People going car to car begging for money

StephenHendry

the 'hunchback' beggar, a roma used to be a fairly regular beggar on dame street and georges street but i haven't seem him in ages, the best is to ignore them. there is one guy with a northern irish accent who sits on a bag every morning at the ha'penny bridge, lots of people give him change and i've seen people buy him coffee alot as well. the beggars that go up to cars take a lot of risks, i've seen some standing in front of cars at junctions , there's no limit to what they'll do

Larbre34

1) Pick your charities to support, for whatever personal reason you have

2) Give what you can of your money or time to them

3) Never ever let yourself be guilt tripped or pressured into further charity donations or giving to chancers or scroungers in any circumstances. The reason it still goes on is because its lucrative


The OH was watching a doco the other night presented by the cute wan who's married to Chris O'Dowd, it was about all aspects of online dating and meeting, she spoke to one poor lonely older woman who was conned out of Stg £85,000 by an email suitor who she 'loved' but never once spoke to on the phone or met in person.

There is one born every minute, make sure youre the other one.

Larbre34

hollypink wrote: »

I used to be so intimidated by the guys washing windscreens at the lights at the top of the exit slip from the M50 to the N7. I assumed they were Roma but maybe I was wrong. I never gave them money or opened my window but I used to dread seeing them there because they used to go around both sides of the car so I sort of felt surrounded. It was great when the junction became free flow so you didn't have to stop. I still see the odd person begging at Newlands Cross but it's always been just one person rather than a group so it's not as bad.

Construction is beginning now on removing the Newlands Cross junction, so thatll be the end of him as well!

wandatowell

Larbre34 wrote: »

1) Pick your charities to support, for whatever personal reason you have

2) Give what you can of your money or time to them

3) Never ever let yourself be guilt tripped or pressured into further charity donations or giving to chancers or scroungers in any circumstances.

1) Spot on.

2) Spot on.

3) Spot on.

mcmoustache

HurtLocker wrote: »

Either take my word for it or report me for rascism. This is an online forum not a court room. I did find out they were Romanians. That's why I said "they were Romanians".

Edit: I had a whole line dedicated clearing up the assumption that I was guessing.

Roma != Romanian

While it's true that some Roma come from Romania, a lot of them also come from Hungary, former Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, France, Italy; all over europe in fact.

I have seen plenty of Roma begging but I've seen very few Romanians doing the same. I would bet on your mother's life that what you saw were Roma.

I know that the two words look the same but that's no excuse to be confused. One word is clearly longer than the other.

Romanians look more or less like ourselves except that they have better tans. The ones you see here are generally well-educated and work in skilled or professional jobs. They dress like we do and it would be impossible to pick one out of a crowd of 10 random europeans. They speak Romanian which is like Italian with a hint of Polish.

Roma, on the other hand, are more like pale Dhalit Indians with gold teeth. The women wear long flowing dresses which they accessorise with gold and babies. The men, depending on status, wear a hat and/or moustache but some wear crutches or missing/deformed legs. Different Roma people speak variations of a kind of Indo-Aryan language which sounds a bit whiney when they speak to non-roma but most importantly, it doesn't sound anything like Romanian.

With all that in mind, can you tell me now that you are certain that these were definitely Romanian?

EDIT: I just saw your post up above explaining that they told you they were Romanian. Nevermind.

The point still stands about describing them as Romanian, however. While Romania contains most Roma, it only has around a quarter of the population. Most Roma are not Romanian.

endacl

Plazaman wrote: »

Forgery? Illegal? Sure not at all, tis only a bit of craic Guard...... woah, what's with the handcuffs ya kinky son of a.......gweesy with that baton, you'll have someones eye owwwwww............

Having said that, great idea, I'll keep one or two handy in the watch pocket of the jeans and pray I don't get blitzed drunk and try to use them.

It's not a watch pocket. It's a johnny pocket.

Yawns

endacl wrote: »

It's not a watch pocket. It's a johnny pocket.

My johnny is too big to fit in that pocket!

HurtLocker

HurtLocker wrote: »

God dammit some people wake up in the morning just to take offence to something.

Nah, nobody is offended. It's just pretty common to see people make the mistake

You could always use this South African accessory to solve the problem!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDrzMGdYWZc

rubadub

Clutchkick wrote: »

My first experience with this was in the McDonalds car park in Waterford about two years ago....

The latest was earlier tonight; again it was in McDonald’s car park in Waterford.

I was in McDonalds and asked if I wanted to donate a euro, or maybe 2 euro to some childrens charity by the person serving me. I didn't see them doing it to anybody else, could have been since I handed in a 50 note and they might be under orders. The server seemed possibly embarrassed or awkward about doing it, like they way they used to have to ask "do you want fries with that", when they knew fine well you probably didn't.

I doubt the server got any take of the profits, like normal chuggers would, who would be more enthusiastic about their loophole begging.

They had charity cookies at the counter too, she wasn't offering me them or anything.

jay1988

Had an oul wan come up to me at a bus stop in Coolock this morning and asked me had I 'a euro for the bingo', when I told her I only had change for the bus she turned to my gf and asked her could she have a sup of her coffe coz she was thirsty :-/

TheLastMohican

True story. Years ago I was tapped by a fine strapping young girl at Kings Cross Station, London. She hadn't enough money to buy a ticket to get home to Basildon in Essex. I gave her a fiver and she thanked me. About a year later I was tapped again by the same girl, same story buy I said NO. Two years later as I got of a train from Luton, the same girl, same story scenario. I decided to have a tea and cake at the cafeteria and watch her modus operandi. She got money from, maybe, 5% of those asked and just as she pocketed it went straight to the next target. When I had finished I approached her, "Jasus, you must be going to Basildon via first class round-the-world". She then pointed to a young man sitting askew at the corner of a seat:"He's my boyfriend and he needs eighty quid a day to stop the shakes." The last few lines are probably true as he looked a bit out of it. This girl had sparkling eyes, good skin, nice hair and I would say was not a junkie herself. Is it possible that she could find herself in that position because of love/obsession/delusion?

No Pants

Keep the windows rolled up and the doors locked. If you can't manage that, question then or make fun. Ask why they brought a van load of someone else's kids with them in the van if they were planning to sell the van. Ask how they were planning to get home once the van was sold.

super_furry

They're clearly doing it so they can save up for a car.

the_syco

HurtLocker wrote: »

*before people accuse me of rascism they were actually Romanian.

I doubt it. They were probably Roma. They're hated more in Romania than we hate the travellers here in Ireland!

TheLastMohican wrote: »

"He's my boyfriend and he needs eighty quid a day to stop the shakes."

I'd say pimp would be a more likely word, and she probably did it out of fear.

AK333

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

There used to be a one legged Romanian girl at Newlands Cross scabbing

She gets around - was in Clonmel at one stage. This one had a fake leg which she would take off, hide it and then beg and then when she was leaving in the evening, she would put the leg back on and walk off

trashcan

StephenHendry wrote: »

there is one guy with a northern irish accent who sits on a bag every morning at the ha'penny bridge, lots of people give him change and i've seen people buy him coffee alot as well.

Yeah I've seen him. He's there practically every morning. Can't figure him out. He looks fit and healthy enough, not like a junkie or you typical begger. There's another young lad who sits on the bridge, he's foreign, have seen him a couple of times now on his mobile phone. Must be the Celtic Tiger aftermath, Even the beggers have gone upmarket.

paulbok

Wasn't there a law passed / proposed this week that bans collecting money in traffic (legit charity or not)?
Won't make a bit of difference to the chancers though.

Too Tough To Die

Homeless guy in a wheelchair i helped up onto the foothpath from the road before. I walk past him most days and he gives me a hello so i throw him a few pence every sunday but on wednesday the cheeky bastard put the hand out instead of giving me the standard wave. No few pence for him this sunday. Not sure where me and him go from here, bit nervous about it to be honest, but i feel i have to make a stand.

niallo27

There used to be a fella out by Ivans shop in limerick who had some kind of foot for a hand and a hand for a foot, he was ****ed up anyway, this foot thing would scrap across your window screen with a cloth on it. Scary ****.

darlett

niallo27 wrote: »

There used to be a fella out by Ivans shop in limerick who had some kind of foot for a hand and a hand for a foot, he was ****ed up anyway, this foot thing would scrap across your window screen with a cloth on it. Scary ****.

I believe that was Mr. McGreg


Embarrassingly enough for myself I certainly got scammed last week in a similar method to the OP. As I parked in Aldi carpark in Cavan a car with a ginger haired chap parked up beside me and beckoned me my window. I did which goes down as a first mistake in any cynics book, but lifes too short to completely blank the world. He gave me a spiel, his wife was in Dublin in hospital with his newborn and he couldnt get his bank card until tomorrow for some random reason and didnt have the cash to pay for the petrol to pay the journey. He would get the money back to me, post it whatever. He even said he'd pray for me. All I actually had in cash was a tenner. Reader, I gave it to him. What swung it for him has his accent. It was a cross between a 'Hey Boss' and somewhat strangely perhaps a hard-of-hearing speaker who cant actually hear the tone or even sound of their own voice, which made me sorry for him. On the balance of probabilities I felt it was bull**** but lest there be a small chance that it was true I didn't want to not help. And I had NCT the next day so I hoped the good chi would help (and it did ).

That I have helped continue a vicious cycle is true, and I apologise for being muggins. Its only the OPs post which makes me realise officially that I was a muggins-I'd never come across this method before. Next time it happens I shall step on this bug.

UCDVet

Clutchkick wrote: »

(Not really sure if this is the right place)..My first experience with this was in the McDonalds car park in Waterford about two years ago. I was with a mate waiting to have food brought out to us that we just ordered from the drive through, a traveller got out of a car that had just came into the car park and made a b-line for us. He had a big sob story about how his mother was in hospital and was very sick, he hadn’t a penny to his name, he didn’t eat anything since the previous day, he wouldn’t ask if he wasn’t desperate and would we find it in the kindness of our hearts to give him something to buy a burger with. We gave him the loose change we had from our order, just so he’d go away.

The second time something like this happened was about a year ago in a filling station. I had just got into the car after filling up when a man came over with his hand outstretched. He was all flattery, ”Jesus it’s a lovely car, I’d say ya paid a fortune for it etc.” then he spotted my iPhone “It’s a lovely phone, I’d love one of them but I could never afford it”, after about 10 minutes of flattery the sob story came. “ I came all the way from Clare, I was supposed to meet up with someone to sell him the van but the fecker never showed up, I have a crowd of children with me that I was supposed to bring to a party and I haven’t a cent to me name, would ya give me something to put into the van to get us home, there’s not a scrap of diesel in it, me wife’s over in the van, she’s crying her eyes out, she’s absolutely devastated , there not even my kids, I was supposed to bring them to a party” and on and on he went repeating himself again and again in one big sentence. Then he went on swearing he’d give it back, he’d post it on to me, he’ll give me his number, take the reg of the van, here’s me licence. I threw €15 down by the gear stick when I got into the car and of course he spotted it so I couldn’t use the I haven’t a penny excuse, I gave it to him and he had the cheek to ask if I had anything else to give him, I just wanted him to **** off without stabbing me more than anything.

The latest was earlier tonight; again it was in McDonald’s car park in Waterford. A traveller came up to the car and knocked on the window, I opened the window and the hand came straight in, I shook his hand and then of course the sob story came “I came all the way from Gorey, I was supposed to sell the car to someone but he never showed up, me wife’s over in the car, I have a daughter in the back, she’s very sick with bronchitis, would you spare me a few pound for two gallon of petrol to get us home” this time I said to myself not again and told him I hadn’t a penny on me, my friend gave him €4 that he had in his pocket.

Has anyone ever had any experience with this sort of thing, it’s the kind of thing that if you told anyone the immediate response would be “oh if that was me” but we’ve all heard of people getting stabbed over stupid things like a phone and you just don’t know what kind of stunt they could try to pull if you refused them. I don’t mean to sound discriminant towards travellers but this is just from my experience.

Why do people keep begging?
Because people keep giving them money!

Forget minimum wage - I know office workers who don't make so much money. No boss, flexible hours, a good wage and no taxes.

UCDVet

TheLastMohican wrote: »

True story. Years ago I was tapped by a fine strapping young girl at Kings Cross Station, London. She hadn't enough money to buy a ticket to get home to Basildon in Essex. I gave her a fiver and she thanked me. About a year later I was tapped again by the same girl, same story buy I said NO. Two years later as I got of a train from Luton, the same girl, same story scenario. I decided to have a tea and cake at the cafeteria and watch her modus operandi. She got money from, maybe, 5% of those asked and just as she pocketed it went straight to the next target. When I had finished I approached her, "Jasus, you must be going to Basildon via first class round-the-world". She then pointed to a young man sitting askew at the corner of a seat:"He's my boyfriend and he needs eighty quid a day to stop the shakes." The last few lines are probably true as he looked a bit out of it. This girl had sparkling eyes, good skin, nice hair and I would say was not a junkie herself. Is it possible that she could find herself in that position because of love/obsession/delusion?

The problem with professional liars is that you can't trust them....

PizzamanIRL

It's the fake beggars that give the truly homeless and broke people a bad name who could actually do with a few euro. People don't know if they're giving money to a con artist or not.

Oranage2

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

It's the fake beggars that give the truly homeless and broke people a bad name who could actually do with a few euro. People don't know if they're giving money to a con artist or not.

Id be very surprised if there were genuine cases in Ireland of people needing money to survive, and if if a person did get into such a bad state then cash isn't going to help him/her.

wicklowstevo

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

There used to be a one legged Romanian girl at Newlands Cross scabbing

she used to be working in limerick . and she was one nasty piece of scum, spitting at people who wouldn't give her cash and getting arrested constantly for intimidating and robbing from old people ,

wicklowstevo

that approaching people in a car park or forecourt is a gig a gang of members of the mobile minority from Waterford have been using for years , doesn't seem like much but you'd be surprised how much they can make over a few hours targeting the right people, they were up in Wicklow a few years ago in the rathnew area, last I saw them they were parked in ferrybank Waterford with three or four 131 Toyotas,

sunnysoutheast

wicklowstevo wrote: »

that approaching people in a car park or forecourt is a gig a gang of members of the mobile minority from Waterford have been using for years , doesn't seem like much but you'd be surprised how much they can make over a few hours targeting the right people, they were up in Wicklow a few years ago in the rathnew area, last I saw them they were parked in ferrybank Waterford with three or four 131 Toyotas,

A favourite spot for this used to be the service station opposite the people's park. There was a thread on it on the Waterford forum a while back.

Not only do you get the request for a tenner of fuel with some bullsh1t reason any valuables left in an unlocked car will go walkabout. I was offered a plasma TV from the back of a van there a few years ago, I declined as I didn't think they would honour the warranty.

JustAThought

What annoys me is that aggressive begging on roads, in traffic, following women down streets in twos with hands out begging as they walk backwards is all OK by the gaurds ; as is standing alongside People Withdrawing money from aTM's... but try shaking a
Bucket for a cancer charity & the gaurds will harass you off the street.

Twisted system.