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Panhandling - How bad has it gotten in your city?
Posted on 6/21/17 at 1:34 pm
Posted on 6/21/17 at 1:34 pm
The Supreme Court issued a finding in favor of panhandling as protected speech. Last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court made a similar finding. It seems like the laws that most places had in place to discourage it have been overturned the past few years.
Fayetteville has seen an explosion in panhandlers the past year. They are at every major intersection, every single day. Apparently as long as they are in the public right-of-way, nothing can be done.
How is it where you live? How do they discourage it, if at all?
Fayetteville has seen an explosion in panhandlers the past year. They are at every major intersection, every single day. Apparently as long as they are in the public right-of-way, nothing can be done.
How is it where you live? How do they discourage it, if at all?
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Posted on 6/21/17 at 1:46 pm to Numberwang
After a significant increase in panhandling in Lexington over the past year, the City decided to do something about it. The offer from the City was roundly rejected by the panhandlers so the City Council is now running PSAs urging citizens not to give money to people soliciting on the street corners.
It's obvious that the vast majority of panhandlers are soliciting for drug money in Kentucky. Our state and Ohio seem to be the epicenter of the heroin epidemic.
I see this guy at the corner of S. Broadway and W. Maxwell frequently. I heard someone yell, "Hey, Paul, time to go!" at him one day. Begging is becoming an industry in Kentucky. I wish people would quit giving to them and give to homeless shelters instead.
It's obvious that the vast majority of panhandlers are soliciting for drug money in Kentucky. Our state and Ohio seem to be the epicenter of the heroin epidemic.
I see this guy at the corner of S. Broadway and W. Maxwell frequently. I heard someone yell, "Hey, Paul, time to go!" at him one day. Begging is becoming an industry in Kentucky. I wish people would quit giving to them and give to homeless shelters instead.
This post was edited on 6/21/17 at 1:57 pm
Posted on 6/21/17 at 1:51 pm to Kentucker
We need to address it here, but our city leadership is so liberal, they won't. The mayor is a total SJW.
Unemployment in the metro is 2.2% and statewide, it is 3.4%. There's a spot I drive by frequently where a Hardees has a giant "NOW HIRING!" banner out front and there are perfectly healthy panhandlers on either side of that intersection, every day. It pisses me off.
Unemployment in the metro is 2.2% and statewide, it is 3.4%. There's a spot I drive by frequently where a Hardees has a giant "NOW HIRING!" banner out front and there are perfectly healthy panhandlers on either side of that intersection, every day. It pisses me off.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 1:57 pm to Numberwang
Is panhandling/panhandlers the preferred nomenclature here? I don't really know. Bum just seems mean. I just call them homeless people.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 2:01 pm to Numberwang
Lexington is liberal, too, but our Mayor is a pragmatist. He knows that our city has an international reputation in the horse business and that its image is vital if we are to keep tourists landing at Bluegrass Airport.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 2:03 pm to AgCoug
quote:
Is panhandling/panhandlers the preferred nomenclature here? I don't really know. Bum just seems mean. I just call them homeless people.
Well, some of them surely are homeless. But I'm sure many of them are just grifters and addicts. There are entire websites dedicated to the "art of panhandling" that give tips on how and where to do it.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 2:06 pm to Numberwang
Doesn't seem to be any worse in Birmingham than it's been since I moved here 17 years ago. They seem to only congregate in certain areas. I always give them change if I have any in my pocket.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 2:29 pm to Numberwang
There's this one Exxon by my apartment (nice neighborhood) where they camp like fricking animals. Once I went to buy a case of beer, and some douche nozzle comes up and asks me for 6 of them.
And this Saturday, I am honestly not exaggerating that you would think the Zombie Apocalypse just broke out. A dozen thugs were pouring gasoline into bottles that they found in the trash, and one thug was yelling at the cashier that they were ripped off since they couldn't fill all their bottles, so they needed more gas. They were all over that lot digging all through the trash, and they didn't have a car and were straggling around a pump pouring gas into fricking soda bottles. There were several other hobos there as well not affiliated with them.
And this Saturday, I am honestly not exaggerating that you would think the Zombie Apocalypse just broke out. A dozen thugs were pouring gasoline into bottles that they found in the trash, and one thug was yelling at the cashier that they were ripped off since they couldn't fill all their bottles, so they needed more gas. They were all over that lot digging all through the trash, and they didn't have a car and were straggling around a pump pouring gas into fricking soda bottles. There were several other hobos there as well not affiliated with them.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 2:35 pm to Numberwang
I used to be gullible enough to give 5 bucks or so to these guys but one day I saw a guy at an interstate exit with a sign that said "will work for food". I went to Hardees and bought the guy a large size thick burger combo with sweet tea and went back and gave it to him and he told me he wasn't hungry and angrily told me I should have just gave him money. That ended that shite.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 2:40 pm to Commander Data
Outside of the City Mayor, (Who has been tremendous to her credit) Knoxville is a very conservative city. We deal with it everyday though. It's not terrible in Knox county, but in city limits you see them a lot. Downtown obviously being the epicenter.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 3:08 pm to Commander Data
quote:
large size thick burger combo with sweet tea and went back and gave it to him and he told me he wasn't hungry
If the thickburger had Mayo, I don't blame him.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 3:13 pm to Kentucker
quote:
Our state and Ohio seem to be the epicenter of the heroin epidemic.
Cincinnati makes them have a panhandlers license, which seems to make them feel more entitled. Montgomery County, OH(Dayton) was on dateline the other night for the heroin epidemic, expecting 800 deaths this year. That's my hometown, luckily its not as bad in the nice areas like it is here in ATL yet, but it will get there.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 3:14 pm to Kentucker
quote:
Kentucker
Nailed it.
Lexington is awful with panhandlers. I used to see them changing shifts and getting into cars, and I haven't given a dime since.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 4:10 pm to Numberwang
Used to carry $10 McD's/Subway gift cards until I moved towards downtown Houston. Its horrible.
One guy off the highway exit I'm supposed to use puts his face 2 inches from your window, shifting weight and shaking, and yells "Can you help me out!?" over and over till you drive away. Super creepy. Avoid that exit like the plague now.
One guy off the highway exit I'm supposed to use puts his face 2 inches from your window, shifting weight and shaking, and yells "Can you help me out!?" over and over till you drive away. Super creepy. Avoid that exit like the plague now.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 4:41 pm to The Spleen
quote:The city of Birmingham would like to thank you for contributing to the problem. Good work citizen!
Doesn't seem to be any worse in Birmingham than it's been since I moved here 17 years ago. They seem to only congregate in certain areas. I always give them change if I have any in my pocket.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 4:42 pm to kywildcatfanone
quote:
Lexington is awful with panhandlers.
I don't know if they're coming from Eastern Kentucky or Northern Kentucky but we are getting more than our fair share. I know they're drug zombies because the shelters for the real homeless people are not being over run. The addicts have places to stay apparently.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 4:45 pm to NYCAuburn
quote:
Cincinnati makes them have a panhandlers license, which seems to make them feel more entitled. Montgomery County, OH(Dayton) was on dateline the other night for the heroin epidemic, expecting 800 deaths this year. That's my hometown, luckily its not as bad in the nice areas like it is here in ATL yet, but it will get there.
I saw that on NBC. They're asking the federal and state governments for help and want to treat it like a mass casualty event. Seems appropriate.
Posted on 6/21/17 at 4:55 pm to Commander Data
quote:
I used to be gullible enough to give 5 bucks or so to these guys but one day I saw a guy at an interstate exit with a sign that said "will work for food". I went to Hardees and bought the guy a large size thick burger combo with sweet tea and went back and gave it to him and he told me he wasn't hungry and angrily told me I should have just gave him money. That ended that shite.
In my experience they range from the pushy-which I always ward off with a yell that I don't have anything to give them, to the sincere.
I saw an old guy under an overpass on I-55 in north MS one January evening. It was below freezing and beginning to spit snow. I pulled into a gas station and filled up and bought a Subway sandwich and coffee and some other food. When I pulled back around I gave it to him, the guy got wide-eyed, thanked me profusely and started crying. Heck-when I knew he was that sincere, I gave him some cash.
Then I drove up the highway and met a bunch of folks I knew at a Tunica casino and didn't lose the entire day and half I was there. I won more in that one 36 hour period than I have ever won gambling combined before or since.
Edit: and those wishing to end the practice shouldn't call it "panhandling." Call it what it is: begging.
This post was edited on 6/21/17 at 4:57 pm
Posted on 6/21/17 at 5:42 pm to Numberwang
"Mr...Mr..." ---> "Dont carry cash, sorry (not sorry)."
Posted on 6/21/17 at 6:06 pm to DownSouthJukin
Fayetteville is lousy with them right now. Homeless, too. And there are jobs literally everywhere here. Can't fill them.
I hadn't considered the opioid epidemic as a contributing factor. When a homeless person gets into serious trouble, it seems like they're always from somewhere else. Last year a homeless guy from Las Vegas did suicide by cop on the southside.
Liberal city govt and hand-outs only create more homeless people. We have a shelter. We have jobs. These are addicts and alcoholics who will not accept real help. People who give them cash are just enablers.
I hadn't considered the opioid epidemic as a contributing factor. When a homeless person gets into serious trouble, it seems like they're always from somewhere else. Last year a homeless guy from Las Vegas did suicide by cop on the southside.
Liberal city govt and hand-outs only create more homeless people. We have a shelter. We have jobs. These are addicts and alcoholics who will not accept real help. People who give them cash are just enablers.
This post was edited on 6/21/17 at 6:08 pm
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