My experience of beggars today 3 days before Xmas

My name is URL

chatterpillar wrote: »

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:

Well it's human nature to procreate.. once a person is fit to give life then they will, and even if it's irresponsible for someone to have a child in those circumstances, at the end of the day the people are humans.

Nature doesn't notice economics most of the time

lee_

http://www.bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=2905191206&size=large

Rough Justice??? from a Dublin Gal

Dartz

I'm half tempted to find someone who sells counterfeit fivers.... Buy up a bunch.....

Then hand them out to beggars, ans hope they get a nasty shock when they try to pay for something with them.

TamNaz

chatterpillar wrote: »

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.

Did you give them anything?

Maybe it wouldn't have ruined your day so much, then.

Dudess

Lone Stone wrote: »

i saw my first ever OBESE HOMELESS PERSON !! WTF also she wasnt irish either i think i saw 1 irish homeless guy. :eek:

I, for one, am of the view all beggars should be scrawny and natives of their respective countries - I mean, it's not as if there are any Irish beggars on the streets of New York or London.

Cupcake_Crisis

You should go to Canada, the beggars are really friendly over there! If you dont have change THEY apolagise to YOU!!

Four-Percent

gurramok wrote: »

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?

Every wednesday they spend 3 or 4 hours giving out free food and drink to the homeless in Dublin.

Those 20 kids are sleeping rough on O'Connell street to raise money for them too.

So, eh, shurrup

we'llallhavetea_old

lee_ wrote: »

http://www.bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=2905191206&size=large

Rough Justice??? from a Dublin Gal

ppppft, she could have at least smiled for the photo :rolleyes:

Size=everything

Four-Percent wrote: »

Every wednesday they spend 3 or 4 hours giving out free food and drink to the homeless in Dublin.

Those 20 kids are sleeping rough on O'Connell street to raise money for them too.

So, eh, shurrup

I'm going to have to agree. Why are you having a go at some kids from a school who are trying to raise money for a charity? They do it at christmass because people are more likely to give money at that time. Do you expect them to sleep rough every night or what?

Also the Roma's you see begging are not always Romanians, in fact, most of them are from Bulgaria. I work with Romanians who hate them more than you could ever imagine.

ballsymchugh

Four-Percent wrote: »

Every wednesday they spend 3 or 4 hours giving out free food and drink to the homeless in Dublin.

Those 20 kids are sleeping rough on O'Connell street to raise money for them too.

So, eh, shurrup

yep. all the money raised goes towards Fr. Peter McVerry's organisation, which is as commendable as Simon for the work that they do.
at least if you give money to them, it's going to be spent on something that the homeless really need. whether it's a bed in a hostel or a paper cup of soup. at least you know it won't be spent in the nearest offy.

The Big Red Button

TamNaz wrote: »

Did you give them anything?

Maybe it wouldn't have ruined your day so much, then.

No, I did not give anything.

As it happened, that particular day, like a couple of days that week, I was literally not able to afford to feed myself (no exaggeration whatsoever.)

I'm not necessarily saying I would have given anything even if I had money - chances are, I wouldn't have, seeing as it's not going to make any meaningful difference in the grand scheme of things. But that day, I didn't have the option to even if I wanted to.

And to be honest I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Do I feel bad that there are people in that situation? - yes, absolutely. Do I blame myself or feel personally responsible for them? - no I do not and don't see why I should.

citizen_p

i heard it somwhere..but one beggar made at least 40 to 60 euro a day in town at least and was also drawing the dole. (when it was good money for people under 24)

gypsygirl

ham_n_mustard wrote: »

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

Love it.

TamNaz

chatterpillar wrote: »

No, I did not give anything.

And to be honest I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Do I feel bad that there are people in that situation? - yes, absolutely. Do I blame myself or feel personally responsible for them? - no I do not and don't see why I should.

Understood.

But please just know not every person on the street is there because they deserve to be or even because they did something 'wrong'. There are plenty of scam artists and lazies, etc. but also many mentally challenged or people that through terrible circumstance have ended up where they are.

I understand people can't be pouring open their pockets at every turn but to rail at the poor just seems very odd to me.

TamNaz

Also, didn't mean to pick on your post in particular, so sorry for that.

RadioGaGa

Four-Percent wrote: »

Every wednesday they spend 3 or 4 hours giving out free food and drink to the homeless in Dublin.

Those 20 kids are sleeping rough on O'Connell street to raise money for them too.

So, eh, shurrup

You got in there before me. Its a HUGE money raiser, over a 100 grand every christmas.

Run_to_da_hills

I believe they are all having a banqueth on Christmas day.

TPD

If you think that's bad, try Amsterdam. Savage beggars over there, almost an art form.

dustyrip

I had to go out to Dcu for the first time in 2 years, and the amount of filth on the 13a bus was a joke(I had forgotten how bad it was). I had to sit down beside some knack and the smell off him was repulsive.

As for beggers, I feel sorry for them and generally give them a few euro. I would hate to be out in this weather.

tylercheribini

i am no racist,just honest,alot of these romanian gypsy beggars are making more on social welfare than i am as a student a week . then they beg on top of this so i wudnt give them them the steam off my piss no matter how many ****in kids they have in their lap sittin on the street. again im not racist,just honest.

CrazyRabbit

A few years ago I seen a young boy (about 11-13 years old) sitting outside the Ilac center. He was soaking wet, with a torn hooded jacket and a old blanket wrapped around him. Quite a miserable sight, especially with so many people just walking by and ignoring him.

To be fair, I normally would just walk past myself as I know that it's often just a begging scam, but I stopped this time as I noticed the kid had bruises and cuts all over his face. The most disturbing thing was the 'look' on his face....he had completely given up. It was like he was just sitting there waiting to die. I knew he was genuine (or a really great actor).

I tried to speak to him, but he didn't respond. Not even any eye movement. I walked on a little bit out of sight and called the Gardai. I waited about 45 minutes for them to arrive, and kept an eye on the kid in case he left.
The Gardai arrived and spoke to him, but they weren't getting a response either, and decided to call an ambulance due to the cuts/bruises and unresponsiveness. I took note of the Garda's name and went off on my way.

I called the station 2 days later and asked to speak with the garda. Turns out the kid had an abusive dad and had run away 3 months previously and was living on the street ever since. He tried to sneak back home to get money & clean clothes but his dad caught him and beat the crap out of him. The parents hadn't even bothered reporting him missing.

I don't know what happened to him after that, but I always remember him when I see someone begging. Reminds me that some of them are genuine.

Hank_Jones

I love how everyone says in their posts that they are not racist.

I'm certainly not racist, I give to them all equally.

I give them nout...

Beggars that is, I have a completely different stance on giving to charities.

Adyx

tylercheribini wrote: »

i am no racist,just honest,alot of these romanian gypsy beggars are making more on social welfare than i am as a student a week . then they beg on top of this so i wudnt give them them the steam off my piss no matter how many ****in kids they have in their lap sittin on the street. again im not racist,just honest.

Of course you're not. You just don't know the difference between a Roma and a Romanian.

electrogrimey

It wouldn't be Christmas without some casual racism. Cheers for that everyone.

Kazaap

lee_ wrote: »

http://www.bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=2905191206&size=large

Rough Justice??? from a Dublin Gal

That picture is seriously disturbing and is now going to haunt my sleep
That girl should either be in a mental home or prison. she has a baby in her arms for ****s sake!

Dudess

Dudess wrote: »

I, for one, am of the view all beggars should be scrawny and natives of their respective countries - I mean, it's not as if there are any Irish beggars on the streets of New York or London.

C'mon dudess, are you extracting the urine a bit here?

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

A few years ago I seen a young boy (about 11-13 years old) sitting outside the Ilac center. He was soaking wet, with a torn hooded jacket and a old blanket wrapped around him. Quite a miserable sight, especially with so many people just walking by and ignoring him.

To be fair, I normally would just walk past myself as I know that it's often just a begging scam, but I stopped this time as I noticed the kid had bruises and cuts all over his face. The most disturbing thing was the 'look' on his face....he had completely given up. It was like he was just sitting there waiting to die. I knew he was genuine (or a really great actor).

I tried to speak to him, but he didn't respond. Not even any eye movement. I walked on a little bit out of sight and called the Gardai. I waited about 45 minutes for them to arrive, and kept an eye on the kid in case he left.
The Gardai arrived and spoke to him, but they weren't getting a response either, and decided to call an ambulance due to the cuts/bruises and unresponsiveness. I took note of the Garda's name and went off on my way.

I called the station 2 days later and asked to speak with the garda. Turns out the kid had an abusive dad and had run away 3 months previously and was living on the street ever since. He tried to sneak back home to get money & clean clothes but his dad caught him and beat the crap out of him. The parents hadn't even bothered reporting him missing.

I don't know what happened to him after that, but I always remember him when I see someone begging. Reminds me that some of them are genuine.

I think I know that kid. Or at least your post reminded me of a kid who was begging outside Bank of Ireland on College Green. It was one of those bitter windy days and he was huddled up with a blanket. Scrawny wee thing. I was going to give him some money, but tbh, I thought that his parents might actually know he's here and take the money off him. So I brought him over a fresh hot soup instead. Got absolutely no response either.

phasers

I hate town at Christmas, those groups of stupid brats shaking buckets at me need a slap.

I've noticed a ton of girls from my old school doing it, and I know for a fact that they don't care and just want a day off school. Most of them stand there shaking their bucket while texting! Fcuk off and get out of my way!

Beggars have been nothing but nice to me (Irish guys that is, I've never dealt with any female ones and Roma ones are all scam artists), do they really hurl abuse at people? I must just meet the right ones...

Bandit12

Yeah it's terrible that people are so down on there luck that they have to beg for money is'nt it.:rolleyes: How dare they. Get a job what.

TomTom

I give to Simon and St VdP a few times a year, maybe a bit more at christmas and to be honest now and then I throw a few bob to a begger on the street. Because of the hours I work I know which are genuine as I pass them at 4am or 5am asleep on the path.

Yesterday on St Stephens green there were a few youngish girls begging. One of them was quite fit and you could see she was wearing an 'Under Armour' Top under her clothes as the logo was sticking out. Kinda makes it rougher on the genuine people when these people not only dilute donations but give people a bad name. I had one guy (he is a little loony) offere do sing and dance for some change and a few smokes. I was bored so I said go ahead, man he put in some effort so I have him a fiver. Fastest I've ever seen a fiver turn into linden village cider.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Mousey- wrote: »

i heard it somwhere..but one beggar made at least 40 to 60 euro a day in town at least and was also drawing the dole. (when it was good money for people under 24)

Seriously, thats good money?.

Could you imagine for a moment what it cost's a beggar to take that first step into begging?.

I don't know about you, but I can't put a price on anyone's dignity.

Except for the professional Roma, my heart goes out to beggar's.

For me, seeing the homeless and destitute really thugs on my heart strings.