Panhandlers in Lakewood

[ryan costa]

They should at least be juggling or playing a musical instrument.

[DougHuntingdon]

I agree...or shining your shoes.

On a more serious note, it appears much of the public is unaware that 99% of the panhandlers are professionals. They don't need $5 for gas in their car, for diapers for their baby, for a bus ticket to get home, or for an all day RTA pass.

Doug

[Phil Florian]

On a more serious note, it appears much of the public is unaware that 99% of the panhandlers are professionals. They don't need $5 for gas in their car, for diapers for their baby, for a bus ticket to get home, or for an all day RTA pass.

What does this mean?? If by "professional" you mean they do it to make money, then I would say that makes sense. Why else would they do it? What are the other 1% doing it for if not professionally? Socially? Recreational panhandling?


Phil

[Bryan Schwegler]

What does this mean?? If by "professional" you mean they do it to make money, then I would say that makes sense. Why else would they do it? What are the other 1% doing it for if not professionally? Socially? Recreational panhandling?


Phil

I think he means they're not homeless or poor. They're doing it to make what they think is "easy" money. Like the guys in Ken's story earlier in the thread.

[DougHuntingdon]

What makes a panhandler a professional panhandler? Here are a couple examples, although they can vary from city to city and panhandler to panhandler. This list is not all inclusive. Also interesting to note for the uniformed is that many who are really homeless are NOT panhandlers.

1. Territory
They have their own particular corner, inside of a building, or perhaps even an entire block. Try to panhandle within their territory and you could be asking for trouble. This is similar to the territories often granted to franchisees. A good example of this would be the guy who has been hanging around the Huntington Building on Euclid for around 20 years.

2. Homeless
The typical professional panhandler is not homeless. This ties in with #3.

3. Commute
The typical professional panhandler, especially in downtown Cleveland, commutes. They live in suburbs like Parma, Lakewood, Strongsville, and Fairview Park, just like many of the office workers downtown. Some ride RTA, some ride with friends, and some have their own cars. I know, because I have followed them to or from their "job."

4. Dress code
They often are dressed nicer than the people from which they ask a handout! A good example of this is the guy who hangs out by the Old Stone Church "sirrrrrr....yung ladyyyyyyyy....sirrrr....yung lady....." Last I saw him, he looked like he walked out of Brooks Brothers. He was wearing a very nice trench coat with color matching beret. If it's raining, this guy always has a nice umbrella. If it's a little frigid, he is always wearing a nice pair of gloves. If it is slushy, there he is with a nice pair of boots.

5. Dumb lies
They ran out of gas. They need a Greyhound ticket to attend their grandmother's funeral. They need $5 more to pay for their daughter's clothes or they are going to throw her out of school. They need money to ride RTA (watch as soon as they get the money, they walk away from the bus stop...or else they watch the bus come and go).

6. Refusal of food
Try to give them a sandwich, and they may interrogate you. "What, that has mustard on it? or ketchup or pickle or onion or lettuce or cheese? Oh I don't like that get it away from me. (Even though I pretend to be homeless and starving.)" They're not even clever enough to claim to have a deadly allergy.

7. Broadway performances
There was a guy by Jake's Deli who would literally crawl all over the ground on his back. Perhaps people gave him money for the entertainment value? When no one was walking by, he acted perfectly normal. Another good example of this is the woman who commutes from the Stuart House Apartments. She will act like she is dying, but then act normal when no one is watching. I don't know where she gets her hair done, but I must say she does have a rather nice perm with a very professional looking color job.

8. Special events and rush hour
Some panhandlers only work rush hour. You just don't get as much bang for your buck working at 1030am as you do at 4pm. Others only work special events. I swear some of the professional panhandlers know the downtown schedule of the Cavs, Browns, and Indians along with concerts and conventions better than the mayor's office or the convention and visitors bureau.




Doug

[Jeff Endress]

Doug

Here's a question. I'm sure everyone knows the amputee that plays his sax on Ontario after Indian's games. Clearly a professional panhandler?

Or is he a colorful street performer?

I give him high marks for his ingenuity, if not his musicianship...I also toss a buck in his case.

Jeff

[stephen davis]

Jeff,

Busking (street performing) is in a completely different category than panhandling and begging.

I would encourage busking. It would be fun to have crowds gather in parts of Lakewood to enjoy street performers.

It might also be a boon to pickpockets.

Nice article about Busking on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busking

Steve

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jeff

Amputee?!

I have been with him a bunch, even shared sctoch with him while I was doing a promotion with the Jacobs family at "Field of Dreams." I never noticed anything missing.

You sure?


.

[Esther Hazlett]

If this is the guy I think you all are discussing, he is missing a leg. Sometimes he wears a prosthetic, other times he leaves it next to his sax case.

[stephen davis]

Years ago, there was a guy with no legs that used to sit on a rolling cart with a blanket over his lap. He usually parked his cart between May Company and Woolworth's downtown. He was more of a passive beggar, as opposed to an active panhandler.

After "work", he would roll to his Lincoln, put on a set of prosthetic legs, and drive to his home in Lakewood, just up the street from me. He used to get checks every month from people that supported him.

In the coldest winter months, he would go to Florida where Lakewood snowbirds would see him living it up and betting at the race track.

He did okay.

[DougHuntingdon]

Good points, Stephen

My favorite street performer was the guy who was playing Spiderman's theme song on his sax player while they had part of Euclid shut down for filming of Spiderman.

Doug

[Shawn Juris]

We were approached by a guy downtown with the usual story (broken radiator and he needed money for bus fare for his family). We watched as he ran back and forth across the street hitting up 7-10 people in the couple minutes it took to finish our lunch. As we left two cops told us we had to feed our meter so we told them about what the guy was up to. Their reaction was funny when we asked if it was legal to panhandle. It wasn't like it was a trick question. The guy was in plan sight and we had no problem figuring out what he was up to. The patrolmen didn't seem to react. Maybe they were waiting until he did something more severe or maybe their were too busy with their own money collection with the meters to worry about something that was such a media issue over the summer. Apparently, annoying people and approaching them at their cars isn't much of an issue. I really do hope that he was dealt with in some way after we left.

By the way, we also drove down the area he was pointing to where he said his family was waiting and saw no one. No doubt in my mind he was a "professional panhandler" or if you prefer another phrase, a con-man.

[Phil Florian]

Doug, I am going to dig a bit more into your definition of the "professional panhandler" and the assertion that this list comprises of 99% of people asking for money. I know you were probably being facetious to a certain degree (are you REALLY suggesting 99 out of 100 panhandlers have a car, a place in the 'burbs and maybe a summer home in Florida? ) but it is an interesting perspective on the subject that probably speaks more to how people view homelessness and poverty in American than simply this one discussion. This reminds me of the 80's "Welfare Queen" myth where a woman would purposely get pregant to live high on the hog sucking in nearly limitless government green. I am looking to get a person from the HOMELESS GRAPEVINE to comment on these points but haven't found who to chat with on this, yet. Will get back to you when I do.

Thanks for the comments! Very interesting.

Phil

[Charyn Compeau]

Phil,

I think we need to be cautious here as there has been no established correlation between the panhandlers and the homeless/impoverished.

Even most, if not all, churches/places of worship do not give money to people that walk through the doors looking for assistance. A ham or PBJ sandwich? Sure. Along with direction to a service center, or other appropriate place, where their needs can be addressed - hopefully in way that makes lasting change going forward.

Similarly, I dont think that the people on the board responding to the issue of panhandlers are inadvertently showing their hand about poverty and would refuse to help someone that really needed the help; however, there is alot of truth to the fact that there are scam artist out there (the out of gas boys have been working 117 & Clifton for years now) and we need to exercise discretion and caution in how and when we help others.

Always,
Charyn

[DougHuntingdon]

I have read various issues of the homeless grapevine and was very disappointed at the lack of local content. Groups like the northeast ohio homeless coalition hurt the real homeless but help the professional panhandlers, in my opinion.

I was not being facetious. It may be 99.5% or more. Conversely, I would not be surprised if 99% of those who are truly homeless and/or severely impoverished do NOT panhandle.

Doug