Economy & Personal Safety

[enjoy the ride]

Most of the time my 85 pound dog is in the car with me.

 

[tfpets]

Yes, it is a persons choice to give generously to those who ask for a hand out or not, to trust those who walk up to them and ask for something, or not....There are alot of folks out there who just consider begging their way of earning a living.
There are also alot of really bad people out there who have no problem with taking what isnt theirs, and it could have been such a person that walked up to you in your car...I work with a lot of pretty damaged, broken, sometimes chilling people, I meet them many times in my job....I am glad you are okay.
Tina

 

[sweetcorn]

Makes me wonder if men and women generally have a different response in that situation.

Heh heh, I wouldn't want to eat a lunchmeat sandwich that had traveled to and from work with someone several times either. Except, maybe the homeless guys would figure out that she was the "sandwich lady" and then leave her alone. Seriously though, your friend has a good heart, sweetcorn.

Yup , I think men have less fear or common sense . Not sure which. Tend to think they are more invincible I think.

And , yes she does have a big heart , and they were fresh sammies every day , lol .

 

[Homesteadmom]

I was at Kmart & bought a rather large item & a guy approached me in the parking lot(I had both kids with me) & there were other people around & offered to help me load it in my van, which he did, he took the cart back for me too while I got the baby in her carseat. He asked if I could spare a dollar as he hadn't eatten all weekend long(it was Sunday). The smallest I had in my wallet was a 5 so I gave it to him & told him to go buy a meal for himself. He got on his bike & made a very fast beeline to the Jack in the Box(hamburger place) next door. Made me feel realy good that he went to eat. But there was another guy at a grocery store that they kicked out of their parking lot as he was asking all the costumers for money on a regular basis. But he did help you load your groceries & take your cart back for you. So in a sense he was earning tips. I gave a couple bucks a few times. Sometimes it is hard to know who is honest & who isn't it in their requests like that.
A few yrs ago in Phx the local news station did a story on some of those people who hold signs on the street corner that says will work for food. They arranged with a local church who needed some cleaning & painting done to have the people who would show up to do the work for the church & in exchange they would get a bag of groceries each day. They gave 10 people the offer & address & only 4 showed up. 1 was a single mom with 3 kids whose hubby had walked out on them a couple months before & her money was almost all gone as she only worked parttime & food stamps were not enough for her to feed her kids either. So she was extremely grateful for the food & showed up everyday to work that week. The church helped her find more affordable housing thru a member that had rentals & she ended up working parttime for the church & parttime for her landlord. So she ended up okay & the church foot the bill for her divorce(which she then got childsupport). So it is nice to see things work out for some like that. But those other 7 only wanted money & really wouldn't work for money. Another viewer saw the show & offered the man who showed up a fulltime job in his construction company.

 

[FarmerChick]

oh on occasion (very rare) I did hand some money out, like I know I gave a guy $5 when leaving a convenience store one time. Said he was broke and didn't eat, so I was on the fly, and kinda cornered, ya know that feeling!, and had gotten $5 change back....I pulled it out of my pocket where I shoved it, gave it to him and hit the car and locked the doors and took off...LOL...so I have done it but now no matter what I say NO and keep walking fast..LOL

Luckily I haven't been approached in a very long time!

 

[user251]

I don't play with these people. the last one that "approached" my truck said he had just gotten out of prison and hadn't received his check yet and needed some cash to get home, well what he got was my pistol in his face and a request to leave, we all know that he is a liar and he was most likely going to spend it on wine or crack. Ive worked around these people for 16 years and they get bold and if they don't get it scared out of them once in a while the will become very aggressive and rob you or worse. I'm begging you especially you women please be very suspicious of people coming up to your vehicle if you are going to sit in it have the window up to the point a person cant get their hand inside and make sure the doors are locked and if a person does try to get in dont forget about the horn. and with Christmas time here keep those purses tucked under your arm and have short straps and limit the cash you carry and flash in public. just some thoughts.

 

[FarmerChick]

you are right firem3
women are good targets, we have that kindness factor to help in us, and can surely get us into trouble sometimes!

good info in your post!

 

[sweetcorn]

Not only do we have the kindness factor , we are usually physically easier targets. If i was a thug I'd pick a woman to rob instead of some big bubba too ! Probably why I had fear and my big bubba hubby ( also a fireman btw , lol) didn't. I should have firem3 over to talk some sense into him.

 

[sufficientforme]

I had a woman approach me at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago, she was so forward and in my face. It ticked me off to be honest, if you are going to beg come up with a better story than she had, look me in the eyes and ask nice. I told her I am sorry but I only carry a debit card and if she had a need that there are churches that will help her (she was asking for gas money, but not willing to go to the gas station to fill up). She was a professional, well dressed con, similar to the professional shoplifter bands of people you get a lot in retail.

On the other hand there was a woman who always used the same corner when I was living in Portland obviously a user or past user, I would give her a brown bag weekly with apples wet wipes and granola bar type foods because she was kind and down on her luck and probably truly homeless.

 

[Beekissed]

I was in D.C. one time with a street savvy friend and she would get so mad at me for giving money to the street bums. I know that they were probably not needy, but, who knows? The Bible says that you may entertain angels unawares. I have given rides to guys hitchhiking in the daylight, but only with my big ol' sons in the car. Haven't had a mishap yet but I think I would know what I would do if threatened in any way. It would be interesting to see if it worked.

I don't normally carry cash and I keep my debit card in my pocket. Never take my purse in the store and I keep it down between the seats and covered up when I lock the car.