*Looking for Hand-Outs

This is what I Gotta Know....
Have you ever been somewhere…anywhere…and had someone ask you for some “spare change”? Have you ever given someone some “spare change” out of the kindness of your heart, and had them actually have the nerve to give you an attitude because of the amount that you gave them? Well, I have, on numerous occasions, and that’s what’s prompted this article.

Let me get straight to it. The last time that I encountered a rude pan handler was about 6-8 months ago. I was out enjoying lunch with my coworkers. After filling my belly, and ripping myself out of my seat to go back to my car to drag myself back to work, this gentleman approached me. I won’t be rude enough to go as far as calling him a “bum”, but you know where this is headed.

He came toward me, a little dirty and somewhat ‘ran-over’ looking, with a piece of paper in his hand. As he got closer, he started to recite his little rehearsed script (I knew it was rehearsed because it sounded a little too smooth and routine, plus I’ve encountered pan handlers with similar scripts). He started telling me how he was out of gas, and that he had a job that he was trying to get to. He started to show me the paper which supposedly had directions and a phone number to the job site on it, to try to prove that it was real. Before he could continue giving me the story, I stopped him by reaching for some change that I had in my pocket. I had a few loose coins and some dollars in my pocket (now…spare change and loose dollars are not the same). I pulled roughly .56cents or so out of my pocket, and gave it to him. Do you believe he had the nerve to look at the change that I gave him, look at me and say “man….what’s this?” as if I was supposed to give him some more money cause he was “really” on his way to a job. I thought “bums” and pan handlers were supposed to humble and appreciative for whatever you gave them. Since when do “bums” get attitudes over how much money you’re GIVING them?

I thought of this story that my parents told me once. My mom and dad were out and about enjoying a typical beautiful California day when, just like all of us, they encountered a “bum”. He sang the same song as the rest, asking “do you have any spare change for some food?” Noticing that he smelled like alcohol, my dad immediately said “if you’re hungry, we’ll gladly buy something to eat, but we’re not giving you any money”. He graciously accepted (or at least pretended to), and they proceeded to go into the nearest fast food restaurant. My dad told him to order anything he wanted off the menu. He ordered a hamburger, and before they made it out of the restaurant, he took one bite and said “this hamburger tastes like $&%#”! It was obvious that he didn’t want food. He was just reciting his script for some alcohol money.

I don’t know what may have driven some of the pan handlers that we see on a day to day basis into their new jobs of choice, but what gives them the right to demand or expect money from us? Do they think that we actually have extra or “spare” money to give them because we have jobs, and they don’t? I’ve seen seemingly able-body men and women standing on the corners for hours begging for hand-outs. I see it like this…if you have the time to stand on the corner ALL DAY LONG begging for change, you have the time to get a normal 9-5, or even a 9-1 just like the rest of us. Just because they think we have “good jobs” doesn’t mean we’re obligated to give them money.

My cousin told me of an incident (I’ve experienced this too) where he was at a gas station filling up his car when a lady pan handler walked up to him and asked him for some “spare change”. He reached into his pocket and gave the lady a handful of coins (except the quarters…those are for laundry ;-), and she looked at him, looked at his car, and looked in his ash tray where he had more coins and said “come on man…that’s all? You got a nice car, and a ashtray full of coins. Let me get those”. What does HIS car, and HIS money have to do with anybody but him? What’s up with these bold people? What happened to the old days when they were happy to get a coin or two? What happened to the days when there were more workers than “bums”? Now it seems like there are more pan handlers than there are employees of the world. I Gotta Know!

Tell me, what are your thoughts? I know that there are lots of you who have experienced similar situations that you’d love to share, which I’d love to read about. Please post your comments and experiences, for this topic should be one that hits home with all of us. And with that being said…as always…WHO HAS AN ANSWER FOR THE QUESTION MAN?

This article was inspired by J.Roberson (V.A.)