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Post by littlepea on Oct 31, 2005 12:57:17 GMT -5
about an hour ago i got a knock on my door and there was a girl standing there with some cards and i said "who are you?" (i could have said "can i help you?" but i was expecting people over cos it's my flatmate's girlfriend's birthday and i thought she might be having a few friends over) - anyway, she didn't mind the rudeness and proceeded to explain that she was a french student studying english over here and asked if i wanted to buy a card from her to help her pay for living expenses. she had a bundle of cards in her hand which she said she'd made, though they looked professionally done and each was in a kind of plastic envelope like you get in supermarkets, so i didn't believe that she'd made them.
i asked how much for one and said £5 for a small one, £7 for a large one ... a heck of a lot of money for a home-made card (and a lot of money for a student like me for any sort of card) so i apologized and said that's too expensive.
then she asked if i could help out with any other sort of donation, even as little as 50p, but i looked at her and decided i wasn't convinced and said "nah". she smiled and wished me a good day and went upstairs to the next flat in the building.
so would you have given her anything?
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Post by ophelia97 on Oct 31, 2005 16:01:55 GMT -5
Probably not. There's always somebody else who will fall for it and buy something from her so don't feel guilty about it either
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Post by Tara on Oct 31, 2005 16:02:29 GMT -5
I don't like scams...they're scary b/c they try to mess with your minds and stuff and try to make you give what they probably don't deserve.  Or maybe they do and they have few options... that would be kinda sad. |
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Post by littlepea on Oct 31, 2005 16:31:59 GMT -5
i don't feel guilty, i'm just curious cos i wasn't 100% sure i did the right thing. she didn't seem annoyed or anything when i made it clear i wasn't going to give her anything, so i'm sure she'll be ok  |
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Post by conniesdaughter on Nov 1, 2005 3:41:23 GMT -5
I wouldnt have if I didnt have it.
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Post by teancum79 on Nov 1, 2005 20:59:18 GMT -5
Given that most modern nations have a safety net to make sure everyone (or at least most) have access to basic food and shelter I tend to not hand money to person who come along 'begging" in one form or another. (That said I do try to support organizations that provide these services, as they provide for needs and not random wants)
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Post by littlepea on Nov 9, 2005 13:22:41 GMT -5
a couple of days ago (monday) someone esle asked me for money. i was walking back from the library and a girl was walking in the opposite direction - i stuck to the right side of the pavement but she moved that way too, so i went to the left side of the pavement (so we wouldn't bump into each other) but she went that way as well, and when we got close enough she stopped and asked if i could help her out:
"i've lost my phone and my wallet and i need £1.60 to get the bus home - i've already got 80p so could you give me another 80p so i can get home?"
despite having a pocket full of change i simply said "no, sorry", she rolled her eyes and walked off, but she couldn't have expected me to give her anything in the first place so she shouldn't have been too pissed off. she should have gone to a police station, first of all, and if she was desperate i'm sure they would have arranged some kind of transport home.
i've been in that kind of situation myself - once my phone ran out of charge and i needed to phone home to get picked up from the train station (it wasn't the usual train that i got home and this one stopped in an especially rough area and i was quite obviously a soft target at the time) so the last thing i wanted to do was walk home. there were a couple of guys in suits sitting near me and i leaned over and basically asked, "is there any possibility that i could borrow one of your phones to phone home? if you don't want to that's fine, but i would be very grateful if you could help out" (or something like that - it was a few years ago) and fortunately one of them did let me use his phone and i got picked up safe and sound.
if neither of them did i wouldn't have held it against them, and that's the difference between me and the girl in this case and the reason i don't believe she was telling the truth (even if it was only 80p).
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Post by Tara on Nov 9, 2005 14:52:17 GMT -5
Why do I get the random feeling that people are being "hired" or sent out in some way, to do this?
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Post by littlepea on Nov 10, 2005 8:34:41 GMT -5
dunno if i'd say that's likely, but it's definitely a possibility  |
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Post by Mestemia on Nov 29, 2005 15:15:26 GMT -5
There was a study, actually several but I am refering to a specific one, on all those people you see on the street with "will work for food" signs.
The news team went all over Los Angeles and another team went all over New York City and they found that the ones holding the signs NEVER took any offer to work. They politely declined all work offered.
So they looked into a bit harder and found that several of them did not need the money that was being donated. However there was a FEW who actually did need the money. It was suggested that the reason they declined the work is simply because there are enough people just giving them money that they actually made more by not leaving there spot than they would if they actually did go and work for food.
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Post by shaktidevi on Mar 20, 2006 13:29:27 GMT -5
In the Dominican Republic, there are people who maintain gangs of little kids, usually Haitian illegals, who have to go through the streets begging. I'm sure this type of thing goes on in other places, especially touristy places.
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Post by cenk on Apr 25, 2006 11:46:21 GMT -5
about an hour ago i got a knock on my door and there was a girl standing there with some cards and i said "who are you?" (i could have said "can i help you?" but i was expecting people over cos it's my flatmate's girlfriend's birthday and i thought she might be having a few friends over) - anyway, she didn't mind the rudeness and proceeded to explain that she was a french student studying english over here and asked if i wanted to buy a card from her to help her pay for living expenses. she had a bundle of cards in her hand which she said she'd made, though they looked professionally done and each was in a kind of plastic envelope like you get in supermarkets, so i didn't believe that she'd made them. i asked how much for one and said £5 for a small one, £7 for a large one ... a heck of a lot of money for a home-made card (and a lot of money for a student like me for any sort of card) so i apologized and said that's too expensive. then she asked if i could help out with any other sort of donation, even as little as 50p, but i looked at her and decided i wasn't convinced and said "nah". she smiled and wished me a good day and went upstairs to the next flat in the building. so would you have given her anything? I wouldnt have given her a penny. Sometimes in the London Underground when your on the train a Gypsie holding a baby (for sympathy) goes along the entire train asking for money from passengers. I always say no because I know that these Gypsies get money from the government and begging on a train is illegal. I have witnessed people give the Gypsie lady a couple of pounds before it made me angry because some Gypsies gain alot of money from begging (as well as their government benefits) |
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Or maybe they do and they have few options... that would be kinda sad.
