To think this woman begging was taking liberties?

[BlackFriYay]

As I was coming out of the dentist a bit woozy from anesthetic I was stopped outside the newsagents next door by a dishevelled woman asking me if I could buy her some food.

I vaguely recognise her as somebody who sits with the drinkers in the town centre.

I said I would and asked what she wanted, she said some eggs and some bread. No problem.

I followed her into the shop where she proceeded to select the biggest bag of Tilda rice that was there, the biggest tray of eggs they had, a big bottle of some kind of pricey fruit punch. There were much smaller / unbranded versions available.

She put it on the counter then went back to look for something else at which point I looked at the price stickers.

£10.99 for the rice
£5 something for the big tray of eggs
£4.99 for the big bottle of fruit punch

And she wasn't even finished.

I thought to myself not a chance this and told her it's too much and I can't help, sorry. Bye.

She then followed me out of the shop asking if I can give her £10.

I'm happy to help somebody to a reasonable extent but I think she was taking the complete piss out of me.

What would you have done?

When I read this I automatically thought of the Spitting Image version of the late queen mum 😂

No good deed goes unpunished

Stop asking what they want and if you want to give them food, choose yourself what to give them. That's what I do.

There's a man who tries this near us. I nearly fell for it a few weeks ago- he asked me to buy him an energy drink in the off licence. OK... fine... then he proceeded to select the biggest most expensive can, grab a big bag of crisps and some chocolate and then to top it all asked for a pack of cigarettes at the till - I just told him no I wasn't getting him any of it because he was taking the piss

He started ranting and swearing and the off licence owner who I've known for years came out from the back and chucked him out. Apparently he was banned because he kept trying this but the assistant hadn't been there long and didn't know.

Owner is apparently sick of him and a couple of others who keep trying to pull this stunt - sometimes they try to return it for cash - which he refuses unless he can refund to original card used for payment and sometimes he thinks they sell it on. Apparently lots of people feel so swept along and / or intimidated they just pay up. He bans where ever possible.

She didn’t know how to make the most out of the situation as she ended up asking too much and getting nothing!

If you have a few pounds to spare then please seek out your local food bank.

My friend works in one, and not only has the amount of food they get donated from supermarkets and other sources really gone down recently but it is often not what their customers need. I give a cash donation, and I know others do too, so the manager can go to the cash and carry to buy shortage items, like nappies, period pads, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and food stuffs that can be eaten cold for people with no cooking facilities and no fridge, and things that can be eaten hot if you only have access to a kettle.

I heard a checkout person at the supermarket near our main train station warn another woman about this. She'd been asked for a similar request, and the woman begging took the receipt. Apparently there they come straight back in after shopping and try to get a cash refund for the goods.

Wow she was well and truly taking the piss! I would have been shocked too. You did the right thing saying, it's too much and walking out. I wouldn't have been able to pay for that! I would have expected a £5 limit.

I donate regularly to a charity that does a food run for the homeless. In addition to the catered meals they also pass out food bags.

They ask for all "hot" food items to be instant and come in their own cup/bowl like Pot Noodle etc because some of their clients have no way of cooking or heating anything but some of the local cafes and restaurants will provide them with boiling water.

I would also be somewhat nonplussed at how she planned to cook a large bag of rice if she was actually homeless.

Aw man I accidentally voted wrong.

You are absolutely NOT being unreasonable. And well done you for sticking up for yourself!

There was a guy who did this outside of the Co-Ops in Hoxton.

Used to get people to buy him a couple of sandwiches and a drink... but he would ask every single person and have bags and bags of stuff by midday! Not sure if he was sharing or selling them on but way too much food for one person.

Had a guy approach me in WHSmiths a few years back with a few coins in his hand and asked me if I could give him 20p so he could buy a paper. I said something vague like "what?" and he said if he had the paper there was a coupon for a free sandwich at Gregs. So I bought him a couple of papers and one for myself and we walked over to Gregs together.

The staff were not happy having him there so I got him to tear the coupons out and pick out the sandwiches he wanted and he left quite happy. The staff at Gregs obviously didn't want some rough sleeper hanging about but were happy to serve me so it all ended quite nicely.

Since then if someone is outside a shop and asks for ££ I'll say I don't have any but ask if I can pick them up a sandwich. Very specific. Or get their dog some food as a lot seem to have a dog as well. I don't go into the shop with them or take them shopping but will get them a couple of things to eat and drop them back to them on my way out.

I donate to homeless charity locally. I don't give money or buy goods now. I once got hot tea I bought (thinking I was being kind) chucked over me, he'd asked for money for tea, so bought him the tea, unfortunately he was clearly a bit off his face and wanted more drugs, was just cross I got him the tea rather than gave him cash..

I hope she sleeps like a baby!

The woman attempted to take the piss out of the OP.

No good deed goes unpunished.

'Keen to make the most of your kindness' - is a hell of a euphemism!

Someone probably gave her an order of items they wanted and they'd give her a tenner for them. That's why when it didn't work w/ you she asked for the tenner instead. She will have been waiting for someone to walk past who looked a soft touch to buy them for her.

Surely if you want to do a good dead and by someone something to eat, you just go in the shop buy it and give it them. You don't take them in for it. You say cheese or ham and buy them a butty, crisps and a drink.

'Keen to make the most of your kindness' - is a hell of a euphemism!

😭😭

quoted wrong post sorry!

Omg sorry @Springwatch123, quoted the wrong post sorry!!

Meant to quote this, which I think is revolting.

I've never given to beggars etc and not about to start, but I do buy from charity shops which help support them

Not the same but we had a poster on our local FB group, saying the person had moved to the area, was skint, desperate, had kids, couldn't afford food, was anyone giving away furniture/white goods/kitchen stuff etc. Every single thing she was offered, she responded with "have you got a pic?" and then "sorry, wrong colour, I wanted white" when offered a black fridge. I looked at her FB profile and there were tonnes and tonnes of holiday pics, selfies of her in fairly expensive restaurants (Sexy Fish being one that exact day) but strangely no photos of kids. I can't have been the only one to look as she started to get some questioning comments when turning stuff down and she's not longer a member of the group

They're perfectly entitled to decide that they are willing to give the small of amount of credit needed to buy bread/milk, but not the much larger amount of credit that would be needed to buy alcohol and cigarettes.

The former has a much better chance of actually being paid back in full.

I assume beggars are part of some kind of organised scam as a default. Several in my area have the same handwriting and messages alongside them.

Donating to charity is the best option to help.