2002-09-06 - 12:13 p.m.

On the internal soundtrack: "Two of Us", Beatles

So, a beggar seems to have set up shop in a position I can see clearly by looking out the window by my desk.

I use the term "beggar" specifically because that is what she is doing: Begging for money. One can be homeless and not a beggar.

I've been watching her for a while. I think she was there yesterday, because I think I saw a woman giving her money then.

I wonder how much it was. I'm watching, and it seems that maybe an average of five people go by every minute, and none of them are givimg her money. Some of them speak to her briefly -- about what, I wonder -- but they don't put any money in her cup.

She's in her 20s, wears glasses, is overweight, and black. She's sitting on a blue milk crate and has a cardboard sign facing the other way, so I can't read it. The typical beggar in this area is a falling-asleep white teenager or a drunk 40s black man, so she's unusual, demographically speaking.

Oh, no, wait -- here's a couple. They look like immigrants. The woman is digging in her purse. But she doesn't put anything in there. Her husband digs some coins out of his pocket and dumps them in the cup, and they walk away.

The beggar rolls the coins in her hand, counting them, and then leans over to put them in a pocket that is stuffed with something (could be bills, coins, or tissues).

Two minutes later, a woman with a baby in a stroller comes by. Five feet past the beggar, she stops, digs in her purse, turns around (her back to the baby) and gives something.

Oh my gosh, and now she's gotten off her crate and out of my view, further down the street. Wait ... she's with a man about her age, and together they put her sign and crate into a nook in the building, and walk off. Who was he? Where'd they go?! She seemed to know him.

Later:

I went out shortly after I wrote that to get a filter for the Brita pitcher, and I got my answer. She had moved half a block away and across the street to a corner, where there is a lot more foot traffic, not to mention people waiting for the light. Her cardboard sign (how many does she have?) says that she's got HIV. I wonder if that's true or if it's a ploy for sympathy.

I'm still working out how I feel about beggars and how I want to deal with them. Their presence doesn't bother me, in the sense that I don't feel a need to clear the streets of them. The more aggressive ones I've encountered are usually entertaining, like the one who, when Poindexter said "Sorry", yelled after us, "Ask your wife!" The non-aggressive ones are just there. My only issue is whether I should try to help, and if so, how. I'm not sure that just handing them a few bills is going to do any good.

My brother, who lives in Manhattan, says it depends on his mood. He is also more likely to give money to people who do polite things, such as open doors for people. Me, I need something more structured than that. I need a "beggars policy". I think it's going to end up being: don't give them money. If I want to help someone make their life better, it's going to have to be another way.

I'd need to know more about the people I'm giving money to. Why are they begging? Wouldn't it be more lucrative to get a job, even at minimum wage? (Perhaps not; I don't know.) Do they have some kind of physical or mental condition (besides substance addiction) that prevents them from working? Have they tried any of the agencies set up to help the homeless? Was there no room for them there?

If I were going to try to help someone out, I'd want to sit down and talk to a person and get to know them a little. I don't want to just give money to people if they're going to use it for alcohol or drugs. Poindexter is opposed to the idea of me talking to strangers, though, because he's concerned for my safety. Perhaps I can persuade him to talk to them with me, then. Something to think about. Or maybe I can talk to one or two sometime after we move.

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