Walking down Main this afternoon during my lunchtime constitutional, I was accosted by the usual crew of vagabonds hoping for a hand-out: the crazy, filthy guy who wears insulated ski pants year-round, regardless of the temperature (which is in the high 90s today; needless to say, it isn’t always your sense of sight that first detects Ski-Pants Dude); the pair of young buskers who manage to play their violins well enough to avoid giving passers-by the nails-on-chalkboard squirmies; and the overweight, greasy-haired woman who’s been claiming to be homeless and pregnant for about 18 months now.
But I also saw a new face along “panhandler’s row,” a youngish guy with no shirt, probably about college age, who looked fairly clean aside from a goatee that more closely resembled a shubbery than an actual beard. He sat on one of the large, decorative planters that line the street in this area, totally at ease in the shade of the tree overhead. Like so many others, he held a scrap of cardboard with an entreaty for cash scribbled on it in Magic Marker. But this guy, unlike so many others, went for humor instead of pathos. His sign read:
Running 4 Mayor. Campaign contributions welcome.
I had no change to give him, but I made eye contact and said, “That’s a good sign, at least.” He smiled back and nodded, like he was letting me in on some kind of secret…
by far the best panhandle tatic I experienced was in San Fran a about a month ago. A guy in his late 20’s / early 30’s. Ask me for $1000 dollars. Yup, 1000. I chuckled, “Nah”. He smiled back, and stated, “I can take credit cards, I can do installment plans”. I chuckled again. “Not at this time, but great approach!”, was my reply. I continued to walk past him. He responded back, “I take paypal, or you make donations on my website!”. I chuckled again, along with some other people that witnessed my interaction with him…
mg
That ranks up high with my favorite that I saw a few weeks ago. The sign stated “Why lie I need $ for smokes and beer”.
Seattle 2001 – Space Needle to be exact…
A ball cap and sunglass wearing dog was sitting right in the middle of the plaza with a styrofoam cup in his mouth. It was FULL of cash. I don’t remember the slogan, if any, but his owner was asleep under a nearby tree.
Was an awesome site.
Cheno, that would’ve made a great photo…
Cord, at least the guy was being honest…
Mike, that guy was quite the entrepeneur. I wouldn’t be surprised if he really did have a website…
I don’t have a photo of the dog, but I do have video somewhere. I need to dig it out. it was actually the original inspiration for my Mudpuppy Logo years ago.