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[QUOTE=MrSplitshot;495163]I hear you Dog....I'm also one of those guys that usually will give the buck or two in my wallet to someone desperate enough to ask for it on the street....I think being kind to strangers and people in need is the right thing to do, but I'm also becoming a skeptic too.
I go to the Car Wash on Winchester Road in Lexington and have been going there for years. It's not in the best area, but it's near my office and has the highest pressure in town. I get panhandled there a lot. Last fall, I had a guy come up to me asking for some cash, because his car was broke down and he wanted to check in to the motel next door with his wife and kid for the night. (There is a motel next door, all be it a pretty rough one.) I sat there for a minute and for some reason the guy just didn't seem sincere to me. I told him that I would gladly pay for a night at the motel next door for he and his family if they were in a rough spot...then I said let's walk next door and get y'all checked in. He was real quick to say thanks, but you don't have to take time to come check me in, you can just help me out with the cash. I told him that I didn't have cash but would pay for his night in the motel room with my credit card. Then, the guy called me something that rhymes with bass and hole and stumbled off. True story.
On the flip side, my wife and I were coming home one night and stopped at a Long John Silvers to eat supper...we had the baby with us and were pretty occupied fooling with her...but I noticed a guy sitting out front on the curb who looked pretty rough. He kept looking inside at us and when I would make eye contact he'd look away real quick and put his head down. I came to the conclusion that he was either homeless or in real bad shape...then I thought about how fortunate I was to be sitting there eating supper with my wife and kid, a few dollars in my pocket, and a home to go to...so I went up to the counter, spent $5 on a meal to-go, and took it to him outside. He didn't say much, and I think he was mentally challenged somehow, but he tore into that sack and ate like it was his last meal. I asked him if he had a place to go and he didn't answer me. Stuff like that tears me up wanting to help...and then stuff like the guy at the car wash trying to pull a scam for booze/drug money makes me fire engine red with anger...
I guess that's just the way it goes.[/QUOTE]
Dude, I had nearly the SAME thing happen to me.
Guy panhandling outside McDonalds on Broadway downtown. Asked me for some cash for food. I told him I didn't have any cash......
I went in, purchased my lunch and then purchased 10 dollars in gift certs to mcdonalds. I give him the certs. He called me every name in the book, and most of them started with words I don't even say.....even when I'm talking to hardcore fisherman.
That turned me off to EVER giving a red cent to a pan handler. Now, don't get me wrong. I've donated more than my fair share to wayside and a couple other places downtown...but I will never just arbitrarily give to a pan handler.
Later,
Geo
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Ohhh forgot the recent one....we had finished our meal at Ramseys (about a month ago) off of Harrodsburg Road and were walking and talking and headed toward our car. Up walks a guy asking if we had a gas can he could borrow to get gas. I said no because I didn't have one, and he kept talking about how it's just his luck and blah blah blah. Well his story went from needing the can to needing money and I said no to that and then I heard the butthole comment toward us. I asked him what did you say? And left my groups converstaion and walked toward him looking for a little explanation from him:).
I was grabbed by my girlfriend to not go and he wasnt worth it...she was right but it pissed me off! My daughter was there and some older friends of ours and I guess it hit me wrong that just because I said no to his "scam" he felt the could call us names. Like I said before when people come up to me and ask for money my immediate reaction is no. Just getting tired of it.
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Check this out.........John Stossel on FreeLoaders:
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cWCRn64Ak&feature=related[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00AjuJLqSbI&feature=related[/url]
Later,
Geo
