I explain they are people that don’t have jobs and live out of the geniousity of other. And that why we give to the church, who in turn can take care of these people.

Question: How much do panhandlers make a day? Should they be ban from highway exit ramps?

I say they chose drugs over schooling. Maybe that will teach my kids to stay in school.

I tell my kids that these people are the gems of society. That if they ever see anyone in a suit, they should urinate on their feet and steal their wallet if they can. Then give the wallet to one of these panhandlers. Robin Hood! That really gets them excited. And you should see the look on the business-people’s faces.

I explain the these people are called bums. They choose not to work, and in return they are homeless and need a handout. I tell them to never give any money to bums. I you want, give to the church, salvation army, St. Patrick’s center, places that can help them and make sure they don’t spend the money on booze or drugs.

my son is 5 and I told him that most of these people are either mentally ill and/or veterans who served this country and we should be ashamed

I tell my children that they are poor, and sometimes they are mentally ill. I say this is why we give to charities, and pray for them everynight. “Let’s say a prayer for this guy right now” as we pass in the car. I haven’t been approached while walking with my child.

I tell them that these people are only here because society is full of suckers who give them money for nothing. If they got up off their butts and actually worked for a living they wouldn’t have to beg for money in front of the stadium, grocery stores, etc. However, beggars thrive on the emotions of the people - thus the signs “will work for…” and/or “child terminally ill…please help.” If it makes you feel better to give them money then go ahead, but you are only contributing to their continued plight and hope that they will get enough money that day for their drug of choice. If you really want to help, tell them where a shelter is or give them a real job.

I tell my son the truth. Some of these people are mentally ill and can’t hlep themselves. The rest of them choose to be that way. We live in the greatest country in the world with more opportunity than anyone else, no matter who you are.

We have people comming in to our country illegally, working, supporting thier families. How is it they can do that, but some people that are born U.S. citizens can’t find work? That’s because they choose not to.

I tell him to stay in school,work hard and not to depend on anyone and he won’t have to worry about ending up like that.

I say, “These people are the waste of society, who get money so they can buy drugs or alcohol and continue their cycle of uselessness.”

I explain to my daughter that they have made a choice to stop supporting themselves and now prefer to live off the charity of others (e.g., Liberals).

Side note: Hopefully, one day they will find it in themselves to go back to being self supportive. One day, hopefully the Liberals will go back to the Green party and stop ruining the Democrat party.

Why would you open the floor for readers to use your forum as a platform for their racists and classist views?

When was anything about race ever mentioned?

Amy - I think the Post should do a story on this topic and interview the homeless people to find out their back stories (the Post probably has some time ago). I’m sure it would be an eye opener for all of us as some of these people may have really touching stories. I live in Soulard and they are all around, but never bother me. I’d rather have them around then the thugs that break into my car and rob me at gunpoint.

I don’t see any reason to not be honest with the child. It is not like they arent going to learn the truth eventually anyways. “Why does he need money?” Because he doesnt work. “What is he doing?” Asking for free money. “Why can’t he go watch the game?” because tickets cost money, and he a’int got none. “Can we give him our tickets?” HA!

I tell my children that these people are worth 50 points, 60 if they’re female.

“I explain to my daughter that they have made a choice to stop supporting themselves and now prefer to live off the charity of others (e.g., Liberals).”

I assume the word “Liberals” is meant pejoratively here?

Jaune, I’m sure we’ll be reading about you kids in the post dispatch in the coming years. Its a shame you won’t be able to. I’m sure you’ll be in prison by the time your kids reach adulthood. People ask why our city is coming to ruin, where did all these thugs come from. They come from bad parents like you. Enjoy your cell, hope your cell mate is just as enlightened as you.

Dan, is your sarcasm meter broken or are you just stupid?

Chris….“Can we give him our tickets?” HA!

Thats funny. I agree with you, why not be honest. Some are there out of choice and some are not, but we will never be able to change them. Give them money if it makes YOU feel better, but the odds are you are not helping them. So focus on what you can control. Get as educated as your means allow and try to prepare and be ready for life’s curve balls.

I tell my children, that they are lazy, on drugs and refuse to work and that they get what they want by begging and from the obama government who beleives that it’s our fault that these people refuse to work.

No, the pd writes enough liberal democrat Obama socialist stuff already. The smart people, REPUBLICANS don’t want to hear nothing about these useless people. They got whats comming to them, nothing. They should get up off their little push carts and go to work. We need to get rid of people like that. It makes you have to cross the street on the way to the ball game just to avoid the scumbags.

I do the same thing others have mentioned … tell kids we give to shelters and charities. I also tell them about the panhandler schools in places like NY where people learn to do this professionally then walk around the corner and drive home in a Cadillac. Since we can’t tell who truly needs help and who is just too lazy to get a job, we help organizations help others.

I tell them that they are democrat’s and this is how we will all live if obama gets his way.

SOME PANHANDLERS ARE REAL, SOME ARE SCAMMERS.
SINCE I CANT TELL THE DIFFERENCE, I DONT GIVE $$$ TO ANY OF THEM

I would say that some are there because they have no family and have mental problems. Some are there because they are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Giving them money directly will most likely just buy them drugs and alcohol. My boys have yet to ask this question though. After a game near the White Castle by the stadium. I gave a couple of burgers to a fellow that was sitting quietly and not bothering anyone. He did not ask for it but was grateful.

I tell them that they are the results of Karma - in their past lives, they were hate-filled, petty, internet tough-guys that loved to blame “liberals” for everything. Then they died and were reborn as urine-soaked drunks.

When my son asks if he will be reborn that way, I tell him not unless he votes Republican.

It is best never to call them bums in front of children, lest they be confused for Cubs fans.

Some years ago I attended a Blues game back @ the old arena as we crossed the bridge on foot my boyfriend and iI encounterd a woman with three little ones and a gas can…..how could I refuse her I handed her 5$ and felt good about it. That is until I was fortunate to score some more tickets to another game two nights later….and lo-and behold there stood that same woman with the same three little ones and the same gas can (in the bitter cold no less) I promply aked for my 5$ back. Lesson learned.

I think for all the West Countians it’s a simple as saying to your kids:

“These are people that Republicans and Democrats provide to superior people like those of us in West County. So that we have someone built in to the population, ready made for us to look down upon. If they are our same race, it still allows to discrimate against them (as if everyone isn’t a target already). This way you have someone that you can always feel superior to and speak down to in a sub-human tone.”

I remind him (my son) that Jesus was homeless!

I think the majority of you need to die in a fiery plane crash..

It’s ridiculous to say that all homeless people are too lazy to go out and get jobs.

They are probably mentally ill, addicted to drugs and alcohol, or both. They sleep under an overpass.

Do you think they can just go out and find a suit, print some resumes at Kinko’s, and magically enter the working world?

It’s nice to think about social Darwinism, and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, but that isn’t reality.

You probably shouldn’t give money to homeless people because they might spend it on alcohol or drugs, but if you really think they are living a posh lifestyle and driving a secret Cadillac, you are out of touch with reality.

I will tell my kids if they ever ask that these are the people that help politicians get elected, and yet never benefit from anything the same politicians attempt to do to help.

I tell them that some people would rather smoke crack than work. They are called “trash”.

I tell my daughters that some homeless people are homeless because they choose to be. But most found themselves in a less desirable situation dues to circumstances only they know. They is why we give money to charities, so they can distinguish between the two. But, if they do feel the need to do something, they should give a sandwich, a blanket, or some other tangible item…not money.

Is a hard question to answer, especially when they are wearing nicer shoes than I have.

I suppose I would say that they are homeless. Sometimes it is because they are crazy, sometimes because they are addicts, sometimes because that is just how they choose to live. There is nothing you or I can do about it really. There are shelters and welfare and food stamps and free housing and plenty of programs to help, some just don’t want it.
The best way to help is to give to charities instead of tossing them cash from your pocket to be used for more hooch.

I’d tell them that a person’s wealth or poverty is a result of his choices in life or circumstances beyond his control, or sometimes both. We live in a big house and drive nice cars because our families and society provided us good education and opportunities which we made the most of. Some people don’t have the opportunities that we do.

Some of those homeless people were living just like us a few years ago, then their circumstances changed and they lost everything. Don’t forget that we could be in their shoes someday.

“I think for all the West Countians it’s a simple as saying to your kids……”

Gimme a break. Sounds like another sociology major from Self Righteous University. First change your major to something useful. Then join the working world for about 10 years. Then come back in here and try to explain your ridiculous theory about societies sub conscience placement of these random poor souls for the purpose self importance. What a load of crap. There are two types of homeless, the mentally impaired and the weak and neither has anything to do with the success of people in the County.

Tell them:

“Honey, this is what happens when you let politicians make the people afraid of the government and not the other way around.”

Yeah, I can remember when I was kid when the teacher asked “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Several kids raised their hands and said:

“I want to lose my job to outsourcing and then lose all my possessions and live under a bridge while some CEO or ballplayer is making as much as 30,000 combined worker’s salaries”

or

“I want to become strung out on drugs and alcohol and live on the streets, eating from garbage cans and soup kitches!”

or

“I don’t want to work at all. I want to just live off the generosity of others.”

Gimme a break, you self-serving LOSERS! As if being homeless is an actual choice. Who the hell chooses to live like this. This is America! The choice has been forced on these people not given to them as a conscious decision. DC and the Corporate Elite want ALL of us living this way not sharing in the rewards.

I told my kids that I don’t know why they are asking for money. That I don’t know them or their circumstances but that they’re down on their luck and can use some help. I would suggest we say a prayer so God will help them find a way out of their pain.

I’m pretty astounded at the abject meanness I read here regarding the homeless topic. I hope neither you nor yours end up in a similar predicament.

And for you “armchair genuises” out there, have you ever heard of hypothermia? Duh! Humans don’t have fur. Were not wild animals either. We aren’t geared for being out in the open for more than three weeks before hypothermia sets in and it happens even in warm weather. Your core body temperature begins to drop. It makes everyone that suffers with hypothermia begin to lose mental functions and seem as if they’re crazy when in fact their body is actually begin to suffer from mild shock. Before you IDIOTS open your stupid, uneducated, bigoted, typical toofless St. Louisan mouths, you should at least begin to learn what you’re talking about. Instead your the consumate idiot that the rest of the country laughs at and calls you “flyover country”.

Why not tell them:

There’s two kinds of pandhandlers: Those amongst us that doing it for survival and those on Wall Street and Corporate America that do it for profit.

I hand my kid a buck and tell him to make himself usefull ….then I tell to go wash his hands.

I remember….Your right, they are not homeless because of the choices they made. They are homeless because of the choices others made for them. Other people forced them not to take education seriously and get a job where you might be vulnerable to outsourcing. Other people forced them to do drugs and get strung out, and because there was no drug awareness programs (Just say no? never heard of it. This is your brain on drugs? never heard of it) how were these poor people supposed to understand that drugs can ruin your life. And of course we have done studies that clearly state that MOST of the homeless people would love to go to work if only the CEO’s weren’t keeping them down. I could not agree more with your statement. Clearly it is Albert Pujols fault….I mean what kind of inhumane jerk would accept the going MLB salary just because he can do something that no one else can do. And can you believe that people actually enjoy watching that immorally overpaid athlete. Why should we be allowed as a society to enjoy anything if there is some poor soul that has lost their home out of no fault of his own. I just hope the Government can limit peoples achievements and put a stop to all of this madness.

TC and Tim here’s a choice for you:

Kiss my …

I remember…..by “The rest of the country” I assume you mean California and New York/Boston. The actual rest of the country is considered “flyover” also. It has nothing to do with mentality and everything to do with perception. I mean you actually believe that intelligence is geographical? That make sense. And by the way, how is your intellectual garden of Eden doing these days? $30 Billion in the hole. I guess what California really needs is more homeless people to show them the way. But since they are being kept down I guess you will just have to beg us “Toofless” Midwesterners for the $ to save your enlightened paradise.

“TC and Tim here’s a choice for you:

Kiss my … ”

Ahh Yes, Very Cosmopolitan

Folks: Let me decipher TC’s rant for you.

TC: “this is all I got”

Let’s all remember the TC’s for a moment. This is the typical jerkwad we all know that when you have some bad luck is always there for us to remind us that “sh#^ like you’re going through would never happen to (someone as superior) like me”. Remember how vindicated you felt years later when not only did the TC’s get what you got, they got it three times worse. Then they expected massive amounts of sympathy from everyone because of course what TC is going through really only happens “to losers like you people”. TC will get his/hers someday and let’s see which gutter they expected to be lifted out of. Oh yeah, we all forgot, we’re not dealing with the average person in TC, we’re dealing with a SuperHuman!

Hi Everyone! I’m TC’s Bad Karma!

Whenever I point a finger, I’ve got three pointing back at me!

Just out of curiosity, what was your point? That homelessness is an effect of a unjust system (capitalism)? That homeless people seem crazy because they don’t have fur? Or that everyone in the Midwest is inherently intellectually inferior to those from which ever superior coast you reside on?

TC’s Response: “I got nothing”

I’m not sure, judging from the comments here, how many people have ever had a mentally ill person in their lives. I grew up with a schizophrenic father and now have a brother who is also ill. In the seventies they pushed all of the people out of the hospitals with the advent of the “new” medications. Most of the people you see on the streets are mentally ill and cannot function and have no ability to work and no one to take care of them. Schizophrenia is a brain disease, and we as a society, should take care of them, but our government chooses to look the other way. It is a chronic condition that never goes away and is very difficult for family members to deal with. I taught my children compassion for those individuals and “There but for the grace of God go I.” It doesn’t take much bad luck to land there.

Wow! I hope most of you aren’t teachers because I don’t want you passing this sort of mentality on to my children. I’m amazed at the number of people who seem to think the homeless are “getting what they deserve”. There is no compassion for people anymore. I will tell my children that they are homeless because they don’t have a job or anyone to help take care of them. I will remind them how lucky we are to have great opportunities and luck and I will remind them this is why we donate to charities. And I will tell them that are mean people out there that think homeless people don’t deserve help or second chances and that’s why we vote democratic.

You liberal haters– yes, panhandling didn’t exist til January when Obama was elected. Either you guys are too young or too stupid to remember how the homeless rate soared thanks to that stellar President Reagan. Emptied the mental hospitals and put everyone on the street by changing the laws and health regs. & completely did away with any type of long term care for the mentally ill. When you see a “Bum” schizophrenic muttering to him/herself on the street, remember Reagan– who had enough money that he didn’t have to suffer a lack of health care during HIS mental incapacity.

I teach my children about compassion and helping others. But these people still irk me. You cannot win- esp. when they approach you. If I give them money, I feel bad that I haven’t given them enough, AND angry that I gave at all. I don’t like being taken, & that’s how I feel. But what keeps coming to mind is, “When you help the least of me….” In the end, I think God will judge the thief more harshly than I. At the pearly gates, he won’t ask ME why I allowed myself to be taken, but WILL ask the thief why he lied and stole from me,.. and others.

Oh man. Some of you have never heard the phrase “But for the grace of God, go I”, huh? Teh bad Karma train some of you are riding might soon derail and have you in similar situations.