MY MIND: Beggar with an attitude

DO BEGGARS HAVE A CHOICE? You could help those you feel compelled to, but not all appreciate what you offer them.

One of the most famous quotes about begging would be “Beggars can’t be choosers”. In other words, a beggar cannot dictate to the donor the choice or the amount of the donation. But then, this true story at some traffic lights on the streets of a Middle Eastern country, changed my perspective. There was this beggar knocking on the car windows asking for money. With the scorching sun and high temperatures, many motorists felt sorry for him and opened their window handing out money, some coins and notes. As he was approaching the car I was in, I saw him pick all the small denomination coins that were given to him and with no hesitation he dumped them in holes of concrete blocks that were dividing the street, he then put the rest in his pocket and continued knocking on car windows.

My worry
I looked at the concrete block, and it seemed impossible to retrieve these coins at a later stage, I looked at him and he seemed very determined that he was worth more than small coins. In other words, I was in front a beggar who was indeed a chooser. What was more interesting is that, he did not even wait for the cars to move before making his statement, it had to be in front of others, I guess it was a warning gesture of what will happen to your money in case you “dare” give him small coins.

Lingering question
Well, the question of giving money to beggars has always been an issue that preoccupies my mind. On the one hand, one’s heart breaks at the sight of a fellow human being begging to make ends meet, on the other, we are more aware of the industry that begging has become. And a fundamental question that would arise: are we really helping the poor by giving money on the streets?
There have been hundreds of reports and articles written by many on the above subject, and it seems that at the end of the day, the choice is left to the donor to find ways of helping the poor. Certainly, the best is not the humiliating method of handing out cash to the needy in public.

Who is responsible?
People who are in dire need of financial assistance, are the responsibility of the society, and societies are represented by government organisations that should avail help to the neediest. In a country like Luxemburg, part of the taxes paid by its citizens are put to such use, hence offering homeless people a minimum of wage to rent a house and buy food, and in cases where people are still able to work, they are assisted to find jobs.
Unfortunately, even in such a country, the streets around the main railway station now have clusters of beggars who are positioned in the same spot every morning, they arrive to Luxembourg city from a neighbouring country and usually stay there till late afternoon when they are picked up by the same van that drops them off. Yes, you have guessed it, it is an organised gang that even police have no interest in engaging with.

COMMONPLACE
While driving the streets, your eyes meet with the beggars who are always asking for alms to survive.
In your kindest of hearts, you give them what you can afford but some throw it back at you. Why would we continue helping such people? Anyway, it is said that some of those are gangs formed by higher powers.

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