PDT 1/2 : Best place to panhandle

[goofball]

1. Eh. Lots of people have already dumped their excess change in the tip jar.
2. I think there's a small but real chance some drunk guy decides it'd be fun to kick you around.
3. MMM, leftovers. Plus people (from all strata of society) who are feeling satisfied are likely to be more generous
4. Eh, rich people didn't get that way giving away their money.
5. Not sure yet.
6. Awful.
7. Busier is better.

First choice 3, second choice 7. If I can't accept food or count it in the value of the spot or whatever than reverse those two.

[hanster]

[ QUOTE ]
1: In front of Starbucks/coffee shop
2: In front of bar
3: In front of restaurant
4: On street in business/financial district
5: On street in shopping district
6: On random neighborhood street
7: At busy corner/intersection

[/ QUOTE ]

While coming back from work today a homeless retired vet was asking for money at the stop light. The stop light always takes 2~3 minutes to change to green so he obviously was smart enough to camp there (it was an exit off of a freeway. For those in LA: Exiting on Santa Monica 2 going North on 405) and he would just knock on every single car. I think he got some change from couple of cars the duration the car was stopped for.

Would subway/bus stations be counted as a busy corner/intersection? That was my first thought before I even opened the window. I also thought about Starbucks but realized I just toss the change into the tip jar, especially if the barista is cute.

I cannot see a panhandler in front of NYSE or any of the financial buildings in NY or any big cities like LA, SF, etc. Being in front of a bar is not that great of an idea either, I remember seeing people kicking the panhandlers in Asia and wouldn't be too surprised to see the same thing happens here.

Shopping district, which should include a movie theatre and a lot of place for dates, is a decent place but I never see them around probably due to the security guards.

Busy corner/intersection (subways) > Shopping district > Random Neighborhood > Restaurants/Starbucks > Biz/Financial District > Bar

[El Diablo]

hanster,

I would consider subways and other similar public transit spots to be a separate category.

[hanster]

If that's the case, it'd be subway > busy intersection then.

Also, I forgot to mention gas stations. That would be a pretty good place to start, especially with the "my car needs $5 for gas to get to my aunt's house" stories.

[Elevens]

I have to go with the busy intersections. If you're stopped at a red light and you see someone knocking on windows asking for money (whether it be for charity or begging), you have a few extra moments to feel unnecessary guilt, because you're often unable to move past the person quickly. You have to sit there and potentially look like a cold-hearted ass, rather than moving on and forgetting about it. This usually results in "donations".

EDIT: Although, a subway has a helluva lot more people, so this is probably even better, regardless of the prolonged guilt trip.

[Starzinger]

Anywhere with alot of students? They might not have alot of money, but they do seem to have easier to part with them than alot of richer people. At least here in sweden, students give more to charities than any other group

[Porcupine]

I think busy intersections, because your targets are stuck right by you waiting for the light. Also, people are used to the idea of panhandlers at intersections and everyone has seen someone hand money out of the car window.

Is knocking on the car windows that common? Around here they don't really approach the cars unless someone holds money out of their window. That said, I think knocking on the windows would really increase your take. Recently, I gave money to some tweaker that surprised me at my car window - partly because it was a girl, but also because she was "right on top of me" and harder to ignore.