To tell healthy, fit looking, well dressed beggar to get a job?

[duvetcovereddissident]

He is not a local beggar, all of whom I know, and he does not in any way look homeless. He looks to be about 30, healthy and fit, - much fitter than me! Well dressed and clean - much better dressed than me!

He is sitting outside the door to the local supermarket, and put his leg out in front of me as I tried to enter and asked for money.

Less than 6 feet to his left is the door of a cafe, with a sign on it saying "waiter required - apply within". I know those cafe owners, and I am sure that if he had gone in there and asked for a trial shift, rather than settling down outside the supermarket, they would have taken him on for the day to see how he did. They have needed a new waiter for months.

I have every sympathy with homeless and rough sleepers, and people down on their luck. I just think this is a scammer though. He has arrived in the area looking for somewhere to beg, and will probably be going home tonight. He isn't a local man, as I said.

I have walked many a mile in those shoes! I was a homeless teenager myself, sleeping rough. Years ago.

It's quite hard to believe that you know all the local beggars, you know the shop owners well and you have worked for decades in homeless shelters. You could try and tell him to get a job , see what happens...

@duvetcovereddissident I'd really like to see a picture of this sign saying "waiter required". Because that's illegal. As I'm sure you realise.

We do place homeless people in accommodation and training

Lots of homeless people and rough sleepers have jobs.

Yet you know lots of homeless people, and a cafe who have had a job vacancy for 'months'?

I suggest maybe the gentleman you met today isn't the only one performing to the best of his ability.

There are many thousands of trafficked slaves.

And there are many thousands of professional beggars too, by choice.

Yes I do know, and I am sure.

I am surprised you are not aware of this.

Can you answer the question about the "waiter required" sign please @duvetcovereddissident ?

Unless you actually had a job to offer him, I think YWBU. He may be a scammer; he may be mentally ill - no way of telling from his appearance. You are in no way obliged to give him anything, but best not to lecture people when you don't know them.

I help run the local homeless shelter

As I said, I feel sorry for those who encounter you and your attitude.

local emergency shelter

Same sentiment applies.

Burglars have realised that in order to have any success that it’s time they upped their game.
Looking unkempt is no longer sufficient.
Local beggars now prefer gifts of ties, waistcoats or shoe polish.
Most now enrol for elocution lessons.

Few years ago I was shopping in Oxford. A man dressed in dirty clothes was sitting outside shop blanket on the floor with coins in and a im hungry sign. As I walked past he got up took his old jumper off and trousers underneath was a suit picked his blanket up and off he went

That's a joke, I assume.

If he was faking it, wouldn’t he at least pretend to look more like a beggar, I don’t know

Can someone even get a job without having a fixed address?

You know all of the local beggars 😂

Ah and I've seen you know the cafe owners too. What's the population of your town, 10?

Did you actually tell him to get a job?
What did he say?

Yes this cafe has been desperate for staff for months but she hasn't managed to get any of the beggers she apparently knows a job there...but this complete random person could have walked in and had a paid trial in seconds

If you get so many homeless people jobs in your working life then how come cafe owners that you know well enough to know they’ll break laws (regarding checking right to work) have been looking for staff for months?

Well really, if they're professional beggars, that's their job, isn't it, and they're probably pretty good at it and enjoy it, so why would they want to change careers at your bidding?

Big Issue selling is a job and each worker is given a pitch to sell in. They have to sell in their allocated pitch, so the one you're talking about presumably commutes to work selling the magazine there and the police know this because they know which pitch is hers.

And what if he’d just got out of prison? Or had a disability meaning he can’t work on his feet?

Oh stop it! If your worked in shelters “for decades” you, more than anyone, would know it’s not as simple as “get a job”. It’s possible that he’s not permitted to work in the UK (migration status, for example), or has medical reasons why he can’t work as a waiter or any other job, for that matter. You should also know that clean clothes doesn’t automatically mean someone is homeless. Seriously, someone who’s “worked in shelters” can do better than the usual Daily Mail stereotypes such as “well he looks clean enough to
me”, “he doesn’t look hungry to me”. My husband, before meeting ne, lived on the streets for many years (we are not in the UK) and always kept himself and his clothes clean. He knew where he could get a hot shower, would manage to panhandle enough to launder his clothes, he ate well enough.

I would also expect someone who has “worked in shelters for decades” to know the process for repossession and eviction. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4780506-house-repossession