Beggars and bums

Posted on August 8, 2007 | Comments Off on Beggars and bums

We’re back in Austin, where every street corner features a black or white panhandler with a sign declaring him/herself to be "homeless," something notably absent in southern Indiana where we went last weekend for a family funeral. It wasn’t something I really noticed, the absence of these beggars up there along the Ohio River, until we landed in Austin last night and I went outside the baggage claim area for a cigarette. I was immediately hit up by a young man, who wanted a cigarette. I only had the one, the others being in my bag, and I told him so, and he became very indignant, as if I was somehow compromising his "right" to mooch successfully. But he went away. Not a minute later, a young woman came up and asked for one, too. At least she wasn’t indignant, just disappointed. Austin attracts these people like a magnet. Most of them are well-dressed and able-bodied. Just lazy, apparently. I suppose it’s the warm weather, or else the general liberal tendency to indulge them. They aren’t as evident in the state’s more conservative cities.

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0 responses to “Beggars and bums”

  1. Eva's avatar Eva | August 8, 2007 at 3:21 pm |

    If you stopped smoking, you would not have to worry about indignant smokers. Also good for you and Mr. Boy’s health.

  2. Eva's avatar Eva | August 8, 2007 at 3:21 pm |

    If you stopped smoking, you would not have to worry about indignant smokers. Also good for you and Mr. Boy’s health.

  3. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | August 8, 2007 at 4:05 pm |

    I’m sure it would be better for my health, but I’m also sure it would not stop the beggars. There are too many of them, and they all want money. Fact is, I probably would have shared a cigarette, if I had had any. I guess I’m just another liberal indulger at heart. But I generally draw the line at money.

  4. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | August 8, 2007 at 4:05 pm |

    I’m sure it would be better for my health, but I’m also sure it would not stop the beggars. There are too many of them, and they all want money. Fact is, I probably would have shared a cigarette, if I had had any. I guess I’m just another liberal indulger at heart. But I generally draw the line at money.