Panhandlers
Created | Updated Mar 1, 2002
I'm sure that every person that has ever lived in a major city has been subjected to the battlecry of the homeless. We've all heard those 5 words: "Can you spare any change?" I have heard those words in the 6 months I've lived in Toronto more times than I can count. Every day I see hundreds of people pass them by and pretend not to hear them, or look the other way. I will admit that I too have done the very same. However, I have been known on occasion to forego that morning cup of coffee to help out a fellow human being in need. Many pedestrians are annoyed and sometimes frightened of panhandlers and in some cases rightly so. There is one guy in particular that never fails to raise my ire every time I see him. This guy parks himself at my local bank's outdoor ATM machine like a vulture and bothers every single person using the machine as well as every passerby. He is loud with his requests, and frankly I find it very rude of him to perch there waiting to decend upon people just trying to pay their bills and take out some money.
As I was passing by that particular corner the other day, I just happened to note that this man had a very expensive Walkman dangling from his shirt, and very new looking Nike sneakers. The combined total of these two items probably cost about 200 dollars or more in Canadian currency. My question is this: If this person is so destitute that he has to beg for money day in and day out, why does he have nicer shoes and a nicer Walkman than myself?<p>
I too have fallen on hard times myself. I moved to Toronto and moved in with some college friends. I began looking for a job in my field in May of this year. After spending what little money I had on postage to send out demo reels and resumes I finally found myself a job....just last week (September 15th). There were times where I'd see these people on the streets, they'd ask for change and my only thought was 'Sorry man, but could you do me a favor? Save me a seat next to you because I just might be in your situation by weeks end.' Kind of a sad dark thought if you ask me. However, I was lucky and managed to get by with the help of my family and friends.<p>
Pedestrians are no the only ones to be annoyed for spare change in this city either. Toronto has become the Mecca for a subculture known as the "Squeegee Kids". These kids flock to every busy street corner in the downtown core with bucket and squeegee and proceed to hold up traffic at every red light by descending upon the commuter traffic offering to clean their windshields. In my experience a large percentage are very polite and move along when refused. Others proceed to do it anyway, often leaving the windshield full of streaks and in worse condition that it had previously been in, and demand payment when they've already been refused. Some motorists are frightened when they see these kids with painted hair, tattoos and facial piercings galore stick their faces right outside the window. Some of these kids aren't even homeless. Some come from upper middleclass families, just looking for a way to annoy their parents. Meanwhile collecting allowance in the process. I'm not going to say that this is the case for every one of them. Most are children from broken and abusive homes who felt they had to leave their situation behind them.<p>The squeegee kid problem has reached epic proportions in this city. This is mainly because all the other major cities like Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal have passed laws against this practice. Hence, they've all moved here. There has been heated debate on both sides of the issue, and may be banned here as well. Only time will tell. With winter coming, and it's bound to be a cold one, I shudder to think what will become of the homeless this year.
As I was passing by that particular corner the other day, I just happened to note that this man had a very expensive Walkman dangling from his shirt, and very new looking Nike sneakers. The combined total of these two items probably cost about 200 dollars or more in Canadian currency. My question is this: If this person is so destitute that he has to beg for money day in and day out, why does he have nicer shoes and a nicer Walkman than myself?<p>
I too have fallen on hard times myself. I moved to Toronto and moved in with some college friends. I began looking for a job in my field in May of this year. After spending what little money I had on postage to send out demo reels and resumes I finally found myself a job....just last week (September 15th). There were times where I'd see these people on the streets, they'd ask for change and my only thought was 'Sorry man, but could you do me a favor? Save me a seat next to you because I just might be in your situation by weeks end.' Kind of a sad dark thought if you ask me. However, I was lucky and managed to get by with the help of my family and friends.<p>
Pedestrians are no the only ones to be annoyed for spare change in this city either. Toronto has become the Mecca for a subculture known as the "Squeegee Kids". These kids flock to every busy street corner in the downtown core with bucket and squeegee and proceed to hold up traffic at every red light by descending upon the commuter traffic offering to clean their windshields. In my experience a large percentage are very polite and move along when refused. Others proceed to do it anyway, often leaving the windshield full of streaks and in worse condition that it had previously been in, and demand payment when they've already been refused. Some motorists are frightened when they see these kids with painted hair, tattoos and facial piercings galore stick their faces right outside the window. Some of these kids aren't even homeless. Some come from upper middleclass families, just looking for a way to annoy their parents. Meanwhile collecting allowance in the process. I'm not going to say that this is the case for every one of them. Most are children from broken and abusive homes who felt they had to leave their situation behind them.<p>The squeegee kid problem has reached epic proportions in this city. This is mainly because all the other major cities like Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal have passed laws against this practice. Hence, they've all moved here. There has been heated debate on both sides of the issue, and may be banned here as well. Only time will tell. With winter coming, and it's bound to be a cold one, I shudder to think what will become of the homeless this year.
