It's easy to get jaded in SF because there are so many panhandlers. There's also different classes of panhandlers... There's gutter punks, scam artists, drug addicts, mentally ill, and dudes who are just down and out. There was a guy by my house who I felt bad for because he was mentally retarded... until I ran into him at the pizza place and realized it was all an act. There are guys who would ask for weirdly specific amounts of money, like $8.75 or 13 dollars. There are guys who have nicer shoes than me. The gutter punks are aggressive and generally assholes. There was a 20-something girl with a shaved head who offered to give me a blow job for $5... at 7 in the morning.
Anyway, I get what the OP is saying but none of these people besides the gutter punks would be into smokes. It's sort of stupid to buy smokes for homeless people if you don't smoke. Even beyond the homeless, SF is lurker central. Smoking in SF means that everyone on the street will ask you for a cigarette, from homeless people, to drunk yuppies whose wife won't let them buy cigs, to teenage girls up for the weekend from Stockton.
In summary... having cigarettes will actually ensure that you have about 5x as many encounters with people on the street than you normally would.
Really the only way to deal with the panhandlers (and everyone else in SF) is to learn how to say "no." If you want to feel better about yourself volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen.
The disconnect between the world we are living in and the streets is huge. That's why I hesitate to pass judgment on other people - I don't know how they have been shaped by their society, and perhaps if I went through the same process they went through, I would also have their viewpoints.
It's like people who listen to rap passing judgment on country music or vice versa. These represent different lifestyles and approaches to life. None is wrong - brought up in one circumstance, you would sing the one and in another the other.
Yes, one shouldn't pass judgement on homeless people, but the music analogy doesn't hold.
I presume that, whether you listen to country or rap, there is some degree of choice in your actions. So many homeless people end up on the streets because of mental illness or domestic violence -- things that are absolutely out of their control.
So instead, at least for me, it is difficult to see and accept homelessness as an alternative lifestyle.
It requires a different level of empathy.
> Ignoring the homeless, or begging off, carries its own problems.
Don't do either, then. If you don't want to give money, just give a polite and firm "no". I can't believe that anybody takes such a response personally.
To be honest, it's no wonder this guy is harassed by the homeless if he is handing out $100 to them inside a week.
I do think saying "no" has some negative implications as well, even if the person doesn't take it personally. Like the article says the person would probably just think you (and the rest of society) is a prick.
As I read the article, I didn't really interpret it as he was actually giving out $100 a week, but rather saying that if you gave a dollar to everyone that asked, you could spend a lot of money.
We're also talking a specific week here, not at any given moment. I've never been to WWDC or SF during a big conference but if I was a homeless person looking for a place with a lot of people who is sure to have money, I'd look at the WWDC crowd.
In Portland, OR, which has a similar homeless problem to SF's, I learned to always include "sorry" when I turned them down, as when I did so, they almost never were rude to me in response. When I didn't say "sorry," I could never be sure what to expect.
That's good advice in small doses, but when someone is perpetually in anguish you'd be much better off helping them solve that than giving them unlimited wine.
I was homeless at the age of 14 and this is quite true. I like the fact that you've mentioned the cigarette as currency. In many cases I've been able to trade a cigarette for food and clothing. At the same time, like money, that cigarette brought troubles at times.
I'm not rich but I've begun to give the homeless in SF quite a bit of my money. I used to just give them "spare change" and cigarettes, but you should see their face light up when you hand them a $5 bill + loose change. Try it with an open mind, you might find that it's the best $5 you'll ever spend that day.
I used to think that I'd only make the problem worse by giving them money, but my perspective has changed. At the current rate of our economic collapse, it won't be long before we join their ranks.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
I would not say the streets of San Francisco are mean. Out of many major cities I've been to, it looks like the nicest city for a homeless person to be. I don't know exactly what city does to help besides regular feedings on the Market str, but they all seem clean, weather is nice, people are tolerant, and many techy tourists spare cash. If there is such a thing as homeless heaven, I'd say SF is it's headquarters.
SF is dirty where all the startups are: SOMA/Mission. The tenderloin is also grimy. The rest of SF is as clean as any dense city. The neighborhoods west of Divisidero are no dirtier than say, Cambridge, MA.
I'd be interested in learning what brand of cigarettes are available in SF for $5. Certainly not the American Spirits displayed at the top of the article.
Anyone hand out food or something else instead? I am not a big can of cigarettes but I bought a big box of Clif Bars the other day and thought that, or something similar/smaller/cheaper, would be a good handout. I'm always weary of handing out money because it just seems very likely that it will be used for alcohol, drugs, etc.
A few times, my husband and I got panhandled coming back from a nice restaurant, and happened to have a doggie bag with us. Offering that never went over well and either got outright rejected or grudgingly accepted and quite likely not eaten.
As the article says, homeless people have ample food, due to the missions, et al. A friend of mine who had a brief homeless stint confirmed this, saying that it was easy to get three square meals a day while living on the streets. (It just takes standing in line for hours, which makes pursuing other things, which might help one get off the street, difficult.)
Clif Bars (in particular) might not be a good pick. Clif Bars (and likely other energy bars) should be eaten along with a lot of water - generally 1-2 liters. Potable liquids as I understand is much harder to come by than food.
OTOH, I've only ever used Clif Bars in high-impact cardio settings, so YMMV.
Anyway, I get what the OP is saying but none of these people besides the gutter punks would be into smokes. It's sort of stupid to buy smokes for homeless people if you don't smoke. Even beyond the homeless, SF is lurker central. Smoking in SF means that everyone on the street will ask you for a cigarette, from homeless people, to drunk yuppies whose wife won't let them buy cigs, to teenage girls up for the weekend from Stockton.
In summary... having cigarettes will actually ensure that you have about 5x as many encounters with people on the street than you normally would.
Really the only way to deal with the panhandlers (and everyone else in SF) is to learn how to say "no." If you want to feel better about yourself volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen.