Aggressive panhandling on the rise in NW Oklahoma City neighborhood

[swampratt]

I have bought food for them before.
And i have put gas in peoples cars that are in need.
Seen one guy carrying a gas can asking for money.. down by the river.
Said he ran out of gas and had no money... I offered to take him and his can to the gas station and fill it up and take him to his vehicle... he declined..
Then he stated he just needed money..

This was at the Oklahoma river before it was Oklahoma river.
Bunch of people down there riding go-carts and motorcycles ...

I warned everyone of his scam..OUT LOUD.. he left the area.

 

[Cohiba]

It is shift work. One week I was meeting a few guys for lunch at or around the Reno and Meridian area.

There was a beggar at the Meridan and I-40 bridge at lunch time. I'll be d@mned if he wasn't up at May and Memorial when I was driving home. Towards the end of the week, I got to waving at him and on a Saturday I gave him a couple of bucks if he'd tell me how he got from I-40 and Meridain to May and Memorial.

His reply...I gots ma ways, I gots ma ways.


The one that concerns me is the sports kids asking for money to help their team. Dang , at the insection of Memorial and Penn on a Saturday...that's no place for a bunch of kids to be semi-supervised. Then one time they were passing around a football.

I was concerned they'd hit a car with the football or run into traffic trying to catch the ball.

 

[tRidiot]

His reply...I gots ma ways, I gots ma ways.

I know they used to call an ambulance, complain of chest pain, get halfway across town or wherever, then demand to be let out, stop and go AMA when they'd made it within a short distance of their destination.

<edit> Repeat offenders, nothing you could do about it... someone complaining of chest pain, EMS required by law to transport, required by law to let them go if they are in their right mind and want out. Gaming the system...

And people wonder how I got jaded? lol

 

[criticalbass]

A buddy of mine buys their signs off of them, i'm not sure of his reasoning

I suspect he is starting a collection which, while probably not unique, will at least be a rare thing. We have had a thread recently about interesting signs.

One I have recently seen is "Need money for DNA test. Girlfriend may be sister."

I haven't completed reading this thread yet, but aggressive panhandlers need to do a little risk management . . .

 

[SoonerBorn]

"Get the f**k out of my face."

-Me

 

[0311]

Lo siento, no hablo inglés. That works too.

 

[jstaylor62]

I-35 and SE 29th area is getting worse. Use to be the same old guy asking for others money. For the past for weeks I have seen 2-3 at each stop sigh/light on both sides. New people too, some young some old, all junkies.

Where do they go to pee and stuff? If they urinate in public, can't they get arrested for that. Someone needs to setup a surveillance group to catch them committing arrestable offences to get them off the corner for a while.. lol

I have seen a huge increase in panhandlers at SE 44th & I-35. I don't understand why they target that intersection because most people driving through that intersection are just above struggling on the street themselves. But I've been told that the hotels along I-35 from 29th down to 51st are popular with the crackheads.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

It was about 15 years ago and the Fill the Boot Campaign had just started for that year. The Firefighters picked an intersection and started collecting money. This panhandler came out from under the overpass screaming and hollering that this was his corner and they had to leave. They said no and kept collecting. He finally tried to shove one of the guys out of the intersection and got a trip to jail for it.

 

[SMS]

Signs of decline.

I travel to a lot of big cities for work; Houston, Vegas, LA etc...Aggressive panhandling is the norm those places. Heck, we even get panhandled inside the convenience stores/gas stations standing in line to pay!

 

[criticalbass]

I have seen a huge increase in panhandlers at SE 44th & I-35. I don't understand why they target that intersection because most people driving through that intersection are just above struggling on the street themselves. But I've been told that the hotels along I-35 from 29th down to 51st are popular with the crackheads.

Ask any pizza delivry person, and they'll tell you that low income customers are the best tippers, and mcmansion dwellers are cheapskates on tips.

I suspect that this characteristic applies to spontaneous generosity too.

I know one person very well whose life was for a long time charcterized by crummy low paying jobs. This person can hardly pass a panhandler without dropping a few bucks, and is a very generous tipper. (almost said liberal tipper, but liberalism in any form might stir up an angry mob here . . .)