There is not much we can do. The poor will always be with us. I have been approched by probably thousands of beggars at this point. Only a couple really bothered me. For the rest a "Sorry, I haven't got any change" will usually do.
However I was walking down E. Warren last month after unsucessfully trying to go to My Sisters & Me, which was closed, when a very loud and aggressive begger crossed the street and started following us, yelling at us to stop. I said that I didn't want to talk to him, and he became extremely angry and more aggressive, yelling threats and approching faster. I was with my friend from the suburbs and I myself felt very threatened; she is very skittish and naive and I imagine she was terrified. I was embarassed afterwards and felt bad. If I had a weapon I wouldn't have hesitated to take care of him, and it would have been justified. That is the kind of thing that needs to stop. If the police actually came or cared I would have called them, but outside of that and fucking him up there was little I could do. It made me feel helpless. Hopefully he yells at the wrong person and gets whats coming to him, since that is how things work in this town. That is the only time I've really wanted to do away with beggers.
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