Can You Beg Better?
So last night I didn’t have enough change for the bus (last night caries another story which I will share some other time, this is just one slice of the night), so I asked if anybody had change for a five sadly, they didn’t. But then it was kinda cool because the people at the stop rallied together and gave me about a buck fifty (actually I have no idea how much but it was between one and two dollars).
At the time I thought nothing of it besides of course being thankful.
This morning it hit me, had I been homeless and asked for money I would have been given the boot, or worse because I think asking for money at the bus stop counts as aggressive panhandling in Vancouver. But I wasn’t homeless I was a (mostly) respectable person who needed some change, the people who gave me the money could identify with my situation, rather than sympathy, they can have empathy, because “we’ve all been there”.
So what can be gathered from this well it’s a lesson in better begging, but first lets analogize.
We’ve all heard of stories where rich people would go and pretend to be homeless and beg for a living well I propose a reversal. Homeless people should pretend to be homefull (I do love the perks of running a dictionary).
Because you see we, or at least I am much more willing to give to someone who is like me. I have been in situations where I didn’t have change or something, lost my wallet maybe, all things we can identify with. Again the keyword, ‘identify’ because I don’t know what it’s like to need drug money, do I’ve had no bus fare and it really means a lot when someone helps me out.
I guess what I’ve just done is describe how to rape the goodwill of society.
So what is my call to action of you, well that depends:
If you want to make a buck, put on a suit, and go asking saying things like “bus fare” or “lost wallet”, and remember bus fare is pretty expensive sometimes you could make 5 dollars in one bus fare run. It’s key not look like a beggar, you must be stressed out, with an “oh no, what am I going to do” look on your face.
If you just want to help out some homeless people that spread the word about this superior begging technique, maybe buy a homeless guy a suit and shower so he can partake.
Site note: this would work really well in high tourism countries, the people begging there could pretend to be tourists who lost there wallet and they would surely net even more.