PANHANDLING...Art Form...Self Help for the Needy or Lucrative Career Opportunity/A Surprise call?

Back in the mid-1960's panhandling was a way of life. So-called hippies would crisscross the nation on spare change and hitchhiked rides having decided to turn on and drop out. It was a sociological choice. Before that common thinking was asking for a handout was relegated to "bums" accosting you with grubby hands extended in shabby clothes and reeking of gin. One can go back further to the depression era with little kids as well as adults on corners selling pencils asking pennies so they could buy bread. There are examples galore of the needy asking for and receiving consideration from passers-by. Those were tragic times.
And it wasn't so long ago that the Madoffs on Wall Street and their market manipulating buddies almost brought the world economy to its knees resulting in mortgage defaults and bank closures putting folks out of their homes and jobs and onto the streets. How about the abominable care rendered our veterans by the government that enacted laws assuring us it would take care of them? "Thank you for your service" does little to put food on the table or assist in recovery from wounds both physical and mental. How many have been abandoned, living life without prospects and are on the street?

I am certainly not sending up those really in need whether due to ill fortune or health. There are organizations in place to provide for those unfortunates and bless them for their efforts.

I am not feeling particularly generous toward those who seem to have decided to make a career of panhandling. You know you've seen them or at least had the feeling that the torn cardboard flap with a message inked using a Sharpie, ending with a blessing,  asking for help by a person wearing new kicks, smoking a $7 pack of cigarettes and sipping a Big Gulp might be in cahoots with the person doing the same thing on the other corner! Strange how the cardboard flap has the exact same message.

These days you can be taken in via your home or cell phones with robocalls and/or teams of crooks calling from anywhere in the world but with your area code and a local person's name on the screen. That's high dollar bunko. Mail fraud is still a thing. You can be had at the gas pump when you slide your card across what you think is the regular slot. You can have your pin number lifted for your debit card or your FaceBook or email hacked. Today we must be vigilant in protecting our identities as well as our finances.
Remember the fake Salvation Army Santas a few years ago? Is nothing sacred? No.

If the same persons occupy the same spot for weeks and months standing (or sitting) for long hours in all kinds of weather holding up their cardboard request for alms, could they not find work as a greeter at WalMart? All through the spring and summer months, two people have occupied the same interstate ramp.
The male handles the southbound and the female the northbound exits. Each has the same sign and stays the entire day at their stations. I don't begrudge their needing help or their asking for a handout from those willing to hand it out. But every day? And over the days and weeks and months, they ask for the same thing? Something isn't quite right there. I get the feeling the only reason we don't see them in the winter is that's when their condo in Boca Raton becomes available.

There's a cartoon I saw in the New Yorker magazine some years ago. A bum is on a busy street with a tin cup in his hand and passers-by are dropping coins and bills in the cup as they pass. The last panel showed a clock tower striking 5, and him rounding the corner as his chauffeur holds the door open to his limousine.
The image stuck with me. The lasting effect is my general suspicion of anyone or organization with their hand out and palm up. That niggling feeling you are about to be taken is pervasive. That's not to say I haven't fallen under the spell of a great pitch leading me to happily hand over some hard-earned folding money.

 It was a guy in DC who pitched me for an entire city block. Every time he cranked up his story I shot holes in it. I asked how he could afford the fancy cell phone I had seen him with prior to his pouncing.
He had a great comeback. How could he keep up with his work opportunities without it?
Without missing a beat he continued his patter about needing funds to continue an education course which would allow him to become a chef in a fine restaurant. I then caught sight of the fine pair of new, top-drawer Nikes he had on his feet and was told he need those since he had to do so much walking to and from class and home...I added, "and walking backward up and down Connecticut Avenue pestering tourists." He laughed.
As we neared the end of the block I handed him some cash and thanked him for the entertainment. I told him with that nimble brain he should go far in life. He thanked me and lurched off looking for his next mark. I wondered if he alternated stories throughout the day. He was quick on his feet and with his wit.

The most honest request I saw on cardboard was near the campus of VCU.
A young man was standing at a major intersection with a sign that said "Ran Out Of Cash. Need Beer Money. Please Help."

Bottom line is if you need help get some. There are many avenues for assistance. There are too many folks homeless and hungry on the streets. It is an embarrassment since the US is one of the richest countries in the world. Of course, we are finding out that most of those riches are in the hands of the few to whom these folks appear invisible. But that's a conversation for another time and another platform.

*******************************************************************************
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

I RECEIVED A CALL ON MY CELL PHONE FROM THE FBI IN WASHINGTON DC TODAY!
The call came to my cell and by the time I got to the phone, unlocked it and said my greeting I heard a female computer voice say "Goodbye." I checked the caller ID and it said FBI Washington DC and I crosschecked the phone number and it was the 800 exchange of the HQ for the FBI in DC. With an eyebrow cocked I said, "Hmmmmm."
I called the number back and was put on hold for 12 to 15 minutes by a computer. I kept one ear on my cell and called the local FBI office on the house phone and spoke to the operator.
Now, there are hoax calls being made claiming to be the FBI where they attempt to extort money or personal information. I am always wary of potential fraud via the phone or internet. The FBI operator said, "Oh it was probably a computer error. It happens all the time with that system. Just wait to see if they call you back."
The FBI computer making robocalls? You have to be kidding me...wait! The alternative would be the FBI meant to call my cell phone. Naw. That's silly. This was an attempt to bilk a geezer out of some cash.
Be careful out there. The bogus FBI callers will know something about you and will try to convince you that you have a debt they are being sent to collect or arrest you. You can take care of the debt over the phone.
That's just one of the scams being run right now. Be a cynic and stay safe. It's sad one must live this way but the boys in DC don't seem to be able to stop it from happening. I am still considering that mini airhorn. I wonder if I could get in trouble with you know who (three letters) blasting someone's eardrums during an attempted phone scam?
I'll let you know if they call me back.