{"id":2703,"date":"2011-12-05T11:18:56","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T18:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/?p=2703"},"modified":"2025-11-02T17:47:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:47:47","slug":"can-beggers-be-choosers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/?p=2703","title":{"rendered":"Can Beggers Be Choosers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In my area of Los Angeles there are several people begging.\u00a0 The same people begging in the same few spots.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Most of the time I ignore these people.\u00a0 They are outside of my post office or sitting at the off-ramp of my exit on the freeway.\u00a0 I’ve seen a lot of different people working the off-ramps and on-ramps of high traffic area in Pasadena.\u00a0 One on each corner.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

There was a news spot a bit ago that followed some people begging on a corner.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Seems free money had become very lucrative for them.\u00a0 Tax free, also.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Explain to them why I’m ignoring these “shoved in my nose” pleas for help.<\/p>\n

Then several months ago I see a woman with her 4 year old sitting in front of my post office begging with a sign.\u00a0 And I’m disgusted.\u00a0 One… if you are truthfully homeless… you better HOPE child services doesn’t find out and remove your child from your custody.\u00a0 And Two.. if you aren’t homeless, just what the hell are you teaching your child!\u00a0 On one such occasion I walk past her I said, “You are lucky I don’t call Social Services.”<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 He looks like a Hispanic immigrant & his son looks healthy & happy.\u00a0\u00a0 On the way out I mention the social services comment again and I’m confidently ignored.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And I get pissed.\u00a0\u00a0 And I realize I have a new iPhone.\u00a0 Now I can snap a picture and easily send it anywhere.\u00a0 Hell… all I really have to do is “pretend” to take a picture!<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 I’ve never regretted it when I take action, no matter how terrifyingly confrontational it may seem.<\/p>\n

So I hold up my cell phone, prepped and ready and take a picture.\u00a0 By now the wife with the baby is also with the group, begging on the OTHER side of the doors.\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

And I’ll be honest.\u00a0 It felt good.\u00a0 Life is expensive in Los Angeles.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 It’s huge & work can sometimes seem to be easy to find, but it’s not easy to live frugally here.\u00a0 But is begging the answer?\u00a0 If times are tough, turn to family.\u00a0 No family?\u00a0 Find a place where it is cheaper or move wherever you can find work.\u00a0 And if you are going to go begging…. don’t take your kids with you.\u00a0 People might sympathize more but you’re taking a big risk that those kids won’t get taken away from you.<\/p>\n

The average homeless person is either conquered by their addiction or their mental illness or maybe circumstances.\u00a0 I know giving to them, to those less fortunate than I, it might feel good in the moment….\u00a0\u00a0 but I often feel like I’m just enabling them.<\/p>\n

I’d rather give money to a shelter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my area of Los Angeles there are several people begging.\u00a0 The same people begging in the same few spots.\u00a0 A guy on a bike, a woman with a dog or rabbit or whatever she has that day or my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-ramblings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2703"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3009,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703\/revisions\/3009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.heatherbarton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}