I am new here - and feel sooo sorry for ahmed sadiq... help.

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Wannabe Baiter Joined: 17 Oct 2010 Posts: 81 Location: DC

Beggars in the United States lie too. There is one who hangs around near where I live who constantly claims its his birthday... or he needs money to pick up check somewhere etc. At first I gave him money (though I felt like it was pretty obvious he was lying to me, I am something of a bleeding heart) and then he told me one day that all he needed from me was twenty dollars and he could get a job at MacDonald's or something. I forget what his excuse was... something like he needed money to hold him over for food one day and then tomorrow transportation to the Job. He said he could pay me back Friday... So I said, alright, but I am not giving you anymore money if you fail to keep your promise.

Anyway, so I gave him the money, and sure enough he disappears Friday and the next day I see him he is back to excuses again. He does not get money from me anymore and its been two years since... that is a lot of missed dimes and nickels!

The point is that lack of respect and honesty shows that these people just see you as a walking piggy-bank to feed their habits or whatever they spend the money on (You cannot say the same for people in Nigeria, but here in the US guys like my beggar at least get welfare checks so this is obviously not for subsistence). That he is so quick to deceive me despite my knowing him for a long time proves if he had the technical knowledge of the lads he would gladly take all my money and others if he could...

And that kind of attitude is a rot that needs to be punished in all societies, here and in Nigeria, IMO.

Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:53 am

Yeah, some people make a tidy living off dong this. In the UK there was one chap who used to change into rags, then went and stood on the street corner and washed car windows for loose change. When the police questioned him they found out he actually had a 40k per year job and was just doing ti because he made up to £200 a day extra from begging,, and he had a brand new BMW parked around the corner from doing it.
At London Victoria station there is a junkie who dresses in an armani suit and goes up to people with a story that he needs £10 for his £20 train fare as someone has stolen his wallet (he has a £10 note in his hand so you think hes only got half the fare) and if you give him your address he will forward it on. Quite believable until you see him go from one person to the next. I followed him about for 20 minutes and reported him once.
People are easily taken in by these con men. But do not let one bad egg put you off giving money to the true poor and needy.
I was brought up in Africa, and when we used to walk around the town center of Niarobi there were droves of beggars on the street from one armed/legged lame to the sick and the homeless. When I go to Vietnam to visit my wife's' relatives its pretty much the same thing in Saigon. Until governments eradicate poverty, vagrancy will still be there, and also after as a lot of people choose to be so due to circumstances.
Most of the people who beg in the streets of London UK are under 20/alcoholics/junkies/homeless/prostitutes/eastern European and sometimes all 6.

It is a real shame and not a lot a single person can do.
I say, don't give change to people on the street, rather take groceries (or cash) down to you'll local Salvation Army who do a great job at feeding these people and keeping them warm in the winter. In this way you will be helping the true needy and not just the chancers (as we call them in the UK).

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