks like a Hispanic immigrant & his son looks healthy & happy. On the way out I mention the social services comment again and I’m confidently ignored.
And I get pissed. And I realize I have a new iPhone. Now I can snap a picture and easily send it anywhere. Hell… all I really have to do is “pretend” to take a picture!
Often in these situations… Fate is giving me the opportunity to do something, act upon my impulses or beliefs, or to walk away and do nothing. I’ve never regretted it when I take action, no matter how terrifyingly confrontational it may seem.
So I hold up my cell phone, prepped and ready and take a picture. By now the wife with the baby is also with the group, begging on the OTHER side of the doors. The father sees me holding up my phone to take a picture and I watch the four of them scamper off as fast as possible.
And I’ll be honest. It felt good. Life is expensive in Los Angeles. Yes. It’s huge & work can sometimes seem to be easy to find, but it’s not easy to live frugally here. But is begging the answer? If times are tough, turn to family. No family? Find a place where it is cheaper or move wherever you can find work. And if you are going to go begging…. don’t take your kids with you. People might sympathize more but you’re taking a big risk that those kids won’t get taken away from you.
The average homeless person is either conquered by their addiction or their mental illness or maybe circumstances. I know giving to them, to those less fortunate than I, it might feel good in the moment…. but I often feel like I’m just enabling them.
I’d rather give money to a shelter.