Panhandlers
Aggressive panhandling is apparently a growing problem, according to Steven Malanga. From his (longish) story at City Journal:
Reports of similar incidents are on the increase in many cities. A pizzeria manager in Columbus, Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch earlier this year that panhandlers were entering the store asking for money, then following women back to their cars to scare them into giving it. “One of the bums threatened to stab me when I asked them to leave two women alone,” the restaurateur added. In Orlando, panhandlers have started entering downtown offices and asking receptionists for money, prompting businesses to lock the doors.
Two brief examples of my own interactions with panhandlers: my housemates threw a Kentucky Derby party earlier this year and, as if he was an invited guest, a panhandler came into our house and started asking their friends for change. That’s not cool. Second example: Near Thomas Circle the other day there was a guy in a wheelchair (using his feet to move the wheelchair forward, natch) in the middle of the road begging for change. Now, it’s bad enough when a person stands up in the road and begs, but at least you can drive around him; but when someone clogs up either one entire lane or portions of two lanes with his portable La-Z-Boy, that’s unacceptable. (Almost as annoying was the person who, AT A GREEN LIGHT, stopped her car, rolled down their window, fumbled with their change purse, and gave the beggar money. Needless to say, neither I nor the six cars behind me made the light.)
How to stop this menace? It’s easy: STOP. GIVING. THEM. MONEY. From the City Journal piece:
People’s generosity encourages the begging. About four out of ten Denver residents gave to panhandlers, city officials determined several years ago, anteing up an estimated $4.6 million a year. Anecdotal surveys by journalists and police, and even testimony by panhandlers themselves, suggest that begging can yield anywhere from $20 to $100 a day—though police in Coos Bay, Oregon, found that local panhandlers were taking in as much as $300 a day in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Now, aggressive panhandlers–the ones who try to “charge tolls” to access certain areas and the ones who threaten violence–should be thrown in prison. But the average panhandler would simply go away if you just stopped giving them cash. So, you know: STOP IT.
(h/t: Alex Tabarrak)