Can we still spare a dime?
High Point City Council should take its time before passing an ordinance covering panhandling and related problems.
I've been approached by panhandlers in High Point more times than I can remember. I'd characterize them as brazen rather than aggressive or threatening.
I'm happy to help someone in trouble if the need is genuine, but these guys often concoct stories that are simply unbelievable. They usually revolve around a need for money to pay for transportation, medicine or baby supplies. One man said he had to get to Winston-Salem for a kidney transplant. Someone else needed baby formula and disposable diapers. I took him to a nearby grocery and purchased the items for him, only later learning they have a good resale value. Another man once asked me to buy him some steaks. I turned him down.
Despite the lies they tell, and the likely bad use they make of whatever money anyone gives them, I don't think panhandling itself ought to be made illegal. Particularly as we head into tough economic times. I guess one of the most famous lines from the Great Depression was, "Hey, buddy, can you spare a dime?" Maybe you just oughtta have a right to ask.
I draw the line at certain behaviors. Obviously, threats and intimidation should be grounds for some kind of charge. Also, panhandling should be off limits in some places.
The other Sunday, a panhandler came inside my church to hit people up for money. Yes, everyone is welcome in church, and I invited this man to worship with us. He wasn't interested in that. The details of his hard-luck story didn't add up, but I ended up giving him a few dollars just to send him on his way.
I definitely draw a line when they knock on your front door at night. That happened to us, with the man presenting a typically suspicious tale about his car being broken down (always some distance away so you can't see for yourself). He got nothing but a warning to get out of my neighborhood. In cases like that, a trespassing law could be applied.
If existing laws are sufficient to deal with problems, they should be applied. If not, the City Council should carefully consider what remedies are needed to deal with the problem, being sure not to make an offender of everyone who might respectfully ask for a little help when he's down and out.
Comments (7)
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Clearly panhandling door to door or INSIDE a church should not be permitted.
Door to door panhandling just seems like a home invasion ready to happen. If that starts to a greater degree than it already has, you're going to have people with AK's behind the door etc and that trick or treat thing that happened is going to become commonplace. People just can't handle it.
Posted on November 4, 2008 8:56 AM
As someone who has been down and out several times in my life, I can honestly say that I've never asked anybody for a dime (or a quarter or a few dollars).
It often makes me uncomfortable for a stranger to approach me and ask me for money. I have been to the Krispy Kreme on Main Street in High Point and nearly every time I'm approached by the same man. He's very rude when you tell him no.
In this day and age, there are very few legitimate reasons for people to panhandle. With churches, charities, goverment assistance, and all kinds of other means available, if somebody is panhandling, it's probably to buy something they don't need.
First, I'm not an enabler. Second, if I'm going to waste money on a bottle of wine, it's going to be for myself.
Posted on November 4, 2008 9:01 AM
I agree with you both.
Someone knocking on your front door at night may be hoping an elderly woman opens. I should have called the police on that guy. The other option is to let the dog out, but that would just get me sued.
Giving money is enabling, and churches and charitable agencies don't do it. Meet legitimate needs, don't feed addictions.
The question is what kind of ordinance could effectively deal with the guy at Krispy Kreme without being overbearing.
Posted on November 4, 2008 9:36 AM
It should be limited to daytime hrs. and public places. ? Whether church grounds should be considered public.
Posted on November 4, 2008 9:55 AM
I have never experienced panhandling in High Point (I've only driven through the city, and stopped at a furniture store). However; panhandling in downtown Greensboro is some of the worst I've ever experienced. I've had people stand outside my car door as I've pulled into parking spaces, and even a man approaching me with a stick! yes, a Stick! Seriously, how would anyone feel when someone approaches them with a stick in their hand at 11PM.
Any law restricting panhandling is pretty darn unenforceable - and the only way of dealing with it is to outright outlaw it. Buy them a bus ticket to Durham. That's a bond referendum I'd vote for.
Posted on November 4, 2008 2:04 PM
Why a bus ticket to Durham? Is it supposed to be panhandler's paradise?
Posted on November 5, 2008 8:39 AM
It's cheaper than Raleigh.........
Posted on November 5, 2008 11:14 AM