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So a few days ago, a total stranger rings our door bell. He has some sob story, saying that his girl friend has his credit card and for some reason he could not get cash out of his bank account and he has to drive to another city some 100 miles away. Could I help him with the necessary cash to buy gas (petrol).
When confronted by a total stranger whose credit cards are likely maxed out and who has no cash in the bank, and who desperately needs cash, a "likely drug user" flag goes off in my head. So I declined to help him.
What would your reaction be? Would you hand him cash, knowing that you can probably kiss it goodbye?
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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If I had a fuel station near, I would have gone with him and payed the fuel he would tank.
I do the same with people asking for food (note: food, not money to buy food). If someone tells me "I am hungry, would you mind to buy me something to eat?". I do it in 99% of the times (once I had myself no cash with me, so I couldn't).
If they ask for money... then I usually don't give it.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Quote: I would have gone with him
Trust him enough to go with him? No sirree!
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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I would've driven in my car and met him there...
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Did you read the "near"... I would just meet him at the gas station.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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A cold knock on the door? Probably not.
I have been asked by people when fueling my vehicle if I could help, and, at time I have - I've put in a few gallons, enough to get them home or to a major city.
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Move the thread to the soapbox, and I'll tell you what I'd say to him... 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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Him? No. There's just something about that, that puts me off.
Have I given cash to people knowing I wouldn't get it back? People who might be using it to buy drugs, but who have told me they are hungry and just want something to eat? Yes I have and I will do so again. Why? I have been lucky in life. Very lucky. I am well aware that others aren't so blessed so if I can do something, anything, to, even for a moment, bring some happiness into another persons life, then that makes me happy.
Does this make me a liberal? Possibly. Do I care? Nope.
This space for rent
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Does this make me a liberal?
No. It makes you a super sensitive man. Is that a bad thing? who knows.  Do you still care? Probably not.
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If they honestly tell me it is for drugs... then I give it too.
What I don't like is being fooled.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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To be fair, no one has ever told me they need the money for drugs.
This space for rent
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Once: "I need money for drugs before I get my abstinence syndrom and things get ugly for me, I don't want to rob anyone"
Other: "Hey, do you have any cash? I could tell you it is for whatever, but the truth is that I want it to buy me something to drink"
and a couple of times more...
My answer to all was something like "You could have lied to me but didn't. That's something I respect. Here you have" and gave them what I had on that moment.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Much respect from myself. Much respect.
I have a weak spot around drug abuse. A girl I knew years ago, oh, she was a lovely girl; came from one of the nicest Irish families you'll ever meet. She got into drugs and we lost touch. A couple of years later, I bumped into her and she was telling me about how she was turning her life around. She was back in contact with her family and she did look like things were turning around. A week later, she was found dead in her flat. Thinking about this, 30 years later, it's still hard. I still keep in touch with her sister and brother.
This space for rent
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I lost 5 school mates before the age of 21, I know what it is.
The second last once tried to rob me, when I spoke to him and he recognised me... he went away crying. If I had not known him, the situation would have ended fully different for me.
Exactly for that I respect so much when someone comes to a stranger and say the truth, their lives are already dificult as hell, but at least they go straight and try to not hurt people. And this is somehow to be "rewarded", so yes... to those, I give the money.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Thinking about this, 30 years later, it's still hard.
For me will be 20 soon
Pete O'Hanlon wrote: I still keep in touch with her sister and brother.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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That's because you haven't been to Portland, Oregon yet...
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Hoy! I used to like Portland OR. Now you've done gone spoiled it for me! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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It's quite a nice place to live - don't get me wrong. The good food, friendly people, quirky culture and activities, etc outweigh anything bad.
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Does this make me a liberal? Possibly. Do I care? Nope.
Honor, valor, truthfulness, generosity, coming to the aid of anyone who is in need. There is a much older name for that: chivalry.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: I have been lucky in life. Very lucky. I am well aware that others aren't so blessed
All luck, huh? Nothing to do with hard work and making good decisions?
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Shhhhh! You'll blow his cover! 
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As a genuine liberal Liberal, let me give you my philosophy:
The greatest blessing one could hope for when giving charity is to never miss the money.
Conservatives are allowed to consider the above, as well
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Years ago, I saw a co-worker being approached by someone asking for money. As my co-worker was reaching for his wallet, we were interrupted by the beggar's iPhone. After he was done, the conversation then turned to how happy he was with it (I can't recall which generation, but it had come out a few days prior).
Then my coworker finished the discussion with something along the lines of, "well, if you can afford a brand new iPhone, you're better off than I am right now", and we walked away...
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I've given money a handful of times _and_ followed up.
FYI - My experience is that every time it has been a scam.
Here's a few stories...
story 1
I'm eating lunch in my car (as I often do) a man approaches and asks for money -- it is thursday -- and he explains he has to be in a city north of where we are by Monday for an important job interview.
I give him $3.
Cut to Monday, I'm in another parking lot on other side of city eating lunch.
Man approaches asks me for money.
I say, "Hey, you had to be in North-City by Monday for the important job interview, right?"
Man runs away.
story 2
Man approaches me in my car with my family pulling out of parking lot.
He says, " My car caught on fire and now I need money to get a cab to AnotherCity."
I ask quickly, "What color is your car? What kind of car?"
Man: "Uh, well, uh...it's orange and it's a mustang."
Me: "Ok, where is the car?"
Man: "It's right over on the other side of that gas station."
Me: Okay, I will go look at car and if it is there I will come back and give you $5.
We drive over and there is no orange mustang and no car over there.
I have many stories like this.
Ask Yourself
In what case would someone need money just one time? It would be a very rare situation indeed. That is why when someone asks you for money it is probably always a lie. Unfortunately.
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I gave money to a guy begging in front of a gas station and holding a gas can.
Before I drove off, I saw him walking out of the convenience store with a brown bag (at the time - the way malt liquor was purchased and carried) and no gas can.
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That guy is seriously industrious.
You know where the gas can was?
The next guy had it and he was acting out his drama now. 
"All the world's a stage." ~The Bard
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