Panhandling/Begging

No matter what you call it, begging is one person asking another to work just a little bit harder so they don't have to.

In Toronto, a young man was approached by four young men and asked for money. When he refused he was stabbed to death. His sin was in refusing to hand over his hard earned money to young men who wouldn't work for their own. A city who allows beggars to rule the streets is a city who will soon find their downtown streets empty of decent citizens and tourists alike.

The shabby, down at the heels beggars you see are probably soliciting for booze money but then there are the young, healthy beggars who simply prefer to beg than to work. Occasionally you come across very young beggars who are doing it for fun.

I was approached by two such individuals a few years ago. Two boys about 14 or 15 years old, well dressed, faces clear and clean came up to me as I was entering a store and asked if I could give them some change for busfare. Shocked by these preppy boys lowering themselves to beg, I lit into them about how could they shame their parents in this way, etc., etc., etc. They couldn't get away from me fast enough and I certainly hope they learned a good lesson. Begging is demeaning.

There was also a story printed in the newspaper about a lady who lives in an affluent area of my city who would hop in her very expensive car and drive to her apparently well paid job in Toronto every morning. She would set up her station on a busy street corner in the downtown area and beg. She dressed shabbily and told sad stories of her poverty in order to reach the hearts of people who gave her money. No shame.

The drunken derelict who begs on the streets is to be pitied. The healthy beggars are to be scorned. They are users in the worst sense of the word.