By california - 14/03/2009 20:55 - United States

Today, I was walking down the street and noticed a man in ripped clothes with a cup out asking for money. I was on my way to the movies but I felt like this man needed it more that me. Right as I gave it to him, he pulled out his blackberry. FML
I agree, your life sucks 65 443
You deserved it 17 789

Same thing different taste

Top comments

You'd be surprised how much money hobos make.

Rabbittt 0

I know that there's going to be a shitstorm really soon. #2, speaking as someone who has known a lot of street kid and hung out with them while they spanged, no, they don't make a lot of money. (There are a few places, like Vegas, where every other person hands you a twenty, but I'll just assume that the OP doesn't live there) I'd also like to say that just ignoring a homeless person asking you for spange is a really terrible thing to do. Do you honestly think that they're going to want to go get a job after seeing that most people treat them like they're not even human? After having people pretend you don't exist most of the time, you're eventually just going to assume that any potential employer is going to treat you like that, too. If you don't want to give people money, say no, I've never met anyone who will get mad if you don't give them anything. Buuut, now that I'm done lecturing people, I'd have to agree that that guy is a ******* asshole. He probably has a job or deals or finds money some other way and doesn't need to be panhandling.

Comments

This reminds me of the time I gave a begger some money, and saw her leave a store with a pack of cigarettes a few minutes later. If you think about it, a beggar only needs to have 7 people give them a dollar every hour to make as much as someone in a minimum wage job--more, once you factor in taxes. Then you have the occasional people who give a 10 or a 20. Of course, this all depends on a wise choice of location.

Maybe someone else gave him a blackberry.

jasey_rae 0

really you should never give money to a homeless person. food is the best bet. or if you really care, volunteer. the biggest major city by me is Detroit which has a lot of homeless people. i've learned unless you want them to go buy drugs with the money you give them, then just give them food. and if they dont appreciate the food tell them you'll take it to someone else.

paniclovie 0

i usually just give, like, two or three quarters or a bit of food to the homeless. i'd prefer to donate and volunteer with proper charities than give money to someone i'm not even sure if actually homeless. :)

fillmyheart028 0

Yeah. Hobos make tons of money. Haven't you ever heard of the "millionaire hobo"? He lives in Naperville, IL. He lives out of a tent, but he has a Mac and an iphone and regularly gets Starbucks. haha

showmeyourears 19

I live pretty close to Naperville and I've never heard of that guy.

Anyone saying that you should always give homeless people money, you obviously don't live in the city. In Atlanta or LA, you can't go a block without someone begging you.

loopy_fml 0

and this is why people should donate to legitimate homeless charities instead.

#17 is right, down here in Tampa there are homeless all over the nightlife areas, and back when I lived near Philadelphia, and even when I hung out in Jersey (omg Jersey ur trash), people would always bug me for money. Sad thing is it's almost never for food, and almost always for drugs or alkeyhol.

Whoever thinks you shouldn't ignore homeless people needs to move into a real city for a week. If you acknowledged and responded to every single homeless person who talked to you as you traversed the city, you'd never get anywhere. And if you gave them money, you'd also be broke and probably soon homeless yourself. If you think this makes you a bad person, you obviously have no clue what you're talking about. As for the OP: next time buy him lunch. But you could give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the Blackberry is the only pleasure he can enjoy. Maybe he had it before he lost his house or something.

So strange. I never know what to do when asked by the homeless. The chances are it'll be used for an addiction (in many cases, but defiantly not all) and not for material needs... But then again, most don't even have the access to programs to help them end the addiction. Very frustrating. But it breaks my heart when there's old ladies, or mothers on the street. Seriously, the world is messed up when....