Squeegee kids fight back

[Dr Strangelove]

Squeegees are rubber scrapers mounted on sticks used to wipe car windows clean. First you apply a soapy solution, then you wipe it off with the squeegee.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Whereas windscreen wipers are rubber scrapers that wipe the screen clean with a soapy solution. And don't expect to be paid.

[Lincoln]

I hate a dirty windshield so I think the next time I come accross a squeegee kid I will ask him to do all the windows and pay him a decent amount for his service. I should have been more generous to the first guy but I was kind of taken by surprise. As far as buying booze goes, that is up to him what he does with money he earned. Many homeless people are not drunks. That is a steriotype that does not always fit, especially with the cost of rent nowdays.

[Evil Knevil]

I think I might buy some rock and get a squeegee tramp to clean my car....with his tongue, in return for the sweet sweet crack.

[Theben]

Why do I feel that Lincoln is being sarcastic?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I doubt it.

[Lincoln]

Actually I felt bad later about giving the man a can of tuna. I made a similar mistake before when I offered a street person a real job. He actually did a great job even though I thought he was running a scam and I wanted to expose it. having worked with homeless people I have come to learn that they are not all scam artists. Many are really hungry and they often avoid the shelters provided because of the rampant crime etc. in some of them that are not well managed.

[Dis]

my guns usually scare those window washers off.

If not, I just put my gun on my dashboard to scare them away

[Dis]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Squeegee kids fight back

Originally posted by DinoDoc
You don't get a very good response by asking for booze.

in my city lots of people are now carrying signs saying: Why Lie- I just need a beer.

I can't help but chuckle everytime I pass one of those.

[Lincoln]

A lady friend of mine said that she felt sorry for a man she passed who had one of those signs. I told her it was probebly just a scam but she insisted on giving me about $20 with instructions to take him out for lunch. I finally agreed. Well, first I had to beg the guy to leave his corner, then I had to beg him actually sit down for lunch (he didn't seem to be hungry and finally he rushed back to his lucrative corner. It was kind of funny when I finaly convinced him by telling him to please do it for my friend because it means so much to her. So he was a great help! I guess should have thanked him...

[Theben]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Squeegee kids fight back

Originally posted by Dissident


in my city lots of people are now carrying signs saying: Why Lie- I just need a beer.

I can't help but chuckle everytime I pass one of those.

That's because one guy in Denver had that sign a few years back, and made a lot of money.

[Verres]

I agree with Lincoln here. I tend to give stupidly large amounts of cash to beggars, particularly at night when I am either p***ed off (or just plain p***ed). Yes, a lot of them probably do spend it on drugs or booze...but thats their choice. You could always say that, if they're getting the money from strange people like me then at least they are not having to turn to crime etc.

Anyway, I too have worked with homeless people (but in England, obviously). Its a far bigger problem than most people seem to realise, so perhaps we should have people leaping onto our windscreens over here a bit more often, just to alert my beloved fellow citizens that there are people like this around.

A little bit of a rant perhaps...but hey, it needed saying!

[Dis]

I never give money to anyone. Am I an *******?

Another thing that has been happenning in my city is all kinds of people beg for cash. Not just homless. Very often in supermarket parking lots people will come up to me asking for money for a bus, or to fix their car. I never give them any money either .

I'm always worried about them attacking me. I only roll the window down a crack to talk to them.

I'm mostly just a cheap person. I'm very stingy with my money.

[Mercator]

In Amsterdam, there seem to be a bunch of foreigners who pretend to be stranded tourists.

They say how they've lost everything, including their passport and that one special toy they bought for their kid at home (or something). They even wave some filled-out form from the police.

Being way too gullible, I fell for it both times. (Not counting all those times I gave money to other kinds of (pretend-)homeless people.)

One of them I saw a few months later, telling the same story to another "victim".
The other I met a few weeks later, and he started with the same story again... But in contrast with most others, he actually recognized me.

After that, and one occassion where some guy just out of prison said he'd hack me in the head if he had had an axe, I decided not to give any money anymore.


But for the squeegee kids... As long they ask before they wash. And if they don't, they shouldn't be surprised if they don't get anything.

I have no problem with people asking, as long as they don't expect me to actually give anything when I've confirmed I don't mind them asking...

[Dis]

In New Orleans you have to watch for the shoe shiners. they wanted to shine my tennis shoes (well basketball shoes really) even after I said no.

The best way to avoid that is to keep walking. They can shine your shoes when you are moving.