some of us have a cheep laptop to do something usefull
or for fun but its not worth selling
FYI,
i am using a $20 formerly broken laptop
to surf for jobs via "free" coffeeshop wifi ($1.60)
i charge $30 on average to fix you computer ,
i will charge you double if you say you wrote this I-anon

It makes me sad that people don't consider that there are other reasons to give someone change than because they are destitute and have no other options. Like maybe because it would make them happy and the world could use more of that. When I was scrambling for bus far, and someone gave me 35 cents, the gesture was so much more valuable to me than the money, and so, when I have the opportunity, I give change to people who look like they might appreciate it, whether or not I have reason to think they NEED it. But I guess, anonymous, that you are easily amused by poor people and don't need little things like sharing to brighten your day.

I have to agree with the anonymous poster on this.
I get my ass out of bed every damn morning by six a.m.
Five of those days I go to a job I can barely stand and when I get my paycheck, 85% of it goes towards life 'necessities'.
You know mortgage, food, electricity, water, garbage, car insurance, student loan payments, taxes, etc.
While I don't begrudge folks for not wanting to participate in the 'rat race', I definitely would not give some jack-off any of my hard earned change while they are using a freaking laptop.
If you're a beggar and have a lap top, don't multitask.
Do one or the other, not both at the same time. It's just common sense.

I have to agree with the anonymous poster on this.
I get my ass out of bed every damn morning by six a.m.
Five of those days I go to a job I can barely stand and when I get my paycheck, 85% of it goes towards life 'necessities'.
You know mortgage, food, electricity, water, garbage, car insurance, student loan payments, taxes, etc.
While I don't begrudge folks for not wanting to participate in the 'rat race' I definitely would not give some jack-off any of my hard earned change while they are using a freaking laptop.
If you're a beggar and have a lap top, don't multitask, do one or the other, not both at the same time. It's just common sense.

I'll have to agree with the anonymous poster as well. If you have a laptop, use it to get a job. Email some craigslist opening, this is America, there are jobs everywhere. May be a crappy job, but it is still a job that pays. Too many people take what they have for granted.

I would offer to buy the laptop for $50. If he said no, kick to the throat.

Spare change? Sure, how much for that laptop? Will $50 do? No? Really? *Cue kick to the throat*

i agree with this rant. I have a crappy job that i go to because this economy sucks. If this turd wants money he can go to Labor Ready or donate plasma. Quit fucking begging lamo!! People don't have shame b/c they're too into the phrase, "never know unless you ask. . ." a lazy ass excuse it's become . . .

the irony? you writing "too many people take what they have for granted." the reason? because you can surf craigslist and get a job interview and perform reasonably well. but if you didn't speak the english with the accent your parents gave you, if you didn't happen to look a certain, socially acceptable way, or you don't happen to have certain characteristics which allow you to fit nicely into a capitalist system, we don't see you. we live in suburbs so we can drive away from the poor. we drive into our downtown apartment garages so we don't have to risk endangering our lives, near poor people. again, what was that irony? that you have all these things, given to you through no merit of your own, but that you still need to comfort yourself for not helping out truly poor people who have need. so we attribute to them unethical behavior and criminal identity, we think, 'they will only drink with my money, and that is wrong' and then we drive home and crack a beer. we judge. this is human nature, but a quality we should all fight against. fight against your instinct to think ill of the homeless dude, because as much as you'd like to think they're all middle class tourists, pretending to be homeless for a day, i don't know many people who choose the not so pleasant, often violent, unstable life of the street over a decent job and a roof and regular meals. ever talked to a homeless person?

Amen motherfucking amen. Let's do what we can to remind these "tourists" that Oregon is a working class state and we are not a bunch of bleeding heart liberals. Why just a few days back at the music shop downtown this tie-died trustifarian screamed at me so loudly I thought his beard would blow off. Go back to Daddy and Mommy or grow up and get a fucking job/life/direction. Grrrrr

I tend to side with the more compassionate comments on this one. It's not that much different from a busker who originally had to shell out some bucks for his/her instrument. On the other had I appreciate the drummers at Pioneer Square beating out their rhythms on 5 gallon plastic buckets.

The majority of these spangers, if you offered them a job, would find some reason not to take it. I don't give them money either, even if I have some to spare (not often).

A street musician is not usually homeless. Granted neither are a lot of panhandlers, but panhandling suggests such a sense of entitlement. "Why shouldn't these people just hand me money for no reason? I'm asking nicely. I deserve it." That's different from busting out the concertina for a day and trying to earn money on the street via the value of a skilled performance. It doesn't matter how expensive a street performers instrument is. I don't generally assume those guys are poor, anyway, just earning a little extra.

There was a girl begging on the Max before sitting down to do whatever it is unemployed teenagers contrive to do with their iphones

This country is so fucking broken.

What a heartless bastard this anonymous guy is. Who knows how that person got the laptop? Who cares? No one begs for money without some sort of desperate reason.

A laptop is a valuable tool the person could use to find work or do work, and thus support himself with. To sell it for momentary gain would be stupid. If you aren't smart enough to figure that out, you deserve to stay in your soul-sucking job because, it's clear that you don't have much of a soul or much of a brain to see past some imagined, one-time value of a laptop.

If I was an out of work carpenter it would be the height of stupidity for me to sell my tools to purchase a sandwich, wouldn't it?

"No one begs for money without some sort of desperate reason."

SouthEastSoutherner, are you really that naive?

I get accosted, every day, several times a day, from teenagers from the burbs wearing Juicy Couture and carrying designer handbags, "homeless" guys with gold chains around their necks and the latest hip-hop brand t-shirts, street people looking for "money to feed their dog," and then the honestly looking-for-some-spare-change-for-a payphone-or-bus money.

There are plenty of people panhandling that do it for no reason other than it's an easy way to get some spare change from chumps like you. And then they spend it on lattes or iPhones or designer shoes or whatever. They take respect and money away from those who truly need it.

I'm not so jaded and cold as to assume that they're all crooks, but unfortunately I couldn't possibly afford to give change to every person accosting me. In an hour's time downtown, as many as 5 people have asked me for change. I don't even carry cash anymore because it's frustrating, unsightly, annoying and it's getting worse. I send my "spare change" to non-profit organizations that help people and families that are "down on their luck."


And dammit, why do you have a dog if you can't afford to feed it? There are animal shelters for that!

@canadia:
You say "this is America, there are jobs everywhere." Ha. According to the latest figures there are over 15 million too few jobs in this country. If it was a matter of people being lazy or not wanting to work crappy jobs or whatever, there wouldn't be an unemployment crisis this big. Wake up and smell the economic collapse.