NO

[StatmanCrothers]

Anytime I don't want to talk to someone who has approached me unsolicited I adopt a vacant grin (not a stretch for me) and say boisterously

"Billy got a new jacket! do you know Billy?"

in the rare case where this doesn't work, I add.

"He couldn't get the blood out of the other one! It sure was a lot of blood!"

i've never needed to add the third line i have prepared...

[mikechamp]

She calls out to the man on the street
"Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet
Can't walk but she's trying

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place
'Cause she didn't fit in there

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

[JCShutout]

I usually agree with this rant, but the other day I had a slight change of heart. A man approached me (in a nonaggressive way) when I was walking to my car after class, and he explained that he needed $16.50 to wash his clothes and get cleaned up - what that entailed, I didn't know for sure. He said he was hoping for a blessing, and I thought to myself, "What the heck?" I pulled out my wallet and gave him $10, because I figured he needed it a lot more than I did.

I don't know if he really used it for getting cleaned up - he seemed genuine and looked like he could use a break, so I can only hope for the best. I've never made a habit of giving money to random people on the street, but this seemed like the right thing to do.

I have a simple rule of thumb about people who ask for help: If I have the time/money to help, I will give it with no questions or judgments. If I don't, I look him/her straight in the eye and say "sorry, not today." (there are some obvious exceptions to this, such as people who are obviously drunk/high/lying). It's a heuristic that works great for me. It eliminates judgment and prejudice from the equation. And it's the truth.

I have always believed that the only difference between a bum lying on the street and the guy/girl who struts past him/her in a designer suit is a simple twist of fate. Oversimplifying? Absolutely. But it's as close to the truth as anything I have found.

++ I do just about the same thing. If I've got it, its yours.

I don't care if I've been scammed. I can afford the $2. Its more important for that someone who really needed bus fare to get it than for me to save $35 annually and not be scammed.

[MrCrowesGarden]

I usually agree with this rant, but the other day I had a slight change of heart. A man approached me (in a nonaggressive way) when I was walking to my car after class, and he explained that he needed $16.50 to wash his clothes and get cleaned up - what that entailed, I didn't know for sure. He said he was hoping for a blessing, and I thought to myself, "What the heck?" I pulled out my wallet and gave him $10, because I figured he needed it a lot more than I did.

I don't know if he really used it for getting cleaned up - he seemed genuine and looked like he could use a break, so I can only hope for the best. I've never made a habit of giving money to random people on the street, but this seemed like the right thing to do.

I have a simple rule of thumb about people who ask for help: If I have the time/money to help, I will give it with no questions or judgments. If I don't, I look him/her straight in the eye and say "sorry, not today." (there are some obvious exceptions to this, such as people who are obviously drunk/high/lying). It's a heuristic that works great for me. It eliminates judgment and prejudice from the equation. And it's the truth.

I have always believed that the only difference between a bum lying on the street and the guy/girl who struts past him/her in a designer suit is a simple twist of fate. Oversimplifying? Absolutely. But it's as close to the truth as anything I have found.

++ I do just about the same thing. If I've got it, its yours.

I don't care if I've been scammed. I can afford the $2. Its more important for that someone who really needed bus fare to get it than for me to save $35 annually and not be scammed.

I understand where you're coming from, but it does bother me if I've been scammed (or if they're going to buy booze with it).

That's why if someone asks me for money for food, I will usually ask them to come into the fast food joint with me so I can buy them food. One of two things happen: either I buy a hungry person something for lunch, or they reject me and I save myself from getting scammed.

[Hungary Jack]

I usually agree with this rant, but the other day I had a slight change of heart. A man approached me (in a nonaggressive way) when I was walking to my car after class, and he explained that he needed $16.50 to wash his clothes and get cleaned up - what that entailed, I didn't know for sure. He said he was hoping for a blessing, and I thought to myself, "What the heck?" I pulled out my wallet and gave him $10, because I figured he needed it a lot more than I did.

I don't know if he really used it for getting cleaned up - he seemed genuine and looked like he could use a break, so I can only hope for the best. I've never made a habit of giving money to random people on the street, but this seemed like the right thing to do.

I have a simple rule of thumb about people who ask for help: If I have the time/money to help, I will give it with no questions or judgments. If I don't, I look him/her straight in the eye and say "sorry, not today." (there are some obvious exceptions to this, such as people who are obviously drunk/high/lying). It's a heuristic that works great for me. It eliminates judgment and prejudice from the equation. And it's the truth.

I have always believed that the only difference between a bum lying on the street and the guy/girl who struts past him/her in a designer suit is a simple twist of fate. Oversimplifying? Absolutely. But it's as close to the truth as anything I have found.

++ I do just about the same thing. If I've got it, its yours.

I don't care if I've been scammed. I can afford the $2. Its more important for that someone who really needed bus fare to get it than for me to save $35 annually and not be scammed.

I understand where you're coming from, but it does bother me if I've been scammed (or if they're going to buy booze with it).

That's why if someone asks me for money for food, I will usually ask them to come into the fast food joint with me so I can buy them food. One of two things happen: either I buy a hungry person something for lunch, or they reject me and I save myself from getting scammed.

I'll do that sometimes. It works great.

Once a woman wanted $10 for a train ride to the burbs after her car broke down downtown. I offered to cab with her over to Union Station and buy her ticket. She politely declined.

[JCShutout]

I understand where you're coming from, but it does bother me if I've been scammed (or if they're going to buy booze with it).

That's why if someone asks me for money for food, I will usually ask them to come into the fast food joint with me so I can buy them food. One of two things happen: either I buy a hungry person something for lunch, or they reject me and I save myself from getting scammed.

I can appreciate that, but I guess I just don't mind as much. What's that old saying, the second cloak in your closet belongs to the poor, or second pair of shoes, or something...

I've also given people the 60 cents or whatever for bus fare, and seen them get on the bus, and I've done the "let me buy you hardees" thing when I didn't have cash on me, and had most (almost all) accept the free meal.

[Spider John]

Leave me alone. I have [expletive] to do.

No.

[Cronos]

I'm taking a cultural diversity class. I'm taught to not automatically assume that the person walking down the street toward you on a Saturday night isn't out to get you or take money from you, he's just different from you.

I'm trying to be more open. I really am. So I engage in a conversaton with the guy. I walk down Division toward my apartment, wanting to be friendly and open-minded.

I end up getting taken for 30 bucks. He claimed he navigated me through a "Danger Zone" and he had a bag. He might have had a gun, how was I to know what he had in mind? He wanted $100. I was lucky.

---

This is why one when walking down the street should never, ever, look at anyone else for more than ten seconds. Period.

I hate Chicago.

[docellis]

YES

[Hungary Jack]

YES

BEE-YATCH!