This guy won the prize.

[gridlore]

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows my position on the "homeless." In short, I divide this demographic into two groups: The truly homeless, people who have fallen on hard times and are working like hell to improve their situation; and the bums. The bums are the ones who don't seem to care that they live in filth, the ones who will sit begging for quarters ten feet from stores with "Help Wanted" signs in the windows.

I will move heaven and earth to help the first group when I can. The second group can go to hell.

This attitude means that I ignore most beggars. The exceptions are the guys selling the Street Sheet, since they are working for the money - the homeless write, layout, deliver, and sell the paper themselves. The next exceptions are the street musicians. again, they are doing something for my money.

The final exception are the guys who are so original, so startling in their approach that they stand out from the crowd. The first guy with a sign that said "Why Lie? I Need a Beer." got a quarter from me. But the homeless guy at the CalTrain station after the game last night has set the bar very, very high. His entire shtick was a neatly lettered cardboard sign reading

FAMILY KIDNAPPED BY NINJAS
NEED MONEY FOR KARATE LESSONS.

He got two bucks from me. That's probably a record.

Comments

[eleri.livejournal.com]

Blade has often spoken of getting some guys together, dressing up in suits, and holding cardboard signs at the onramps that say "Downsized" and "outsourced"... and then explaining to anyone who gives them money that they're really collecting for a charity.

[kshandra]

When I was still working for StupidShuttle, I was picking up passengers one morning along the Sand Hill Road corridor in Menlo Park - quite literally the home of more than 50% of the venture capital in the country. Two gentlemen were standing on the median strip, nicely dressed, holding a sign that said "Will Work For Seed Money." I pulled up to them at the turn signal and said "You know, I don't have two nickels to rub together, but I'd give you one if I did." They thanked me and handed me their prospectus. ;-) (Interesting concept, too - virtual safe-deposit boxes, for lack of a shorter description. I wonder if they got their seed....)