Do people beg or panhandle in your neighborhood?

Lori, my town is very small, and we do not see this to much. Every once in a while You will see someone who is homeless, looking for work or a ride further up the highway. But it does not happen often. Churches sometimes set up donation booths at wal-mart, but that is the extent of that. Now In Nashville this is a different story altogether, and it is as you have described here. There are some parts of the city that it is very hard to even get out of your car with out being approached by some individual. I am very sympathetic to the plight of the homeless and the mentally ill, but I do not believe when they are pan handling like that that you are doing anything for them buy giving them money. Rather that I donate food to the local food pantries, and homeless shelters. I think they are served much better by this venue.

well yeah not everyhwere though like in the neighborhood mostly like in the local Wal Mart parking lott or a Mall kinda feel bad for those guys , i alwys give them like 50 cents or a dollar that i dont need then agian they always come back to you for more so i sorta sway away from them

They are on almost every busy corner around town. But I don't have a problem being accosted around stores (of course I part in the handicapped spots and panhandling isn't allowed on the privete property.) Since I drive EVERYWHERE, (see above) I don't have too much trouble, I can ignore the ones on the roadside.

oh gosh that is terrible,that would make me feel bad,I mean we all are having a tough time with the cost of living rising by the second without having to help out neighbours etc,I dont have it as bad as you I just have the one neighbour who seems to get her kids to come over at least 3 times a week for bread,milk,sugar,coffee,money,petrol etc and I feel really bad because there are kids involved but I work hard and have enough time raising my own family,i think she comes here because the other neighbours wont help and I have never said no,maybe thats my fault but as I said its sad when there are kids involved.

hi Desertdarlene. i live in mumbai (India) every nook and corner u find beggars...every tarffic light the beggars along with their children come and keep pestering at the windows...worst part is if u give money to one beggar all will come running towards your car so best thing is to keep the windows up. we all r used to it now so it does not bother...i do fell sorry for the children and their future but ther is not much i can do..

I kinda live in the country so nope not often . When I go downtown and to a ballgame . There are people left and right with cups and signs . some you can tell are high out of there mind and well others you kinda just know . never hurts to give pocket change . My one friend in dc gave a bum a 20 and the bum goes thanks for the boose money . It is just sad really .

we don't have many beggars here in the country where i stay now... but we have heaps in my home country... seems like wherever i go, they are there as well... just like what you describe in your post... but now i live in a developed country, the situation is much better... i do see some homeless people or beggars in the street every now and then... but not a lot... take care and have a nice day...

I do not know where you live but in India we have this problem of being pestered by beggars.Everywhere you go you will have beggars.Its not out of pity or sympathy I would give money its just that i want them to leave me in peace so i just give money.

Actually where I live there ISNT a "neighbourhood" (LOL I'm in the semi country) but even in the surrounding towns (all of which are very small) I can't remember ever seeing a panhandler..Now where I'm FROM and the cities I grew up in etc (Niagara Falls Ontario, Hamilton, Toronto etc etc) I would see them all the time AND when I was a teen and homeless I WAS ONE..But around here no not at all

Not where I live. We live in such a small community we have enough shelters to care for those that are homeless or down and out. I guess that is the good thing about living in such a small community. However the bad thing is you don't always get food and other things for those that are down on their luck.

We have two regular beggers in our local high street. One guy, to be fair, plays guitar and sings to earn his money while the other sits on the ground outside our local supermarket. The busker I have come to know well and he is a lovely guy, very cheerful and happy, enjoying his music and singing and I usually drop a couple of coins in his guitar case when I see him. The other guy, however, is rapidly becoming a menace to people outside the supermarket. He sits very close to the doors near a cashpoint and can sometimes be quite beligerant and intimidating. He has been moved on my the police countless times but still returns to pester people

Not in my neighborhood because we have a private security force that prevents that sort of thing. But when we were on vacation a derelict approached us at a gas station with the flimsiest sob story you ever heard. Hubby was so funny, saying "Do you know how many times I've heard that story!" We usually do not make eye contact or talk to that sort of individual, but this guy was so transparent we had to try hard to keep from laughing.

I was reading a local article about panhandlers and it was saying that at one Walmart Store along the coast a panhandler can make 300.00 a week and get food stamps on top of that and what makes it even sweeter for them is that they don't have to pay taxes on the money they "earn". So it's hard to feel sorry for them and to give them money when I can't even afford gas to go to the store and get groceries for my family. I do give money sometimes to some of them I can tell when someone needs it or not. I didn't used to see panhandlers in the town I live in but they are springing up I seen a older teenager begging for money on a corner and it got me thinking with him being so young why didn't he go out an get a job someplace employers love to hire young kids, even if he didn't have his high school diploma they have a program here that will help a teenager get his/her GED. He has been talked to by police and maybe the officer told him about the program I don't know but I haven't seen him on the corner since. It's not illegal to panhandle here in Oregon it's considered freedom of speech. So there really is nothing that can be done unless the panhandlers are hurting someone or some businesses property then they can be arrested for that. When I do see them I am seeing more of them and younger one's at that it reminds me that if my husband lost his job and wasn't able to get unemployment we would be out there begging too.

I live in a very small mountain community now so panhandling is something that we never see. However I remember my days in Florida though and panhandlers were on every street corner down there tying up congested intersections looking for handouts. I had one friend who handed them applications from the local job bank, they quickly cleared a path for her car so she could get through the intersection.

No, I only had one person the whole year I've been here ask for anything. I was mowing my lawn and she offered to finish it for me because she was hungry. I made her a sandwich and then finished the lawn. She really was hungry. I've lived in places in big cities where this happens, I always feel bad but those people on street corners often make more money than we do!

I always run into people like that all the time. Now it is once in a while. Let's just say this: a certain group of people out walking on the street. One of the guys out there asks me for some money. I tell them no. Right? Well, they keep following me. Right? Then I have to contact the police to report that. And eventually couple minutes later cops show up to find the group of subjects and tell them to get home. Police ask them for their id. It is just to make sure that they all come clean. If some of the guys do not have id at all, police must ask them for their name. I am always brave. If anyone is under age 16, those kids have to be brought down to the station for questioning and their parents/guardians to be contacted for the kids to be picked up. So I never been robbed before.