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I stopped giving money to panhandlers, in general, after coming back from 2 months in Thailand in 1998. Why? Well, the "beggars" in Thailand were truly beggars... no pretending, there. Many of them were lepers who had already lost one, if not more, limbs, and were pretty much just lying on the sidewalk, unable to move (some of them were on skateboards, if they had no legs, so they could push themselves around). There are very few public services for people in Thailand, so no shelters or soup kitchens. Life SUCKED for those people. So look, if someone is missing a LIMB or two and wearing rags while most passersby nearly step or trip on them, I am going to give them money, yes.
However, when I came back to the US and saw "homeless" people who would be RICH if they lived in a 3rd world country, I got pretty jaded and bitter. No missing limbs, more than one change of clothing, shelters aplenty... I just couldn't muster up sympathy anymore for them, not after what I saw in Thailand (and have seen in every other developing country I've been to, since then). I know it sounds harsh, but American homeless people just don't cut it, in my book. There are way too many resources out there, compared to being poor/homeless in most other countries in the world. The only exception I can think of would be mentally disabled homeless, especially if they are veterans... but it's hard to know which ones those are. So I generally just don't give, in Western countries.
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And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran
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