What would you do? ATM begger

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that is exactly how my thought process went! ha ha

I wasn’t too scared in the moment just thought it was really rude to approach a person using an ATM. It was already a red flag to me when she was trying to make small talk while I was doing this transaction. The ATM timed out and prompted me to remove my card so I just stuck it back in my wallet and waited for a bit while keeping alert of my surroundings.

I have prayed for this woman and hope she’s doing well. I don’t know what situation she’s got herself in to act like this. Either way, I’m just trying to do the right thing 🙂
 
If they outright ask me for money I will say ‘would you like some fruit or a bottle of water or sandwich? I am happy to go get you some ? ‘ if they walk away and ask someone else for money they are after drug/alcohol money, generally speaking . In which case pray for them. If they are just sitting in the street I will get them some water and say hi
 
“I’ve got a better idea. I’ve got some light yardwork that needs doing. I’ll take you there, pay you $7.50 per house, feed you lunch, and take you home . . . Oh, you don’t want that? Okay, have a nice day.”

D
 
I know you’re being facetious, but one should never invite strangers to your home to do work or sleep over or anything else.

There are dozens of true crime stories about people, some of them priests, sisters or ministers, who did this in an attempt to be charitable, and ended up dead, or sometimes one of their family members was the unfortunate victim. I particularly remember one very sad case about a woman who hired a homeless guy to do her yard work and he killed her twentysomething daughter and buried her in the yard.
 
I won’t use an ATM machine unless it’s the one in the bank during regular banking hours, or in a supermarket with the usual array of staff and customers around.
 
When I lived in Auckland there was a lady bagging everyone would stop and give her money . One day after noticing her shoes ( I had been trying to save up for the exact same pair) I decided to take her out for a coffee she told me she made more money begging than she would at a full time job. She made even more money than I did. I was absolutely gobsmacked.
Not all beggars are like that though I took another beggar out for lunch turns out he had a substance abuse problem. And whilst he made pretty good money begging he wasted that and the money he got from the benefit on alcahol then there was the one that broke my heart he had a wife and kids owned his own home had a great job and oneday his world got turned upside down when his wife kicked him out ( turns out he didn’t have time for her beacuse he went to work to provide for her and was to tired when he got home to help her with the kids). He got depressed lost his job and felt he had no where to go except for the street had he left his job and found another one perhaps he wouldn’t have been on the street in the first place.

I prefer to buy them lunch or coffee than give them money I prefer to talk to them and find out what happened and why they are in the position they are and if I donguve money it’s to a charitable organisation. I could give 1 person $20 it will only help that 1 person it might not even go towards a need but instead help there substance abuse problem or I can give that money to an organisation who will use to to help feed and clothe more than 1 person
 
It was a one off visit in an area I’m rarely in. I was not sufficiently enough afraid or anything to leave.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I know you’re being facetious, but one should never invite strangers to your home to do work or sleep over or anything else.
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I was referring to the yard area, not the home, but you’re right; I was being a little facetious, because the chances of a 21st-century American panhandler actually accepting an offer like that range somewhere between slim and none.

D
 
Knight said:
She then asks me for a 20. Since I don’t want her to see my PIN I give her the 2 dollars I have in my wallet. Now I did also have 3 100 dollar bills but I didn’t want to give that. Clearly she knows I could pull out 20’s for her but I insisted that I’ve given her 2 dollars. She insisted that others have given her 20’s and that she is asking for 20’s
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Are you serious? Beggars in the US now ask for 20-dollar bills? Where I live beggars get 20 or 30 dollar cents (in local currency). Adjusting for purchasing power, I’d say that corresponds to $1 roughly. Which is what I used to give beggars in the US when I still occasionally traveled there (which was over ten years ago).

So I wonder what’s going on. A quick look at McDonald’s US menu reveals that, as I expected, they still have plenty of $1, $2, and $3 dollar options. Even a triple cheeseburger costs only $3. Do American beggars find it normal to ask for money to cover seven cheeseburgers? And do you guys actually seriously consider giving out such amounts? Even disregarding the dangers of ATM stalkers, I’m puzzled that this is even worthy of consideration.

P.S. Regardless of what country I travel to, if a beggar tells me what I gave him/her isn’t enough, I ask for the note or coins back. They sometimes give it, thinking I’ll give them a larger note after I receive the original hand-out back – an error of judgment on their part, because if I do get it back I’ll walk away without giving them a further cent. As I see it, beggars can’t be choosers, nor can they be critical evaluators of my generosity or lack thereof.
 
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In some jurisdictions I believe ATM panhandling is illegal and for good reason.

In your case I would have done exactly what you did. The 20 can go to a charity.
 
The woman doing the asking is likely not hungry (as you pointed out, 2 dollars would have gotten her McDonalds food - I often eat there myself for 2 or 3 dollars), or even, by the standards of most of the world outside USA, truly needy.
The woman doing the asking is more likely either an addict of some sort or a scam artist trying to shake people down for money.
In the USA, money is typically dispensed by ATM machines in 20 dollar bills. So if the OP was going to get money out, it would most likely be in 20s and the idea is he can just hand her one of the bills he gets from the machine.

Because the US has a social safety net in place, and areas where homeless people/ beggars congregate also tend to have facilities where they can get food and a place to stay overnight, there is a high likelihood that people who are begging in US are either looking to feed an addiction, or running some type of scam. THat is why we have a generally negative attitude towards them.
 
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Knight said:
I give her the 2 dollars I have in my wallet.
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You were mugged. She didn’t get everything, but it is still a mugging. Using intimidation and pressure to obtain the goods of another is not begging.
 
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