Comic Strips

I was backpacking with my boyfriend and our dog one time and sitting in front of the supermarket with the dog while he went shopping. It was hot so I had a bowl of water for the dog. First a person dropped 5 euros in the water bowl, which I quickly gave back, explaining in broken french I was not homeless. Next, a kid gave me a bag of croissants and a bag of dog treats! I couldn't refuse, so now we are always on the lookout for beggars and dogs to pay it forward. We already succesfully bought treats for two dogs and gave a bag of croissants to a woman with a young child begging.

I feel very sorry for the beggars where I live but also hate them with a passion. I can't go for groceries without two or three hawking the entrance to the store, ready to barrage anyone who looks mildly compassionate with sob stories.

Worst I got taken was by a young woman who looked very in need of help, asking me to buy some food for her family. Gullible me thinks alright, I can spend 10€ on some kitchen staples so these guys don't starve over the weekend, and took her into the store. Woman proceeds to absolutely stuff her basket with expensive meats, brand laundry detergent, diapers, to the point she literally can't carry the fucking basket any more. Cost me almost 120€ in the end, about 6x what I spent on food for myself.

Ever since then I will immediately recoil from anyone asking for help beyond the "classic" sitting quietly on the ground with a cup in front of them, because my scam alert has been readjusted in a bad way. I suppose I resent the woman more for destroying my compassion than for the money she tricked out of me.

My lease ran out and I was unable to get a new place for me and my then partner (who was otherwise completely unable to support themselves, very long story) to stay while I was the only employee working under the table and basically running a hookah bar. We stayed in a hotel for three or four weeks, but that was running me about €1800/month, and I couldn’t keep up for long. My boss offered us the couches in the hookah bar, which was an absolute godsend. I only stayed there for a couple of months, but but it kept me from sleeping rough.

Later I realized that if I hadn’t been working under the table (which was my boss’s choice, I had legal work allowance), I would have been entitled to much more… traditional aid (and the air quality in my residence would definitely have been at least closer to safe levels), so I’m a little more conflicted. He definitely stepped in when he didn’t have to, but in return he got to keep his only employee and there was no investigation of my finances that would have been necessary for government services and would probably have ended up with him paying some hefty fines. I’m very much still grateful, just a little jaded.

There was a guy outside of Taco Bell in Columbus Ohio who was begging for money so he could get himself a burrito.
So I went inside and bought the man several burritos and soft tacos and a large drink. I walked back out and handed it to him, and he promptly threw it straight in the trash and looked in the eye and reminded me that he had asked for money.

A friend of mine packs backpacks full of blankets, toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks, etc. and goes around handing them to homeless people around Christmas.

In my city the homeless run a newspaper. Good on-the-street reporting and homeless people can also sell the paper to get money.

Anyways, got to talking to a paper-seller. His story was rough; had a job, a house… and then a major medical event that took his house and all of his savings away in bills. His job fired him for ‘poor attendance’. At least the people at the paper were helping him get back on his feet.

Bought his last few papers so he could go home, but figured he was probably cold and hungry after standing around all day, so I bought him dinner and some new warm socks too.

Hope that guy is doing all right.

I semi-routinely get food for beggars. Gift cards, even. I don't carry cash, but if someone says they're trying to get enough money for food, I offer to just buy them what they need. They almost always say yes, and, especially in winter, you can tell it means a lot, at least in the moment.

On my first payday, post graduation, I did this for some kid who seemed clean by really skinny. He picked out frozen chicken nuggets, and seemed just so happy and grateful. That's stuck with me.

Sitting outside of a club waiting for friends. It’s late and a guy comes up and asks if I’m ok, if I need an ambulance or something. I must have looked rough. Dude saw that I was just on my phone and apologized before taking off, saying he was just making sure I wasn’t passing out or OD’ing

Not much later I’m walking to meet up with other friends for an after party and see the guy setting up on some cardboard.

I stop and ask him what his deal was, he wasn’t strung out like other homeless around. He told me his story. I said I was headed to Denny’s and would buy him dinner if he wanted.

When we got there he said thanks but he didn’t want to bother my gathering and was going to decline. So I hand him a few hundred bucks that was my party cash. He initially declined but I insisted, because he was humble, genuinely concerned about my drink add, and obviously was going to get himself out of his situation with only a little help and some luck.

I’ve interacted with a number of homeless and never really met another person like that since. I’m sure they are out there, teetering on really hard times.

I shared food with beggars on various times

First time I was like 11 years old, shared a sandwich, they got annoyed and throw the food back at me

Second time I was 20 something. Shared a full lasagna aluminum foil plate and bro threw it to the ground

One time before COVID hit, here in Argentina. I shared a sandwich and the man went into an insane rant about how the immigrants owed him money because they took their jobs.

Last time I saw a poor old lady tucked in a corner near a street. I brought her some shows socks and food. She appreciated it a lot. Almost went crying when i brought her about 20 USD worth of supplies.

I believe I have learned my lesson to not share anemonemore with dudes.

Years ago, I tried giving a homeless guy an unopened chicken sandwich I had just got from Burger King. I got two for the price of one, and I didn't want to eat the other one because I was already pretty full.

So I walked out of the restaurant still holding it, thinking I should find a trash can for it. Then a homeless guy came up to me saying he was so hungry. So I thought "well this kills two birds with one stone!" and offered it to him.

He seemed very unhappy and asked if I had money instead. He took the sandwich begrudgingly. Hmmmmm, it was almost like he was lying about being hungry and actually wanted money to buy drugs or something.

ETA: Tell an honest story in a post that explicitly asks for similar stories. And people get upset. Okay then.

There was this dude, Tyler, at my local Skate park who got kicked out by his baby mama and was sleeping in the park, under shelter. I was chilling next to him when he got that phonecall from her. We'd bring homie a ton of taco bell tacos whenever we'd go to the skatepark, and offer him rides wherever he wanted.

Homie would complain when we got cheese in the tacos, demand rides, and get a lil violent about us skating too late. Dude became an asshole, maybe baby mama was right to kick him out.

I broke my foot and stopped showing up, hope homie's alright

I think I've given money to a beggar once. This one said it would go straight to booze and I though fair enough.

I was sleeping rough first days in Amsterdam tired and hungry, when a guy I met who had not much himself invited me to his squatted building and offered me potato and onion soup and a glass of port, a place to crash for a couple of days. I will always remember that kindness.

Bit different but I used to cook for the homeless being homeless and later squatting myself for a long time.

In Amsterdam we had "Squat cafe's" giving out vegetarian food for homeless people. We get the food from the street markets and cook up meals like pasta, bread and garlic butter, salad fruits and vegetables. Many market stalls throw a lot of food away and with some effort you can make a lot of people happy.

My wife and me (25 years later) bring food packets to the local charity program, last week we brought Christmas presents that they will give out next week. The project here is run by volunteers who collect food from the local supermarkets and distribute that to people in need that don't meet the criteria to apply for the official food bank. There are no questions asked, you can take a certain amount of products and there is advice where to get further assistance or government support.

It is hard to see people waiting for 2 hours in front of the building to get some food. Gets me triggered but I feel we are doing something good for them, although it is limited by only donating instead of volunteering.

Yes, I've painted bicycles a few times. The first one, a '90s rigid MTB I was building up to be my "daily driver" utility bike, I took the frame to be professionally powder coated, which obviously worked great. The second one, a tandem, I spray-painted myself, which also worked fine but I haven't really ridden it so can't speak to the durability over time. Most recently, I tried spraying a frame with plasti-dip because I wanted it to be removable, but it turned out a little too removable: it didn't hold up to being clamped in my work stand, so now I've got to re-do that tube.

I don't get it