Tired of the performative beggars and alcoholics this time of year

I'm here to find out what performatively 'sleeping' means.

Sorry but the poor dogs sitting being passed about just kills me. The people are not homeless where I am, hubby is a homeless housing worker, knows them all, and where they live. They all know my hubby and shout him over. He would never walk by. All drug abusers. None of them homeless in the slightest.

Spot on!!!!

People don't realise that they are promoting addiction by giving cash.

Check your privilege

There are many children of wealthy people who become full on addicts.
These as children had the very 'best' but were lacking in some way, probably boarding school and a remote relationship with their parents, brought up by Nannies.

Heroin and cocaine especially appeal.

They don't have to scratch about or steal or beg, but there are a lot of wealthy addicts out there.

Your 6yo doesn't actually understand it though does she? Basic compassion is not the same as actually understanding a very complex situation. The reality isn't as black and white as it is in the mind of a small child.

Scammers, sigh.

The homeless services in my part of London are bloody good. Most clients are men, illegal immigrants.

We get bussed in Big Issue con artists.

And the freelancers - gentlemen junks and drunks thieving and assaulting women, lovely.

Every £1 you give funds organised crime.

I don’t think you get it to be honest, those alcoholic’s and drug addicts are probably genuinely homeless.

@ClairDeLaLune luckily, you can quote bad lyrics.
Re OP; absolutely agree plus enablers. I was lucky to have lived most of my life in central London. There were literally about 30 food trucks every night on the Strand and they would pick and choose - 'no, don't fancy the chickpea curry and rice [chuck on the ground] i'll try the Falafel Flatbread'. Shops that catered for Lunchtime time crowd as an aside to their normal trade would leave their food bins unlocked because they weren't allowed to donate out of date food but allowed people to bin dive. Sounds altruistic - the rats were definitely happy as people rummaged and chucked detritus all over. Pret a Manger developed a system to deliver food on the cusp of being out of date in a hygienic and measured way. Charing Cross Library had a lovely make over; people could come and browse / rummage - fair enough. Ironically, the comfiest seats were in the Romance section - the stink of urine, faeces and BO were rapidly absorbed into said, comfy seats. Upstairs, in the reference section there was plenty of room to lay down, imbibe substances and have sex - saw it all - although one couples tried to be discrete in their shared sleeping bag. At Christmas it was beyond ridiculous. You had all these puzzled tourists wandering around Covent Garden, The Strand, Soho who couldn't believe there wasn't anything open on Christmas Day - in central London?! I've seen them being approached by gangs / groups of homeless in an aggressive manner - 5 minutes from Whitehall. Same groups were bussed out at the first signs of serious weather on the horizon - proof there were enough hostel places but the majority weren't willing to go because no alcohol or or narcotics allowed. Word gets around and they travel to the best tourist traps e.g. Canary Wharf however, it's classed as a Private Estate so they hang on as long as possible before taking over the foot bridge to the Isle of Dogs - and fight over the best spots - also rent out dogs to each other because they're a honey trap, everyone's a sucker for a drugged up Dog or even better, a cat named . . . I saw latter and it was off it's tits.

Many where we live aren't even homeless, and are repeatedly moved on by the police (with hundreds of pounds worth of cash in their backpacks from unsuspecting tourists - DP is a police officer and has escorted some home to their very nice apartments before!), and can become quite aggressive when challenged.
One lady begs outside our local supermarket but she's always talking on her iPhone via her airpods...then wonders why nobody stops to give her cash.

Another virtue signaller who's totally out of touch with reality. I'm guessing you live in a 'naice' little town in Cheshire or the home counties and have never encountered one of these people

There are some people that beg when they don’t need to BUT there will be a context to that. If you have grown up in a loving, trauma free family, you were supported to reach your potential, you are blessed with good health and you are financially secure, you would not dream of doing that. There will be a context.

Some gangs send people out begging, those people are often vulnerable and exploited.

Some people will be genuinely in need.

Most people that find themselves homeless and desperate have complex, often traumatic histories, mental health problems or are vulnerable in other ways.

We could all end up in the same situation.

Lots of us are protected from that possibility but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. ‘They’ are no different to you, they have just had a different life history and you could conceivably end up there too. You think not?…(TW trauma)

Imagine there is a big celebration and all your nearest and dearest are there. You step out to take a call and the building explodes in a terrorist attack and you are the only survivor. You have life changing injuries. A brain injury (frontal cortex) that makes decision making harder.

The psychological impact, trauma and physical health issues mean you can no longer work and have to survive on benefits. You meet a kind person who is empathy and understanding as they have been through similar. You are alone in the world and they feel like a good connection in your grief. They give you a pill that they find helps them. They say it will make you feel better. Your grief and head injury mean your decision making is compromised.

You take it. It feels good (having had opiates in hospital during a traumatic event I can tell you - they take all the emotional and physical pain away and replace it with a warm fuzzy feeling). You want more. You need more. You get addicted. You start gambling to try and get the money needed to hold on to that blissfully warm fuzzy feeling that replaces the fear, anxiety, shame, huge gaping loss in the pit of your stomach. You lose it all. Your house, your savings. You have no one left. They were all in the attack. Then this someone offers you a home. Gives you gifts. ‘Looks after’ you. They now have a hold over you…

These people on the streets are people. They are people who often don’t have the benefit of a stable loving background. Have experienced multiple traumas as children and adults. This impacts how our physiology and brain function.

Im not suggesting we give them money. (I will offer to buy them a warm drink or sandwich). I think supporting charities like Shelter, buying the big issue etc is much better.

But to de-humanise them like you have is appalling and shows a massive empathy fail. You should see it and ask ‘How is a civilised society allowing this to happen and what needs to change? How can I play a part in that change?’ Not ‘ew that’s gross how can we hide it away so I don’t have to face it!’

But card readers don't work with personal bank accounts, only with business ones. So how does that work?!

(there are other methods someone could use, eg giving people a QR code to scan that would transfer money into a Paypal or Stipe account - just not card readers!)

Banks are trying to help people without an address to access their services now. Otherwise it’s a vicious cycle you can’t get out of.

I work with those who are homeless and also those with drug and alcohol issues. If you had even the slightest knowledge of the backstory of some of those who you are denegrating, I would hope you would change your mind. It is not a "choice", it is overwhelmingly a consequence of a series of horrible events in life, usually from a young age. Have some compassion, it is generally an absolutely awful way of life and the stigma from society (such as displayed here) is one reason why it is so hard to get out of. I'm really sickened by the attitude displayed here.

I’ve also used our streetlink service in Brum that allows you to report people sleeping rough and outreach workers will go out to them- offer food, advice and help finding accommodation. Sometimes you get an update and half the time the person has refused the help.

You see, it's people like @Yesitisnotthatitbe that perpetuate the lies and - quite possibly - hate for those s/he fears. S/he knows absolutely nothing about me yet in her/his own mind she has already concocted a life, a location and a political ethos for me in a matter of minutes. Do you see how completely mad that is?