Owlish Mutterings

Lileks and panhandler

Today's bleat involves  a person asking for cash at the mall [as well as the hunt for the elusive duvet]. I've gotten into the habit of not even listening to panhandlers' speil, just saying "Thanks, no," and walking away.

The basic concept is (1) I've given money in relatively large amounts through work as a last resort kind of thing (2) Given the right spot, it is possible for someone to make a pretty good hourly wage through begging (3) I tend to be a sucker for a sob story, and was getting tired of giving money and knowing it wasn't going to be used for a useful purpose.

Posted by Owlish at July 26, 2004 12:13 PM | TrackBack