Do you give to panhandlers?

[Richard58]

67. It depends.

I usually never carry cash but when I do I will sometimes give $1 to $5 to panhandlers depending on the situation. I am much more likely to give money to people who are just passively standing there holding a sign than I am to someone who aggressively walks up to me and asks for money. I'm also more likely to give money to women with children standing there or if they have a pet dog with them.
The overwhelming interactions I've had with homeless people have been positive. Mostly they are very polite and grateful. But I do sometimes wonder if it is a scam. I do sometimes carry gift coupons to fast food restaurants that I hand out so that I know they can have a meal.
I did have a guy come up to me in a park during a hot day and ask for money so he could buy himself something to drink because he was "very thirsty." There just so happened to be a concession stand nearby and I told him I would buy him whatever he wanted to drink. He said I could just give him the money but I insisted on buying it myself for him. On the way over to the concession stand he kept saying that I should just give him the money for it and I didn't have to walk to the concession stand. At that point I knew this was a scam but I wanted to carry through with it by giving him something to drink. When we got there I asked him what he wanted to drink. He hemmed and hawed and finally said he wanted a Coca-Cola. I bought it and handed it to him. He mumbled a thank you and then wandered off. I noticed he didn't start drinking it at all even though he had claimed that he was very thirsty. I found the whole thing amusing.