When I lived in North Carolina back in 2005 there were a ton of them on the street corners of almost all the major intersections. Most Vietnam era veterans, and some looked far more well off than others. I mean, who begs for money on the corner with a Rolex, and some brand new brand name sneakers. Kind of a panhandling fail right?
I enlisted the help of google to start searching the web to see if I could find anything to help cure my curiosity. And I found a ton of really interesting articles. During this time, I also remembered an ABC News special I watched probably two or three years ago on the same subject.
While there are some out there who are begging because they are truly poor, homeless, or on skid row, there is also a population who takes advantage of the generous hearts of many Americans and pose as a bum to beg.
Bums can make upwards of $300 in a single day, especially if they are disabled, women, war veterans, or women with children. Many actually even pose as disabled war veterans to be able to make more money. Which I think is completely sad.
On the other hand, there are much worse things people could be doing to actually make money. Robbery comes to mind, right?
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