Pan Handle

Yesterday a man on University Avenue asked me for spare change for a coffee. I handed him a loonie and said “that probably won’t get you a coffee”. He agreed. So I said “take this instead”, handing him a toonie, expecting to get the loonie back. He thanked me and walked away with $3.

There is a lot of pan handling going on these days. I’ll stop short from calling it a problem but it is a nuisance. I get hit up a few times a day when I am back and forth on Kent Street. I’m not out much money, though, because I rarely have change for myself.

I’m never impressed by the guys outside liquor stores requesting a “quarter for a cup of coffee”.
Yeah, right. Why aren’t you standing outside a coffee place, then?

I had a girl/young ‘lady’ (nothing lady-like about her, I’m sorry to say…) come to my door and beg for money!! That’s just pushing the envelope a little too far.
I gave her change the first time (she asked, very specifically, for $2.50 to be able to buy her schizophrenia medication at Shoppers! I offered to take her to the ER where she could be treated for free, an offer she declined… Wonder why?), the next time she asked for $2.50 for coffee. This time I told her that I didn’t have any money and that I wasn’t comfortable with her showing up at my doorstep begging for money. Would she please not do that again.

People panhandle outside liquor stores more because they have better luck there than because they fancy the wares inside. There are a number of “regular” panhandlers and ad-hoc buskers (including straight-edge kids) who frequent the liquor stores in my area, and who often remain until closing. Perhaps people walking out with a case of beer or a bottle of wine are just more generous than mid-day latte sippers.