Odd situation at Academy Sports

[PUCKER]

I used to travel to Austin quite a bit and I can't tell you the number of times I'd get the "out of gas" or other sob story at John T. White & 35 (right by 183). I'd always stay at the La Quinta there....at least once during my stay I'd get a similar story.

Got one the other night in Dallas....just started shaking my head and said no - the guy got the hint and moved on....

I've been verbally threatened by a panhandler/bum while walking to 6th street in Austin....it was the "intimidation technique" - you know, give me money or I'm gonna mess you up - I just kept moving and laughed it off - he appeared to be drunk/stoned out of his mind...of course, he said this while laying down/leaning against a building on the sidewalk....

knocking on wood here - only once have I been "touched" when dealing with a panhandler - it was my first trip to NYC....my father and I were walking on Broadway going to the Carnegie Deli...this bum comes up and slaps/hits me on the shoulder with his one hand while holding a cup with change in the other....I don't care what the deal is, you don't put your hands on me....I started to rotate to turn his lights out/neturalize and my father (being the streetwise one) hooked my arm and made distance away from the guy. He didn't follow. I wonder how many folks that bum intimidated into giving him money - and I also wonder how many times he's had the daylights knocked out of him....

One night in Memphis (that should send the flags up), walking back to the hotel from Beale street I attracted the unwanted attention of a very aggressive panhandler - he came up beside me and asked for $$$$ - my response was "NO - GET AWAY!!" - very loudly - this guy wouldn't take no for an answer - he kept on - never touched me - always just out of arm's reach...I kept on course to the hotel...ready to take physical acton of need be, I just wanted the guy to leave me along...but he kept on following me...I told him that he was about to have a very unpleasant object touch him in a bad way if he did not leave me alone - he then started freaking out/screaming/acting all crazy...right then I was at the edge of the hotel property - the security folks put it together and took care of him....if you're thinking of going to Memphis - be on alert - you will be hit up EVERYWHERE...it's crazy - makes NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Austin tame.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Yet another post had to be edited for abbreviated profanity. Knock it off folks!! We're very close to simply deleting any post that breaks this rule, regardless how short or long the post may be. All of the Moderators are very tired of people ignoring this rule.

Chas.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Yet another post had to be edited for abbreviated profanity. Knock it off folks!! We're very close to simply deleting any post that breaks this rule, regardless how short or long the post may be. All of the Moderators are very tired of people ignoring this rule. So am I.

Chas.

[PUCKER]

Yet another post had to be edited for abbreviated profanity. Knock it off folks!! We're very close to simply deleting any post that breaks this rule, regardless how short or long the post may be. All of the Moderators are very tired of people ignoring this rule.

Chas.

Pardon my apparent ignorance of abbreviated profanity - I specifically used symbols to avoid profanity (I remember seeing symbols in the Sunday morning comic strips)....in the future I'll just write "the BG said he would do things to me in a very naughty way that I would not enjoy."

[charlie]

Here's one for ya:

There are often panhandlers at Beltway 8 and Telephone Rd just north of Pearland. Sometimes at the feeders and the main streets. There will be 2 to 4 working. Maybe one with a "need food money" sign and others who walk up and down the lines of cars waiting for the lights to change with various sad storys.

Some time around 6:30 or 7PM, a white passenger van comes by and picks them all up along with their signs, lawnchairs, water, rations etc. I saw that one evening.

Saw them once early one morning dropping folks off there to along with their stuff.

Looks like an organized commercial effort to me. Wonder if they have to punch in back at the home base?

[charlie]

Oh, I forgot to mention this:

My wife is an RN at Methodist and works with an MD that drives a Corvette. He was pumping gas one evening somewhere along 59/Kirby area and a homeless guy accosted him, I guess for a hand out. I don't know the details, but when the Doc turned his back the homeless guy pulled a knife and stabbed the Doc. Got his liver I believe. The Doc barely survived.

The homeless guy wasn't trying to rob him, he was just crazy.

You can't be too careful.

[thankGod]

Here's one for ya:

There are often panhandlers at Beltway 8 and Telephone Rd just north of Pearland. Sometimes at the feeders and the main streets. There will be 2 to 4 working. Maybe one with a "need food money" sign and others who walk up and down the lines of cars waiting for the lights to change with various sad storys.

Some time around 6:30 or 7PM, a white passenger van comes by and picks them all up along with their signs, lawnchairs, water, rations etc. I saw that one evening.

Saw them once early one morning dropping folks off there to along with their stuff.

Looks like an organized commercial effort to me. Wonder if they have to punch in back at the home base?

I started offering "Will work for food" franchises about 15 years ago. I will supply you with a cardboard sign and a street corner to work for only 15% gross.

[thankGod]

I tried to get one of these "will work food" people to weed my flower beds for a tuna sandwich. It was a no go.

[thejtrain]

I've only ever once given out cash, but if the guy isn't giving me any "I'm dangerous" vibes I'll typically offer to help him with EXACTLY what he needs, but I pay the business directly - the panhandler never touches the cash. That will usually screen out the manipulators, as the ones who just want cash will typically turn you down/try to talk you into cash. I've paid for a couple of gallons of gas for one guy, and fast food meals for a few others (actually started making that one a habit for one guy while I was in college - he was in the same place every night so once every week or two I'd drive through Checkers and drop the guy off a Value Meal).

JT

[numist]

Dallas passed an ordinance a while back that prohibited panhandling around ATMs, at gas stations, car washes and a few other 'captive audience' locations. Still, you have them come right up and harrass. The car wash ones are the most comical. When they ask for money I hold the still spraying wand down and a little forward toward their feet while asking if it is money needed for bath or laundry? They usually get the hint and move on.
Gas stations bother me the most since you have vehicles, pumps, pump islands etc. that block your view. A few con artist know this and use them to their advantage, coming on to you from a blind spot. I usually put the pump lock on medium and take a few steps around to be able to see what's going on around me while the gas is filling. I've got both hands free and my head on a 'wobble socket'. They don't seem to approach as much if they sense that you are aware of their presence and don't look like a soft target. Body language is everything here.

[NcongruNt]

Dallas passed an ordinance a while back that prohibited panhandling around ATMs, at gas stations, car washes and a few other 'captive audience' locations. Still, you have them come right up and harrass.

Sounds like those "Panhandler Free Zone" laws aren't working as expected.

[gregthehand]

When I lived in NOLA I got so used to it I didn't even reply anymore. If you ever want to become an expert on dealing with bums go live there for a few months and frequent Bourbon, Jackson Square area. The funny thing is that if you walk down other streets like Camp that leads up to Bourbon they will almost powerwalk past you without even so much as nodding. They are trying to get to the tourists! If your walking down a side street a good distance from the hot spots more than likely they think your local and leave you alone. Also if you go down to Bourbon, or the Quarter on a Sunday on Monday not only is it empty but the bums are nowhere to be found. If you want to know where they live just drive by the court house, and look at the park across the street; that's where they all sleep.

[smyrna]

I've been verbally threatened by a panhandler/bum while walking to 6th street in Austin....

Man, that must be par for the course on 6th in Austin.

Once, in broad daylight, I was returning from the Pecan Street Grill (good steak by the way) to my hotel on foot about 8 blocks away. I always walk briskly when in public and scan the direction I'm heading from side to side making eye contact with people I come in close proximity to. Well this drunk guy is talking loudly on a cell phone as I cross an intersection and I immediatly turn my attention to him because of all the ruckus. We make eye contact and as I turn away and walk past he says (into the phone), "Yeah these profanity are crazy down here. There goes one with a West Coast Chopper T-shirt on."

You guessed it! I was the West Coast Chopper guy. I thought, "Oh great! This drunk nut mistook my passing glance as some sort of threat/challenge?" I do a quick look over my shoulder and he is closing fast saying, "Hey Chopper dude, come here man...hey I said come here profanity."

Well I didn't stop because I knew that would almost certainly turn physical. I kepted checking my six preparing to lay into this guy if he got too close while picking up the pace and the guy must have followed for at least three blocks. I remember thinking, "This guy thinks I'm scared because I am essentially running from him. I am going to have to square off with this guy because he's not thinking clearly." I actually think the guy got winded and decided I wasn't worth it. Now we weren't exactly jogging but walking fast and the last time I looked back he had bent over at the waist and had his hands on his knees.

Victory if you ask me!

[maximus2161]

To the original poster:

This has happened to me several times. I dont want to get into the moral issues of giving money but for me when I am asked for money I usually just say "Sorry I dont carry cash" or something like that. I think most of us can tell when we are getting a bogus story from someone panhandling. I am usually approached by panhandlers like this:

I am in a parking lot or fueling my vehicle. A person panhandling will slowly approach with theirs arms out and palms up trying to look non-threatening. Then I get the long story about how they need just a few bucks. I use to listen out of awkwardness but now I just have to apologize and cut them off.

The most recent time I was leaving a Cracker Barrel and a beat up car (with several occupants) pulls up a few spaces over (I was parked at the empty edge of the lot) and a guy jumps out. I had my door opened and was behind it. This guy was going into his sob story and he needed money because he was trying to get Tulsa I think it was. Told him I was sorry and didnt have anything to give him. This guy was acting very strange looking around nervously and became very upset when I refused to give him money. As I got into my truck he suddenly started to approach me and I put out one hand and told him to back away immediately. He stood there for a sec thinking it over and then mumbled something and got into his car and left.