No, you can’t have a cigarette…
8 May 2008Today’s subject has the potential to be a bit controversial: Chicago’s panhandler population.
The panhandlers are getting restless in Chicago. Nearly to the point of being obnoxious.
While my heart does go out to those who are less fortunate, I do not respond to panhandlers. When with people, I ignore them completely, when they attempt to engage me solo, I give them one word answers, such as: nope. In the case of one guy who got *pissed* at me for stomping and twisting on a smoke I just put out, after denying them a cigarette, the dialog went like this…
Him: your a dick, I could have smoked the rest of that.
Me: Except it’s my personal property, I paid for it, and I can do whatever I want to it.
It never dawns on them, that I am not responsible for filling their needs. They are. You want cigarettes in a city where they are nearly $10.00 a pack? Get a job.
Here is why I disregard panhandlers.
1) I work hard for my money, I pay taxes…and those taxes feed a huge societal industry which does nothing but put resources out there for the less fortunate to make use of. Yes, some of it is underfunded. But there is a lot of overlap. The problem is, I would say about half of the people I see panhandling are *not* disturbed, they are reasonably well dressed (i.e: clean clothes, not rags), clean shaven, etc. Whether they are just lazy or not, I am not about to encourage them.
2) I am not able, within a reasonable doubt, able to differentiate and tell who are the professional panhandlers, and the ones who are really down on their luck. So rather than try, I equally reject them all. Let’s face it, every one of them has a story. Every human being has a story of how they got to where they are today. Even me. With the panhandlers, what you must understand is from my perspective, they all just need 1.00 for a train ticket home, they all need $0.20 for a cheeseburger. Again, as it is difficult to tell, I reject them all.
It’s not that I am heartless. I have on many occasions, where it’s very clear what the state of things are, gone into a shop, bought a round of food, and handed it off to the person in question. At least in those cases, I know they have been fed, and are not using money to buy drugs.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking…
How can you be so judgemental? What makes you such a damned authority on this topic? These people need any help!
Where does my authority for my opinion come from? Easy.
I have been homeless, and stone cold broke on these very streets.
That’s right. You heard me. When I was…oh, 19/20…fresh off a year of travelling about the country. I landed in Chicago, right at the Greyhound Bus terminal. There I was. Penniless. Broke. My parents at the time wanted nothing to do with me. That was okay, the feeling was mutual at the time. It was raining, and crappy outside.
I had some choices. Beg to go to my mother’s house, sleep outside … in the streets, and maybe beg for money, or seek some kind of shelter.
I swallowed my pride, and found a homeless shelter. Right on Jackson Blvd, near Aberdeen. It was very near Chicago Graphics, a place I had been to many times before with my Dad. Just so you know, that neighborhood, back then was trouble with a capital T. And quite dangerous.
I stood in line, and I came to realize, with limited room, there was no guarantee I would even get in. I waited patiently and hoped. I got into the shelter. I slept on a cot.
I was told that they would hold my bed for me, so long as I showed up the next night. If I missed the night, the following night id have to wait in line like everyone else. I was able to eat something at the shelter, and upon reaching the time to leave in the morning, I was faced with some more choices. I could:
* Panhandle for money.
* Try to work my way into something better.
I walked all the way from Jackson and Aberdeen over to Grand and Milwaukee. It was there, that a day labor organization was located. I had heard about it from one of the other men in the shelter. I marched in, filled out a couple pieces of paperwork. They handed me two CTA tokens, told me how to get to my first day job, and off I went. I worked at a Neiman Marcus distributor warehouse for the entire day, moving seriously heavy boxes. I got back to the place, with my time sheet signed, was handed a check, which I cashed, and got a bite to eat. Headed back to the shelter.
As I lay on the cot, which was not entirely dissimilar from the cot’s I used to sleep on when I was in kindergarten, I thought about a great many things. I was very alone in the world. By myself. I didnt know what I was going to do with me, or how I was going to survive other than day to day. All I knew was, I wanted more, and I wanted to never be in this situation again.
I worked these various day jobs for a couple weeks until I got a day assignment that put me in much better shape. It was for Rothchilds, who were liquidating all of the Goldblatt’s stores in Chicago. I was sent to the Goldblatts on Lincoln Ave. In a week or two, I was hired straight on as a regular, and while the pay was low, I was able to get a room at a really dingy SRO up the street. I was somewhat on my way. Life was a bit rough, but I had at least put my own roof over my head. I started buying books, and a few other small amenities. Eventually I spent a considerable amount of my off-time improving myself. There are many adventures between where I am now, and the SRO…but I digress…
The point is, I started with nothing but the clothes on my back, and a backpack with a few items. I have been there, I have been destitute. I have been a wandering soul. But I never expected society to foot the bill for me. Well, maybe I did…but I knew it was not realistic.
I started with nothing, and I am pretty damned successful today. Because at the end of the day, panhandling is not a career. It is not an acceptable way of life. If you want to live on the streets that’s fine. There are plenty of people who live on the streets, who never panhandle. I have even met a few homeless people who consider it beneath them to panhandle. They would rather pick up cans, etc…than just stand on the street with the expectation that people give them money.
So, you can call me whatever you want. Harlan Ellison said it best: you do not have the right to an opinion, you have the right to an informed opinion. I have a very informed opinion on this topic. Call me heartless all you want. People who panhandle suck. Society should not encourage this behavior, and if you give them money, you are encouraging the problem. Buy them a sandwich, great, fine. Some of you will say, “some of these folks dont have the mental stability to hold a job”…to which I say: day labor, and if they are that mentally deficient, they can get themselves into the system. If they choose not to, it’s their choice.
But, do not reward bad behavior. Do not endorse a career in panhandling. Which is what you do when you hand over that $.50.
You can consider this my $0.02 on the matter.
Current Mood:
Frustrated & 
Quixotic
on May 8th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
thank you for touching on this issue. it has helped alot in my own sights into it.
on May 9th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
You know, I had to write a reflection today about homeless people (cause of the Service Learning trip to the Food Depository) and I used this as an example (obvs I didn’t go into to detail, I just stated that if YOU could get out of it and become as succesful as you are - they should be able too as well.)
Ironic that I read this the day I did the reflection.