Anyone notice that there are more homeless people and beggars?

I take the subway to work daily, and have started that there seems to be more and more homeless* people and beggars in the subways in the past year. Has anyone noticed this? I feel like this is the result of our economy going down the drain. *Almost all of these homeless people seem to be 20-somethings. They are awfully young to be begging.

• Yes, and now that the brilliant folks at the MTA have decided to remove all the garbage cans, waiting for the train will seem so much more like a Dickens novel.

• Yes, but President Romney will take care of them. You won't have to see them when everyone has jobs again and poor people are outlawed.

• Yes, and as someone whose business is really suffering and has taken to walking to/from work (3+ miles each way) and having two slices of dollar pizza for nourishment a day, disconnected home internet, and given up workouts because I don't have the stamina with the very limited food intake, it is starting to piss me off royally to get panhandled 3-4 times daily.

  I%20know%2C%20MARY%21%20But%20it%27s%20true.

• I am convinced that someone of them are well off, just pretending to be homeless and needy for extra cash. My paper did a story on them. One guy was raking in close to $300 a day.

• [quote]I feel like this is the result of our economy going down the drain. Incredible! Did you come up with this hypothesis yourself?

• Don't look them in the eye and NEVER engage them in conversation. Once they make a "connection" with you, they can interpret anything you do or say as an insult- and act out.

  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/08/stabbing-suspects-bail-is-set-at-1m.html

• I live in an middle class suburban area and even we have beggars at busy intersections. At first, it was just the homeless, but others have signs that just say they're unemployed- all middle aged, with signs saying they're vets, single parents, etc. Majority white, despite a diverse population. It's sad and I feel for the homeless people, the vets and others with issues who can't hold down a steady job, but the parents, I can't help but wonder if CPS should get involve. If someone with a family has reached the point that begging on a street corner is a steady source of income, someone should be checking in. I also don't understand why someone who was unemployed and had to resort to begging would choose to continue living in an area where the average household income is $90,000, but since I don't know the details of their circumstances, I suppose I shouldn't judge.

• There are some hot beggars where I live. I've taken them home, let them shower and eat. Many times, one thing leads to another, and before I knew it, I was spread out on my bed letting some stranger suck me off.

• You can wash one of my Cadillacs, you dirty hobo.

  Queen%20Ann%20Rmoney

• [quote]I also don't understand why someone who was unemployed and had to resort to begging would choose to continue living in an area where the average household income is $90,000 Safety.

• R8 it's happened to me too. Beggars are great cocksuckers. Only difference for me is that I like them dirty while they suck me, and the hairier they are, the better.

• TONS all around City Hall here

  Philadelphian

• Wow, you are one dumb ass aren't you? YES dear, America is in the toilet these days and more and more young gays are falling into it because they have no marketable skills other than looking good. This is the new normal for America and our current POTUS does not have a clue how to fix it. And, neither does Mitt. So, I hope your job as a "window dresser" at Barney's is secure loved one or you may be standing down in the urine-drenched subway holding your very own tin can.

  justanobservation

• Sorry r13 -- I've seen too many posts here from educated, experienced people who can't find work.

• They will just have to work harder, they are lazy.

  Shittens

• I want to hear more about you guys who pick up beggars for sex. Aren't you afraid they will hurt you or come back to bother you? I have to admit that I have always fantasized about picking some guy up off the street, but it's too risky.

• R8/R11/R16 is apparently unaware of troll-dar. Either that or he suffers from multiple-personality disorder. Any way you slice it - he's one batshit-crazy freak.

• I had a funny(?) experience on an MTA bus this week. A 40ish crazy woman gets on, doesn't pay her fare and starts begging people for money. She even asked the driver for money. I guess the bus driver didn't want to maybe fight with a deranged person so he let her go. She didn't look like a druggie or alky - just your regular crazy person, in a cheap wig. She rambles something about how she was supposed to go to Rikers Island and get some money, but she couldn't get there, so please help her. She stopped in front of every passenger and said 'please help please help'. I didn't see anyone give her money. A few days later, she gets on again. Now she is begging for help getting some panties. She had on a skirt and at one point it looked like she was going to pull up the skirt to prove her point. I gave her a buck.

• R3, I empathize with you completely and don't think you're "Mary" at all. I'm disabled now and rather guiltily (is that a word?) eating at the public trough so to speak. But two friends of mine have "downsized" $10-20,000 in salary cuts (and each hate their jobs) in recent years, each has a lot of debt, and they both - in SF - hate getting hit up by beggars. I'm marooned back in my home town, 2,000 people, norther NY - no beggars but I'd rather be in SF. If that makes any sense. One wonders what politician is going to be able to do much about this. I fear - as many other posters on different threads have pointed out - we are rapidly becoming a third-world country, at least in cities. I hope your business picks up; best of luck.

  Disabled and depressed but guilty

• There are two men working two sides of the street near me - almost directly across from each other. One looks like a scammer - making some quick change 'just because'. He's middle aged but doesn't have signs of homelessness or drugs/drink. The other man sits down in front of a Staples store on the sunny side of the street, then takes off his shoes so the world can see that he had all the toes amputated. He freaks out a lot of the little kids walking by with their parents.

• Never give to beggars. It merely undermines personal initiative and reinforces their failure mindset. If you don't break the behaviour it becomes a plague. Call the police and have them arrested. The Depression was infinitely worse but my grandmother tells me she never saw a beggar -- ever.

• R21 = FReeper shitstain

• And R22 explains why there is a plague of beggars. It's beyond the comprehension of Gen XY's that once upon a time the avearage person was self reliant, and begging was viewed as beyond shameful.

• Sorry to burst your bubble R23, but I'm a Gen X-er and I know full well that it was once viewed as such, however times have changed, even if the stick up your ass hasn't.

• Yes lot's of beggars out there. Can't believe how many. I just avoid them. Simple as that. No need to get upset about it.

• I live near Seattle where there are many Latino and Asian people, yet I can't recall ever seeing an Latino or Asian panhandler. There are hundreds of white and black panhandlers and more every day. Why is that? A cultural thing?

• I encountered many Native Americans panhandling in Seattle.

• Happily we're rapidly moving into a period where people WILL have to be more self-reliant. Which is excellent. So sick of the sappy whiney facebooking tweeting me me me masses. I was talking to a cab driver the other day who was a former statistician, read the signs, and has been buying gold & silver as part of his game plan since 1994 and now has several 100k buried in his garden. His recitation of recent global stats including debt & forward orders was fascinating.

• I stopped giving to beggars when the news aired several specials about professional beggars in San Francisco making over $500 per day. They also did a "hidden camera" thing where they followed this couple from their suburban home. This couple stopped at a gas station and changed into old clothing, then parked their car at a mall, and walked a few blocks to a corner where they started to beg. After that, no money from moi. I will go into a restaurant and get something to go and give it to a street person, but no money.

  Anon

• r16 stop trying to make hobosex happen!

• In my city the beggars stick to the nicer more expensive ares. You see homeless people and drunks in the bad parts of town, but they don't ask you for anything.

• I generally won't give money to beggars because it's often used to feed their addiction(s). But I have no problem buying them a meal if I can afford to. There but for the grace of god...

• I don't mind the homeless, but I could do without the bloggers.

• [quote] [R16] stop trying to make hobosex happen! The hobosex where the bum goes up into the bum?

• In Philly the beggars are pushy and very scary. They will follow women around accosting them.

• There aren't OP. During George W. Bush's first term, homeless doubled. You didn't notice it. During George W. Bush's second term, it remained high but was swept under the rug. Begining with 2008 it exploded again. This last year it has actually dropped for the first time since the 1990s. You're just a Republican "talking down the economy" troll, not a serious person.

• No, freeper OP: I'm not noticing that at all because it's not true.

• [quote]I encountered many Native Americans panhandling in Seattle. Bullshit. I've only ever seen whites and blacks begging in Seattle.

• I am seeing less now actually

• Oh R33, how I love you!

  Anonymous

• the direction of the economy (not just lately, but since the 80's) is an obvious factor, but I also wonder if the deterioration of personal relationships is also a factor. our network of friends is a safety net, too. it looks to me like we are more fragmented and frightened as a society, resulting in the disappearance of empathy and optimism. I think if we had stronger friendships we'd make a drop in homelessness, unemployment and apathy. right off the top of my head I can think of a couple close calls in my life that could have turned out much worse had friends not been there to help, and it reminds me to be a better friend

  Interdependence%3A%20pass%20it%20on

• I agree with r33 as well, bloggers are out of control these days and becoming more aggressive.

• Before Reagan, you only saw homeless in a few cities, and outside NYC, gangs were nearly invisible.

• More humorless people, too.

• Ever since Reagan, it's been a huge ongoing problem. Befoe Reagan, it wasn't a problem.

• Don't come to Toronto if you dislike beggars/homeless. We're overrun with them, especially at subway entrances, stairwells and even occasionally inside stations and trains! Barely ever saw any at all in NYC in visits over the last decade. A few months ago, I was accosted by a comedy beggar. Had to admire his chutzpah. His jokes were dirty. Wish I could remember them. Shoulda given him a loonie or two-nie but my beggar compassion was just too permanently burnt-out.

• Yes, since this spring I've seen an upswing in the number of homeless/beggars. They were all twenty-somethings, but in August I started seeing a few vets (not too far from the VA Hospital) who were waiting to get their paperwork through. But the last few days I've been hit upon by elderly men and women. It's upsetting.

• I don't care if they're begging as long as they're not eating my face.

• My least favorite are the 20-somethings with signs saying that they are traveling and ran out of money. Too friggin bad!!

• It's been this way since Reagan. Reagan let all the nuts out of the nuthouse and they had no place to go but the streets. Since then, continued downsizing and outsourcing by corporations have caused this problem. Thanks a lot politicians...you sold American workers out.

• R49, ever read Grapes of Wrath? Anyway, sometimes churches have an agreement with a local gas station. They let a traveler get a tank of gas and then the church will pay for it. I would think city leaders would do the same thing...do you want the homeless people to end up living on your streets? Think about it.

• I am so tired of reading that the unemployed are lazy losers. I was downsized from a company, I have a degree and 15 years experience. I am either over or underqualified, and, no, I am not above doing any job. I know I need to move; my coffee barista has a Masters.

• I've given some of the potentially cuter ones a spanking in return for giving them a few bucks. There was one who I think was pretty much a male prostitute (hustler) who saw me once driving around town and he came over, jumped in the car and said, "Hey, you wanna beat on my butt again for 10 bucks?" He was wearing tight red jeans; I spanked and punched his ass, he said "owwwwwwwwwwwwww, my butt hurts daddy", I gave him 10 bucks and he was gone. That was about 15 years ago and I never saw him since.

  anon

• Back in 2001 - 2005 (the Depression everyone forgets due to the Faux Recovery of 2006-2007), I remember that the number of beggars would increase any time there was a hint of recovery in the air. If they smelled a possible return of discretionary income, they would suddenly be all over the Silicon Valley. This ended with the Faux Recovery and all the new jobs -- all the new jobs that went to H1-Bs and other newly arrived immigrants. After that, all the homeless went crazy.

• R39, you meant to type "fewer" not "less". If you're going to try to participate in a written discussion, learn the language in which the conversation is being held.

• R41 has a point. A lot of people get into trouble because they have no family or friends' couch to surf on. Is that because family and friends are hard up too, or because people just don't look after each other any more? A lot of people I know have been in bad financial straits at one time or another. When I was unemployed, a friend let me stay at his house until I found work again. My sister stayed with me for six months when she had to move out in a hurry, because her roommate became unsafe to stay with. What would have happened if we had no one to count on? Without help, and with a job market that demands an address, a cell phone, an e-mail address, a resume, a college degree, once you go down you can't get back up.

• A lot of these beggars are NOT homeless. They hold up signs saying they are, but they're not.

• All Western economies (Canada and Germany included) have gotten much, much worse in the last 10 years. The positive economic numbers being released, are propaganda. If you look on the streets, you will see the reality. The Soviet Union used to lie to its people and say that things were much better than they actually were. Why do Western countries arrogantly think their governments would do anything differently? We are in the Great Depression 2.0 people. You are being lied to and told things are much better than they actually are.