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Those employees must be relatives.

I run into them, too.

- Jim

R_Comstock wrote:Right next door in the Rivercenter Mall there were at least 2 dozen stores with Now Hiring signs out.

I have been tracking the help-wanted ads in my town for years. Certain business have them in the paper every day, for months. With 10% employment, they should have no unfilled positions by now.

I also am aware of certain companies that post help-wanted ads with no apparent intention of hiring, just to take the pulse of the job market.

- Jim

I saw two bums having a shouting and shoving match in the mall that Phoenicia is in (Westheimer near Kirkwood). Apparently one stepped on the other's turf or something.

As for how much they make, $40 is feasible at a busy intersection, but I wouldn't believe anything a bum told me.

I also see people collecting for charities or churches that I never heard of, or "drug programs." Yeah, I know how that drug program would work.

- Jim

dicion wrote:So we're driving around houston, and we've got the bums walking the lines of cars at stoplights.

I seriously think this is an organized effort. On Westheimer, there are sometimes more than one bum at every intersection.

My theory is that someone picks them up around South Main and I-45 (Bum Central) and drives them out there in exchange for a cut of their receipts.

- Jim

R_Comstock wrote:He looked like a healthy man, early to mid-twenties. I should have pointed him to the military recruiting office.

A lot of panhandlers would not meet the qualifications for the military. Aside from an aversion to work, many of them lack education, have mental problems, alcohol and drug problems, or criminal records.

I have no great liking for panhandlers, but with a 10% unemployment rate, they have little chance of getting a job. Employers don't have to take anyone who is uneducated, can't speak decent English, has a bad attitude, smells, is too fat, too old, too ugly, or has homemade tattoos on his face.

- Jim

The Annoyed Man wrote:

...'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Matthew 25:40

Amen.

... I freely admit that perhaps my outlook would be of little use to someone who had to deal with it all the time.

I deal with it all the time. I crossed paths with a guy this afternoon who was either psychotic or a very good actor. He didn't ask me for anything.

He didn't need shooting. He needed help that is beyond my means (psychiatric hospitalization).

My only concern is to avoid letting the real bums think that I am an ATM.

- Jim

marksiwel wrote:yeah, they are getting worse.

I can't say that I track the trends. I see quite a few panhandlers and homeless people. But given the state of the economy, there are going to be more; and probably fewer people giving them less money.

-- Jim

Dragonfighter wrote:What are you trying to say Jim? Actually, in Dallas panhandling/begging is a crime. Escalating your language, aggressive gestures and quickening your pace toward a person IS threatening and can be assault (remember assault is the "threat" of violence) and my making eye contact and stepping toward him was a non-violent action that discouraged his aggression.

Dallas may have a panhandling ordinance, but the Supreme Court has ruled many times that begging per se is constitutionally protected. Laws that prohibit panhandling have to be based on obstruction of public ways, trespassing, and similar offenses.

Even haranguing along the lines of "I haven't eaten in three days. I bet you don't know what that's like, Mr. shiny new Mustang" (or whatever you are driving) is not a crime.

All I'm saying is that the use of force is not an appropriate response to this kind of thing.

For the bum to commit verbal assault, he has to make a specific, credible threat toward a specific person or group of people. Bums know how to push the edge of that envelope without committing an arrestable offense.

I agree with you that showing through speech and body language that you have a backbone and aren't going to be intimidated is usually enough to make the bum look elsewhere for a handout. I call it "looking mean."

Here's a comprehensive write-up on police responses to panhandling, including a list of Supreme Court rulings: http://www.popcenter.org/problems/panhandling/3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

Begging is not a crime. Assault is a crime. Aggravated assault causing bodily injury is a felony.

- Jim

I want minimum interaction with panhandlers. Some of them are extremely quick at exploiting openings. Some are real nuts who can be set off by your response.

- Jim

Very few places where you can't carry pepper spray in case you encounter a real nut.

Most panhandlers have learned the limit of what they can get away with without being arrested or catching a fist in the face.

BTW, I've read that panhandlers get more money from lower-middle-class people than wealth-looking people.

- Jim