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Original poster

To not feel sorry for this man begging for money on the road

205 replies

bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 20:24

by the great Cambridge road and saw a man with a sign saying:
"I have no food or money, I have 2 children, I don't speak any English, please help me"

He was looking at us as we were the nearest car to him, my friend wanted to give him money and i said NO don't give him anything and she wanted me to give him the money as i was the driver and the man was on my side but i said no and drove off.
She thinks i was harsh for this but all i was thinking is, if you don't speak English and have no money, how and why are you here?

Do you think i'm wrong for this?

I'm the same with beggers in general, I use to give money but you give money to one the rest will come, like at my local shopping park which junkies have over taken, knocking on peoples windows for money when you are waiting to leave the car park because people are always giving them money now they harass everyone.

maybe i am harsh?

OP posts:
Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 04/02/2016 21:43

Who says he wasn't. Did you ask him.

Zhabr · 04/02/2016 21:44

I am with OP on this. The advice from the police is don't encourage beggars. OP did not know for sure if that man was homeless or not. Recently a beggar from my area was given prison sentence for fraud. He was begging for several years, pretending to be homeless. In reality he was living in the council flat. Money had been spent for drinks ang drugs, of course. it is definitely better to sign for charities by direct debit then to give cash to beggars. Some of them are "professionals" and part of the wider "organisation".

Original poster
bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 21:45

EXACTLY rudeelf,
the guy clearly could speak English or knew someone who could as they managed to write the laminated printed out sign.
The point is he was clearly a scam, some of you are so gullible.
It isnt to do with "ignorance" its to do with not being dumb.

I didnt mean to say "you dont speak english so dont come here"
my point is he is a scammer who does speak english and is playing on the dumb to give him money

OP posts:
Original poster
bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 21:46

ILive
did you ask him?
how are you going to ask a question with a question just because you have no answer.
Nobody said he is syrain and nobody said he was homeless, he was on the road with a sign. Thats it.

OP posts:
WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 04/02/2016 21:48

Generally, homeless charities like shelter advise you not to give money.

If you want to help, give a sealed bottle of water or can of pop.

Sealed bag of crisps or biscuits. So they can see they are 'new'.

Give them useful things like an un-wanted sleeping bag or coat. Clean/dry socks.

But try to avoid giving money.

ilovesooty · 04/02/2016 21:49

I think on balance I'd prefer to be "dumb" rather than to suffer from complete empathy bypass.

timemaychangeme · 04/02/2016 21:51

When my grandparents came to the uk they spoke no English and had no money. They were escaping the pogroms in Lithuania.

Seeyounearertime · 04/02/2016 21:51

I wouldnt give him money either OP.
He's likely got more than me TBF.
Hell, if someone is debt free and has a pound in their pocket then they're wealthier than most of us. ;)

willowsummers · 04/02/2016 21:51

I do think some are scammers, and I do think there are many genuine cases.

However, the genuine cases really are not helped by donations of money, as kindly meant as they may be.

SouthWestmom · 04/02/2016 21:52

england.shelter.org.uk/our_work/how_we_spend_your_donation

I am so sick of hearing the guff about how charities spend it all.on management etc. It's lazy and wrong.

maybebabybee · 04/02/2016 21:54

Noeuf I agree. Primarily because the bast majority of people moaning about it haven't bothered to consider the fact that charities do actually need to pay their staff and have decent equipment to do their jobs with. Apparently people who work for charities should just do it out of the kindness of their hearts and not expect to be paid for it :)

maybebabybee · 04/02/2016 21:55

Vast, not bast!!

Original poster
bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 21:56

ilovesooty, i dont feel sorry for people who try to con others, you may but i dont.

OP posts:
SouthWestmom · 04/02/2016 21:57

Exactly. Pay peanuts, get monkeys. And who wants to volunteer for a full time job? Volunteers don't want to come in five days a week Monday to Friday. Or every weekend and evening.

RudeElf · 04/02/2016 21:59

has anyone else noted that the sign in english said they couldnt speak english? who wrote the sign then?

Are you fucking serious? Between thinking that thought and hitting 'post' are you seriously telling me your brain didnt make its way to "someone wrote the sign for him"? Hmm

RudeElf · 04/02/2016 22:01

EXACTLY rude elf
the guy clearly could speak English or knew someone who could as they managed to write the laminated printed out sign.
The point is he was clearly a scam

How does someone writing it for him prove its a scam? Confused

LilacSpunkMonkey · 04/02/2016 22:02

This reply has been deleted

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RudeElf · 04/02/2016 22:02

Amazing logic some of you have

Whereas your logic...

Original poster
bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 22:06

wasnt meant to post that to you.
and to answer:
Who said someone else wrote it for him? do you know him? was you there?
and if he had someone who can speak English for him to translate why cant he get them to get the help from proper organisations if English is his main barrier?
How did he get the sign laminated? was it from a library? if so he must of communicated with them.
How many people own a laminator? none i know, I dont even know anyone with a printer

OP posts:
Seeyounearertime · 04/02/2016 22:07

Are you fucking serious? Between thinking that thought and hitting 'post' are you seriously telling me your brain didnt make its way to "someone wrote the sign for him"?

so much salt in this post. wow.

Original poster
bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 22:07

LilacSpunkMonkey
LOL you mad?

OP posts:
JamNan · 04/02/2016 22:09

Harsh? Yes.

if you don't speak English and have no money, how and why are you here?

And God forbid OP that a catastrophe should ever overcome you and your family. If you had to flee from your homeland, ending up in a foreign country (where you are unable to speak the language), how would you cope?

And BTW your own written English is rather lax!

ilovesooty · 04/02/2016 22:10

I agree with Lilac

Original poster
bellaSorela · 04/02/2016 22:11

jamnan,
If you bothered to read you will know i said i didnt mean it in that way i meant it in the way of who the hell wrote the sign.
and who told you he fled from his homeland, is he your friend? are you psychic?
and BTW this isnt an English test, you cannot try belittle me because i do not write perfect on a forum when you lack common sense.

OP posts:
LilacSpunkMonkey · 04/02/2016 22:11

This reply has been deleted

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