<p>One thing I do with those asking for food: I take half that oversized lunch out and put it right into a box at the beginning of the meal. After the meal, I hand it to someone who says they’re hungry.</p>
<p>
That speaks volumes. I guess that just means that you are fortunate enough to live in an area without large numbers of aggressive panhandlers and gullible tourists.</p>
<p>Or, maybe you misinterpreted what I meant by our legitimate members of society.:)</p>
<p>I live in an area with lots of tourists and lots of homeless. They overrun the libraries and other public places and are very controversial. However, homeless management has been going on for years so that they are not as “in your face”. At one time it was standard to put them in jail, but that stopped long ago. But, you can’t drive around town without seeing them frequently on street corners - since it is illegal they don’t remain there for long.</p>
<p>Mom60 mentioned the ones camped out at the supermarkets. That is a favorite spot for them here. One whom I give to regularly is at the supermarket. He is a paranoid schizophrenic and I have reported him when he acts up. He says he lives in a motel. They also congregate at other shopping areas, in the parks and along rivers and under bridges.
They live in storage facilities and start fires. They hop on trains to come and go, as well as cars and busses. </p>
<p>We have an Occupy Movement that involves them. They clog our municipal courts. Some neighborhood group is always protesting when an attempt is made to house them where unwanted.</p>
<p>We have a group involved in a newspaper business and I think they get to keep part of the proceeds they sell. I think this is common in multiple US cities.</p>
<p>“Streetwise?”</p>
<p>The get to keep all the money from selling those, actually. But, they can’t get complained about either. It’s a good program, imho.</p>
<p>I always give to someone. every day, I give something to someone.</p>
<p>I’ve been so fortunate to be born free and in a country where I could prosper with no disabilities or impediments, psychological, or otherwise. But, i give food, not money.</p>
<p>
“Legitimate” is a word that is easily defined. Maybe you meant to use quotation marks or something.</p>
<p>
I give time and money every day, but I’m very careful to make sure that I’m not contributing to abuse or exploitation. It’s heartbreaking but true that there is a subset of monsters who uses human beings as currency.</p>