Antone's Nightclub
'Panhandling Horror Story'
RECEIVED Tue., Oct. 13, 2009
Dear Editor,
Almost anyone who's lived in Austin for a while can give you a "panhandling horror story." One time my fiancé gave a "spare-changer" $20 when he accosted us on Congress Avenue. The very next day, the same man approached us again and ended up screaming obscenities at my fiancé when he declined to give the man any more cash. I have seen the men and women (with and without squeegees) who step in front of cars at stoplights, tap on windows, and invade my personal space when I'm walking down the street. I'm not writing about those people.
There's a difference between them and the people who stand unobtrusively on a street corner with a sign, trying to make a living. If you want to give to them, you can. If you don't, you won't. I have known several of them personally; one of them was my dad. Usually these are people who do receive some sort of subsidized income (through Social Security, etc.), but it's not enough to cover their living expenses. They are usually disabled and/or elderly. Some (by no means all) are addicts in various stages of recovery.
It is not an easy life. Nobody is getting a "free ride" by standing under an overpass, holding a sign in the heat, cold, and rain, being spit on/yelled at/having strange and disgusting things thrown at them, and having people like Mr. Tillotson [“Postmarks,” Oct. 2] randomly calling the police on them. Panhandlers are not all the same; they're not all breaking the law. Some of them are simply trying to make a living.
Almost anyone who's lived in Austin for a while can give you a "panhandling horror story." One time my fiancé gave a "spare-changer" $20 when he accosted us on Congress Avenue. The very next day, the same man approached us again and ended up screaming obscenities at my fiancé when he declined to give the man any more cash. I have seen the men and women (with and without squeegees) who step in front of cars at stoplights, tap on windows, and invade my personal space when I'm walking down the street. I'm not writing about those people.
There's a difference between them and the people who stand unobtrusively on a street corner with a sign, trying to make a living. If you want to give to them, you can. If you don't, you won't. I have known several of them personally; one of them was my dad. Usually these are people who do receive some sort of subsidized income (through Social Security, etc.), but it's not enough to cover their living expenses. They are usually disabled and/or elderly. Some (by no means all) are addicts in various stages of recovery.
It is not an easy life. Nobody is getting a "free ride" by standing under an overpass, holding a sign in the heat, cold, and rain, being spit on/yelled at/having strange and disgusting things thrown at them, and having people like Mr. Tillotson [“Postmarks,” Oct. 2] randomly calling the police on them. Panhandlers are not all the same; they're not all breaking the law. Some of them are simply trying to make a living.
Andi McDermott