I never give anything to beggars. My friend did once. A beggar asked for a Guilder. My friend gave him one. Then the beggar asked for another Guilder. My friend searched his pockets and found another one which he gave to him. Then the beggar asked for another Guilder. Again my friend searched his pocket. He didn't find any Guilders there, so he took his wallet. As soon as my friend's wallet was out in the open, the beggar grabbed it from him in a flash and ran away. Nobody's gonna steal money from me or my friends and it wasn't a very young beggar, so I started running after him. I managed to catch up with him, tackled him to the ground and retrieved after a few kicks and punches my friend's wallet back. The police just happened to pass by, stopped and wanted to know what was going on. The beggar started screaming that I stole his wallet and that I should be arrested. Thank God there were witnessess and they told the police that the beggar had snatched the wallet from my friend. A little later my friend arrived on the scene and confirmed my story. The beggar got arrested and I and my friend were free to go. The bystanders actually applauded for me :) One of them told us that this was a notorious beggar who was suspected of more snatches like that. I told my friend (who was from the country-side and not really used to bigger cities) never ever to give dough to beggars, no matter how sad their story is.
Yet I've heard that in Poland (and elsewhere) these beggars make a very decent living out of begging...Albanians, Romanians; they can keep actually bank accounts off it. Like the Albanian gypsie I once saw getting money out of an ATM here in Dublin. 30 minutes later I passed her again and she was begging me for some cash as she needed it for her kid. Needless to say I didn't give any.
I always give to a good busker!
I would if they would only stop playing All Along The Watchtower, Hotel California and all the tunes of U2....:(
>^..^<
M-G (nobody's gonna rob me of my money)