Beggars

[classicman]

Physically or psychologically? Two very different things.

[DanaC]

I don't know much about it either, but I do know that the risks associated with withdrawal are different for different drugs. As far as I know, alcohol and heroin are two of the worst for unguided withdrawal.

[W.HI.P]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Okay, then. I've never done either, but I thought crack was also highly addictive.

no doubt whatsoever, smoking cocaine is about as addictive as it gets.

Originally Posted by classicman

Physically or psychologically? Two very different things.

with crack, it is physical, but more psychological.
speaking metaphorically, crack is a substitute to oxygen.
but the withdrawl on a physical level cannot compare to heroin.

most long term heroin users end up shooting up to survive.

suprise suprise, the most common opiate users are doctors[morphine]

[Clodfobble]

They gave me morphine after my first c-section, and I hated it. Coming down off it I was itching all over like you wouldn't believe. I was begging for more Benadryl to try to make it stop.

[monster]

morphine made me blow chunks. So fast and so impressively that all the medical staff agreed that wasn't a viable pain relief option. as they all changed their scrubs and requested double layers.....

[ZenGum]

Who was chunks? Your boyfriend?

[morethanpretty]

The only beggars I would give directly to would be children. They didn't get themselves into the situation, and they have the least ability to get themselves out of it. Otherwise I don't trust them, I want to help people who can't help themselves. I just feel like the likeliness of an adult beggar actually having no other recourse other than begging is low. In some countries I know that's not true, but here it is. Especially in or around my city.
My pocket change is important, I keep it, and it adds up to $100 or more at the end of the year. I'm always thinking about the future, and my worry for now is taking care of my parents. I don't want to give my money to a beggar who might use it for their next hit, which they might OD on. I really don't give a shit for addicts I don't know, and if I know ya and you're an addict, I am most def NOT buying you drugs, but I won't allow you to stay on the street either. I want to use it to help those around me. The charities I have more interest in are those that help kids/abused, 3rd world, and sick/handicapped.

[lookout123]

Chiclet?

[Sundae]

It just seems to me that living on the streets is hard.
I can't see it as a cushy option.
And begging is dangerous and must be soul destroying.

I have read similar reports to Ali, published in the UK re the amount of homeless people with mental health problems. I know it was exacerbated in this country when the Govt of the time moved away from mental health institutions and into "care in the community" which was basically a recipe to let people fall through the cracks. One particular one was commissioned by the NHS in Leicester and the statistics would make you weep - percentages with disorders, who have been assaulted, raped in the case of women, who have STDs, TB, AIDs etc. Many have long term health conditions which will kill them if alcoholism and street living don't beat them to it.

I figure that someone who is reduced to having to ask strangers for money is far worse off than I am. Therefore if I have something to spare, they will value it more than I do. Oh and if they are in fact a clever scammer, only pretending to be drunk and scruffy and dirty, and are going home that night to a penthouse apartment, well enough of my money goes in profit to other fat cats, one more isn't exactly going to break me.

[morethanpretty]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

It just seems to me that living on the streets is hard.
I can't see it as a cushy option.
And begging is dangerous and must be soul destroying.

I have read similar reports to Ali, published in the UK re the amount of homeless people with mental health problems. I know it was exacerbated in this country when the Govt of the time moved away from mental health institutions and into "care in the community" which was basically a recipe to let people fall through the cracks. One particular one was commissioned by the NHS in Leicester and the statistics would make you weep - percentages with disorders, who have been assaulted, raped in the case of women, who have STDs, TB, AIDs etc. Many have long term health conditions which will kill them if alcoholism and street living don't beat them to it.

I figure that someone who is reduced to having to ask strangers for money is far worse off than I am. Therefore if I have something to spare, they will value it more than I do. Oh and if they are in fact a clever scammer, only pretending to be drunk and scruffy and dirty, and are going home that night to a penthouse apartment, well enough of my money goes in profit to other fat cats, one more isn't exactly going to break me.

Yep bein homeless isn't cushy. But I'm talking about beggars, not homeless. Just b/c they say, act, look homeless doesn't mean they are.

The mental illness is a problem here too. If I have something to spare then it should go to a friend. The friend and I both will value that more. Think about it tho SG. If you cared about that money really helping people, then why not save it and give it to a friend/family down on hard times? Or a reputable charity? Givin your money to the right people increases its and your power to help. Yeah alot of money already goes to greedy bastards, so whenever I can I try to keep it away from them. I do care about where my money goes because I have so little of it to give away that I want to do the most with it I can.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

I figure that someone who is reduced to having to ask strangers for money is far worse off than I am. Therefore if I have something to spare, they will value it more than I do. ....one more isn't exactly going to break me.

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl from a year or so ago

I was wondering if any female Dwellars (or male, if it's your bag) have any nail varnish knocking about that they don't use?.....Anyway, I am working hard not to waste my money, so I thought if you have one that you gebuinely won't wear again, I can give it a new home.

OK, so we're not "complete" strangers, and this is a frivolous, chatty request, but you were asking us to pay shipping for bottles of old nail polish so you could make your toes pretty.... The spare change you give to beggars would probably have bought some cheap and cheerful nail polish.

you know I love ya, but these just don't go together rationally. Pocket change adds up. It's still money. You post about being worried about borrowing from your parents, and then this.... They don't need it more than you do, because lack of money is making you unhappy.

Rest of cellar may now proceed with monster hatemail:......

[Sundae]

Fair point. But it was you that pointed out the shipping cost to me. I didn't really think it through.

And the amount I give away doesn't add up to all that much. I worried about the fact my parents had given me £30 and my salary hadn't cleared in my bank. It did clear and I gave them the money back. Do I give £30 to beggars? No.

I accept that if I were financially responsible, I would put every piece of change that I thought disposable into savings. And then when a real emergency occurred, I'd have it to draw on. But the truth is I'm no more able to identify a real emergency (as opposed to a desire to paint my toenails) than I am to keep my mitts off the money in the first place.

Please note, I haven;t asked for anything from anyone in the Cellar in quite a while, and I was probably wrong to do so in the first place. Obviously I am capable of working and earning my own money. Being lousy with money is no excuse, and I accept that. My only disclaimer is that aside from time off for depression (during which I did volunteer) I have always worked for a living, and will probably have two jobs again within the next month.

I do not pretend to be better than other people or make out that their attitude to people who beg for things is wrong. Mine is just different and I was stating my point of view.

[monster]

understood. Might not be a bad idea to have recepticle for pocket change by the door. Empty your change before you leave, except for what you need for public transport. at the end of each month, change what you can into notes. Or, given how you feel about the homeless beggars (which is perfectly legit, but......), why not dump the higher change in the bowl and keep the lower change (10p 5p etc) -that way you can satisfy both needs?

[morethanpretty]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

FAnd the amount I give away doesn't add up to all that much. I worried about the fact my parents had given me £30 and my salary hadn't cleared in my bank. It did clear and I gave them the money back. Do I give £30 to beggars? No.

Lets do the math!
Say you only ever give .50 at a time to a beggar, and you do this once a week. Well after one year you've given:
.50x52=26
In that one year you gave away 26, if you'd saved that you wouldn't have ever had borrowed from your parents. If you'd put it in a bank, and get an interest rate of 2.23% (what i get). Don't add anything to it. Compound 1x annually, you make .58.
Add what you save from the beggars that year tho: you make a $1.16. Leave that for 10 yrs. Add 26 each year, compound once annually, you make 106.54
Now that don't sound like much in the picture of things, but add in your regular savings. Being a bargain hunter, instead of charity: save, ect. That can be alot more. Get a better interest rate too. Invest in CDs and such

My lazy way of calculating:
http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator...calculator.htm

I'm just sayin givin your $$ to random beggars is'nt the best way to stretch it out to help the most ppl.

[monster]

Originally Posted by morethanpretty

Invest in CDs and such

CD = a type of savings bond. In this context.