rant about beggars

Bubbly Scot said:
Be glad we're not in the likes of Bangladesh where kids are sometimes deliberately crippled so they can make more money begging.
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Please tell me thats not true?...

In Cork recently at an ATM and there was a young man, without shoes, rocking back and forth on the ground with a sign (poorly written) 'no english.. cripple.. please help'. I presumed he was a non-national from his clothes. Anyway, my friends and I all dropped him some cash (guilt money yes.. we were heading out for the night). Later the very same night, we were in a small bar when low and behold in walks the very same guy - (and before someone says it, yes, he had shoes on)!

He went straight up to the counter and asks the barman if he would excahnge his 'change' for notes. We couldn't believe it - the 3 of us left our table and went up to him and demanded our money back, just loudly enough to embarrass him and let others in on his scam. A very flustered man handed us our money back and scarpered out the door....
 
Plek Trum said:
Please tell me thats not true?...

In Cork recently at an ATM and there was a young man, without shoes, rocking back and forth on the ground with a sign (poorly written) 'no english.. cripple.. please help'. I presumed he was a non-national from his clothes. Anyway, my friends and I all dropped him some cash (guilt money yes.. we were heading out for the night). Later the very same night, we were in a small bar when low and behold in walks the very same guy - (and before someone says it, yes, he had shoes on)!

He went straight up to the counter and asks the barman if he would excahnge his 'change' for notes. We couldn't believe it - the 3 of us left our table and went up to him and demanded our money back, just loudly enough to embarrass him and let others in on his scam. A very flustered man handed us our money back and scarpered out the door....
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hes been around for a long time. I noticed the gardai moving him on one day from Merchants Quay, and he said something to them in foreign and got up and walked away !! Cripple me This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language!!
 
Plek Trum said:
Please tell me thats not true?...
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If you mean the deliberate crippling/disfigurement by parents, unfortunately yes, this is true - have heard it many times. A friend who spent time in India says that this practice is not uncommon.
 
Yes, sadly Caveat is right. I spent some time in Bangladesh and was told of this practise. I saw many, many children and adults with horrifying injuries. It affected me greatly but the people I was with (locals) were fairly nonplussed by it. That, however is a whole other story.
 
It was common in Europe in the middle ages to cripple children and sell them to freak shows.
 
Purple said:
It was common in Europe in the middle ages to cripple children and sell them to freak shows.
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Assuming this is true, should I deduce that humanity is doomed and sick or was starvation and a much worse life the only alternative to such a career as a cripple ? :confused:
 
>Assuming this is true, should I deduce that humanity is doomed and sick or was starvation and a much worse life the only alternative to such a career as a cripple ?<

Cripples get more money than able-bodied beggars.

>In Cork recently at an ATM and there was a young man, without shoes, rocking back and forth on the ground with a sign (poorly written) 'no english.. cripple.. please help'. I presumed he was a non-national from his clothes. Anyway, my friends and I all dropped him some cash (guilt money yes.. we were heading out for the night). Later the very same night, we were in a small bar when low and behold in walks the very same guy - (and before someone says it, yes, he had shoes on)!<

>How much would you think a beggar in a busy spot in the capital actually takes in if they were doing it 9-5 mon-fri?<

(Sorry , still can't figure the multiquote)
 
Gordanus said:
Cripples get more money than able-bodied beggars.
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I understand that. Just thought it was a bit extreme to do it to your own kids.
Gordanus said:
(Sorry , still can't figure the multiquote)
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Just click the "+ button. The one after the 'quote' button. If you click on the "+ button on many ppl's posts then click 'post reply' you will quote all the users' posts whom you've selected.
 
sign said:
Assuming this is true, should I deduce that humanity is doomed and sick or was starvation and a much worse life the only alternative to such a career as a cripple ? :confused:
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They were street children and/or orphans who were kidnapped or sold. Their owners were quite skilled at disfiguring them, knowing how to break and reset bones in order to produce the most horrific results. The young adults that were sold to freak shows were usually so mentally traumatised that they were irreparably damaged psychologically.
If anyone has children think of one of them being taken at two or three and being exposed to relentless cruelty and physical suffering for years 'till they are mentally and physically unrecognisable and the shattered shell of what they could have been is sold as a grotesque curio.
That's one of the many depraved things we are capable of.
 
At the weekend I saw a guy begging opposite break for the border. He had a decent waterproof hill walking type coat on him, spectacles, looked very alert and healthy, was even sitting up straight. He looked so normal I was astounded.
 
annR said:
At the weekend I saw a guy begging opposite break for the border. He had a decent waterproof hill walking type coat on him, spectacles, looked very alert and healthy, was even sitting up straight. He looked so normal I was astounded.
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I wonder if this is the same guy I seen on Friday night at the ATM outside BFTB. He was sitting on the ground with a bottle of vodka in his hand!

Mmm let me see, will I give you money so that you can go off and buy more booze???...eerrr NO!
 
annR said:
At the weekend I saw a guy begging opposite break for the border. He had a decent waterproof hill walking type coat on him, spectacles, looked very alert and healthy, was even sitting up straight. He looked so normal I was astounded.
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I'm sure some settled people beg too. Even if they work, after all, it is free money.
 
Sn@kebite said:
:eek: Tell me you accidentally put the word 'deliberately' in your post. Why would they do that????:confused:
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Sadly, it does seem to happen.

First time I heard about it was maybe 15 years ago in Zante, the waiter wouldn't let me give money to a beggar with a crippled child, he told me they were Albanians who thought nothing of crippling their child to raise the sympathy factor. Found it a bit hard to believe at the time, but heard the same thing several times since, in different countries.
 
Is it not still against the law in this country to beg, A non-national woman and child has been fined in arklow and Gorey for begging last year, She has since moved on to other towns but is still at it,and she is picked up in the evenings in an almost new van. I believe I heard of a man from somewhere near blackrock who challenged the Constitution about vagrancy recently but not sure of the outcome, but last year it was certainly against the law to beg in Ireland.
 
Gordanus said:
Any AAMer want to try it for a couple of hours? See how much they can get? (proceeds to be donated to charity, of course!)
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I have to admit that I have actually done it (for a laugh/experiment) years ago, as a drunk student. I made about £3 (punt) in about half an hour if I remember :eek:
 
Caveat said:
I have to admit that I have actually done it (for a laugh/experiment) years ago, as a drunk student. I made about £3 (punt) in about half an hour if I remember :eek:
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Years ago = at least 10; add on rate of inflation ...... Sorry head done in. I'll guess E50, which would be 100 per hour? A lot more than I get paid!
 
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