My experience of beggars today 3 days before Xmas

gurramok

I was off work today and decided to go for a walk into town(Dub that is) and I have not walked into town in months.

Result - Beggars everywhere.

I step out the door, one around the corner from the apt outside a Spar, another up on a bridge 30seconds away and 2 more on another bridge(the new one called Samuel Beckett where there is one beggar on opposite side of the bridge).

Another beggar on Pearse st, 2 on O'Connell bridge, 2 on O'Connell St, 2 on Henry st, 2 on Liffey st and 1 on Mary st. Whats that, 14 on that short journey over a few streets.

Now, all bar 2 of the above were of a certain foreign grouping we know well. One of them I saw on my journey back promptly got up, did a jog on the spot for about a minute to warm up and promptly sat back down with the blanket over him with that desperate look of starvation. Looked very healthy and clothed for a bloke in need.

Another who I'm certain was Irish(as I heard him speak to a stall seller for a split second on my return journey) was outside the M&S on Henry st. First time I walked past him at 12:30pm he was covered in sleeping bags & blankets all desperate looking with the cup in hand waiting for a coin to drop into it.

When i came out of the shops 2 min later and walked back past his spot, i couldn't believe what I saw in front of me. He got up, spoke to the seller and walked around the corner onto Liffey st. He looked very fit to me as if he worked out in the gym and well fed with good clothes, you could mistake him for a bouncer. Not a bother on him as he went on his way and for the smart arses...no, he was not sleeping there after a night out

To throw in the mix, there was about 20 kids from Belvedere College all out with their buckets 'begging' for money. Why do they give a f*** at Xmas about the homeless and not every other day of the year?

And oh, all the beggars disappeared as I retraced my journey a couple of hours ago. I had my suspicions but is this one big con job money making style by the beggars?:mad:

Kurtosis

Technically it was only 2 full days before Christmas...yay, Christmas!

admiralofthefleet

a romanian begger followed me down moore street today because i ignored her

LowOdour

One good thing about the recession is that we all now have the excuse that we cant give any spare change to beggers because we cant afford it.

Whosbetter?

It beggars belief really...

orourkeda

I blame the romanians

My name is URL

I was out on Sunday night and on my way from the pub to the niteclub a Romanian woman tried to sell me some roses.. even though I had no female companion =/ .. she followed me for a good 100 meters

I told her I was an incognito detective and she was jeopardizing my cover.. done the job

SoulTrader

A lot of begging is contrived, imo. Spoils it for the real beggers / genuine cases as it causes everyone to doubt them.

On a related note, I hate those kids who collect and insist on rattling their buckets of change at me. As I was walking into a shop a few weeks ago, there was a man collecting outside. Rather than acknowledge me by saying hello, or smiling, he just raised the bucket and shook it vigorously at me. I muttered (quietly, so he couldn't hear me) - I'm not a f***in' animal, don't rattle your bucket at me.

jaffa20

Christmas; a season for giving, giving and giving.

SoulTrader

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

a romanian begger followed me down moore street today because i ignored her

Was she hot?

orourkeda

My name is URL wrote: »

I was out on Sunday night and on my way from the pub to the niteclub a Romanian woman tried to sell me some roses.. even though I had no female companion =/

I told her I was an incognito detective and she was jeopradising my cover.. done the job

Why didnt you punch her in the face and tell her to f*ck off?

davyjose

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

a romanian begger followed me down moore street today because i ignored her

Dude, you're sooo cursed.

orourkeda

Whosbetter? wrote: »

It beggars belief really...

It beggars bush

admiralofthefleet

SoulTrader wrote: »

Was she hot?

if i had 13 mickeys i wouldnt give her the unlucky one

Killaqueen!!!

I hate the way beggars come up to you when you're waiting for the bus in town and shove a cup in ur face and speak to you in Romanian or whatever language. The least you could do is learn how to say "Do you have any spare change please?" instead of coming up to me while I'm waiting for my bus, shove a cup in my face and speaking to me in a language I obviously won't understand

And by the way, no I'm not racist, or anti-homeless people but I just find the above really annoying especially seeing as the majority of them are quite in your face and aggressive.

admiralofthefleet

davyjose wrote: »

Dude, you're sooo cursed.

ill be grand, i bought pegs last week

davyjose

SoulTrader wrote: »

(quietly, so he couldn't hear me)

I'd have said it so he could hear me.

My name is URL

orourkeda wrote: »

Why didnt you punch her in the face and tell her to f*ck off?

She was about 60, and kind of pleasant.. Sometimes I just talk to them until they realize I'm not gonna buy/give anything

ham_n_mustard

next time a Romanian begs me for money i'm going to hand them the web address for cash 4 gold and tell them send their teeth in a freepost envelope, they'll make a fortune

CombatCow

OP, thats why I prefer to give directly to the simon community, it's hard to know who the "genuine" homeless are.


CC

That_Guy

I had an interesting run in today.

I was waiting on my girlfriend outside Jervis and this guy shuffles along towards me.
Here's how the conversation went.

"Sorry boss, I'm a travelling boy and I'm looking for my family... not your fault I know. But if you've any money for a hostel I'd much appreciate it"

To which I replied, "would you not be better off saving up for a sat nav so that you can easily locate the whereabouts of your community?"

He called me a "cheap scumbag" and walked away.

the_syco

orourkeda wrote: »

I blame the romanians

Why? They hate the Roma more than we hate the travellers who create rubbish tips in your local field.

=-=

Meh. I tell them all to either "fúck off" or "go fúck yourself". I'm a smoker, I go out to smoke, not to buy a f**king rose, or pestered by some random Roma with a cup. I ignore the chuggers. I play chicken with the ones that approach me who don't have any visable ID on them. They move, or... I brush past them. I really don't give a f**k about them. The non-roma beggers I treat like everyone else.

gurramok

CombatCow wrote: »

OP, thats why I prefer to give directly to the simon community, it's hard to know who the "genuine" homeless are.

Yes, you're right.

How many beggars are there at any given time? I never went to the southside shopping area(even though i live on southside), never went to Temple bar area either so th enumber could easily be doubled.
One would be broke if you gave money to each 'beggar', talk about a saturated beggar market!

admiralofthefleet

there is a bloke that sells the big issue outside tara dart station that looks like an older liam gallagher. he drinks in clearys on amiens street every day

TequilaMockingBird

I was in Dublin last week with two 9 year olds, my one said to me she doesn't like Dublin because too many people live on the floor (and 700 other questions about why??), and my nephew, after me constantly telling him to look where he was going, said he was looking for coins on the ground to give to the cold people.

It was grim tbh.

gandalf

The worst beggars I have encountered are the Irish ones. I was out in town recently when some lad on the Street just asked me for any spare change. I said I didn't have any (which was true for once) and he lost the plot cursing, shouting and shaping up to me.

I've noticed that beggars are getting way more aggressive in the last 3 years so much so that I believe its an issue that the Gardai should be dealing with.

Horsefumbler

the_syco wrote: »

Meh. I tell them all to either "fúck off" or "go fúck yourself". I'm a smoker, I go out to smoke, not to buy a f**king rose, or pestered by some random Roma with a cup. I ignore the chuggers. I play chicken with the ones that approach me who don't have any visable ID on them. They move, or... I brush past them. I really don't give a f**k about them.

I know you IRL so I know yur not lying about this

good on ya!

Lone Stone

I was in town a few days ago aswell and saw them all along those place's to but i was in shock i was walkin down towards eason's area and i saw my first ever OBESE HOMELESS PERSON !! WTF also she wasnt irish either i think i saw 1 irish homeless guy. :eek:

Dudess

AH: all heart.

CreepingDeath

I think I'll go to the bank and get some Romanian leu currency just in case they ask me for some change.

The Big Red Button

Seeing homeless people doesn't usually affect me all that much. I mean, it makes me sad that there are people in that position, and I don't like to see it, but it wouldn't usually ruin my day.

But the other day, I was on Pearse Street and I walked by this beggar woman with her child on her lap. (For those who care, I'm not sure whether or not they were Irish.) Whatever about the woman - the little girl was maybe two, three years old. And the way she gazed up at me, it made me think - she spends all day, every day, looking up at people who look down at her with pity, scorn, hatred, who knows what else. Even if, tomorrow, she were taken away from her current "life" (not that that's going to happen) and placed with a loving family who could provide for her - how could she ever escape from growing up being looked down on in that way?

It really upset me. And it made me think - fair enough, I know nothing about that particular mother or that particular case - but how could any rational person bring a child into the world in those crappy circumstances?! :mad: