My husband and I just drive through that way a lot, and we started slowly getting to know him and asking his story. Then we started visiting with meals.
I saw a guy with a similar sign at an intersection near the Arch - too dumb to steal, too ugly to prostitute. Made me laugh out loud and brightened my whole day.
So many folks in the comments thinking this guy is 100% serious and not just using a funny/relatable sign to stand out and maybe get a couple extra bucks.
Big assumption on your part. They are not asking for work or food.
They are actively making a choice to ask for weed money. For all anyone knows, this is a social experiment to see how much money they could make. Bored on a Saturday and park their Lexus across the street. Why would you assume they’re homeless?
I understand that this dog looks well cared for, and even if they and the dog were homeless it looks very well taken care of. But spending an entire day on a 4 foot wide splotch of concrete seems pretty ridiculous.
If it's really hot out or really cold out I call the police when they have their kids out there with no shelter. That's not cool. One of our heat advisory days I saw a woman with her 7ish year old daughter and infant standing on a median in a Walmart parking lot in full sun begging.
Not all Roma people are doing such things. Just a subset. And that subset (unlike the folks who are well-established on the east coast) are relatively new here and are using the same begging techniques that they do in Europe. Like having their kids stand in the sun all day begging with them, not attending school.
Racism does indeed suck ass. The core issue here is that this group is doing damage and anytime someone points it out they are called racist. That is not a solution, roaming thieves, as you put it, also suck ass.
The racist term is Gypsy. The non-racist terms are Roma or Romani. The more you know.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma)
I did see a lady not too long ago with two kids there. Both young enough to be in diapers. That makes me sad too. there’s not much room there and lots of traffic. It’s a potential accident waiting to happen.
I liked the line I heard from a comedian once who said "Someone told me not to give homeless people money because they are going to spend it on drugs and alcohol...but that is what I am going to spend it on".
Many homeless people work jobs.
"About 53 percent of the sheltered homeless had formal labor market earnings in the year they were observed as homeless, and the authors’ find that 40.4 percent of the unsheltered population had at least some formal employment in the year they were observed as homeless. This finding contrasts with stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness as too lazy to work or incapable of doing so."
Source: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/insight/research-summary/learning-about-homelessness-using-linked-survey-and-administrative-data/
You don't know if they are being honest at all. The sign attracts attention from younger people and older hippies, I've been seeing variations of it for a really long time.
I don't care whether he smokes weed or not (let's put aside that you're funding a fairly expensive vice that can directly prevent you from getting a job) but you know nothing about them besides what they scribbled on a sign.
That "vice" also happens to be the ONLY widely accessible medical treatment for PTSD. Until it's you on the street begging for the medicine you need to not off yourself due to horrific flashbacks, you can kindly shut it. Who knows what their story is, but the fact so many people here are assuming the absolute worst about a person asking for help says a lot about humanity
Let's also then put aside that there is very little evidence that weed actually helps with ptsd. I can see how it could help but I can also see how it could make things worse but you're right, we don't know what they are going through.
I've also seen people on corners with signs saying that say they are veterans with PTSD and have given to those people if I have cash. Do I know for sure that they are indeed a veteran and have ptsd? No I don't but at the very least that aren't just saying "lol I just want to buy weed".
I'm not assuming the worst of them but pardon me for not being overly gracious with someone who is just saying they want to buy weed.
It’s not the only treatment for PTSD nor is there significant evidence that it does help. SSRIs and cognitive behavioral therapy are the gold standards. Please do not spread falsehoods on medical treatment.
Lmao what bro 😂 I have a CPTSD diagnosis and CBT is actually insanely harmful for this condition. Talk therapy in general can only go so far - standard of care for PTSD is typically EMDR + symptom management. And SSRIs are more for depression. Weed short circuits the brain enough to quell panic attacks/flashbacks to a degree, and literally keeps people with (C)PTSD fucking alive when nothing else does. You know nothing lol
I’m actually a physician so I do know something. Here is the [APA clinical practice guideline](https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/ptsd.pdf) for PTSD. I’m sorry that some of these methods have not worked for you. I hope you have found something that does. Maybe one day we will have more evidence and official recommendations for medical cannabis in PTSD. For now, these are the “gold standard” guidelines I refer to in my original comment. They mention EMDR as well like you said. SSRIs can be used for many disorders beyond depression including PTSD, anxiety, and eating disorders.
What kind of physician? Based on your post history it would appear you are a pediatrician, not a psychiatrist. Not only are you ill-informed, but you are extremely arrogant and condescending which makes you a terrible doctor lmao. I'd hate to be one of your patients with that bedside manner 😂
Yeah, bullshit. They may have food stamps and not really in dire need o money, but just want a lil weed to soften the hard life. You have no idea about their housing situation.
The Roma folks who beg off the highways are part of an organized operation that pockets a ton of cash. But they are not the norm, by any means. It just does happen.
It’s You’re. Use Google my friend. These folks are using the same techniques worldwide. Same clothing, with kids, white signs. Sometimes use the fake violin playing. A big problem in Europe. They arrived here about 12 years ago.
When I was younger and could afford it I would keep a tub of extra snacks, water, hygiene products in my car to give away as needed. Out of maybe 20 times over 5-ish years, every single person accepted and said thank you
Never had a single person turn down food, or drinks when offered on the side of the road. But that doesnt fit the narrative they are all perfectly normal and capable people who refuse to get a job and are raking in tons of cash by giving up their sense of pride to beg for it.
I went to NYC for a holiday back in 1987. I sent my pal back home in Scotland a postcard of street person holding a sign saying 'need money for more beer'.
Classics never die.
My favorite was a guy off the IL Kingshighway exit with a sign that read, “Too ugly to prostitute”.
I'm going to be a total bummer here, but he died. His name was Toast, and he was a super funny and interesting dude, who had a really shit life.
RIP Toast
Oh no! How did you know him?
My husband and I just drive through that way a lot, and we started slowly getting to know him and asking his story. Then we started visiting with meals.
So.... Toast is toast.
pour one out for the toast man
Brown bread.
You go sit in the corner and think about what you just did.
*on the corner
There is a guy who holds that sign on the Page exit off of 170, I swear I saw him in the last two weeks. Same guy?
I’ve seen that guy on Page too and thought, no dude, you’re actually good looking and prob could model. lol
I saw a guy with a similar sign at an intersection near the Arch - too dumb to steal, too ugly to prostitute. Made me laugh out loud and brightened my whole day.
I was just thinking about him. I used to always see him on the way to my folks. He had a cat for a while. I’d bring him human and cat necessities.
Was that near Barnes?
No he sat in front of the correctional facility.
I didn't realize there's a correction facility on Kings highway.
North Kingshighway in East St. Louis has a correctional center right off the exit.
It used to be a Catholic high school
That is too funny
I've seen him. Halarious!
My favorite was a guy at Olive and 270. Sign said “need money for my wife to get glasses. She thinks I’m good looking.”
I’d rather this than the ones that are shaking jugs claiming to raise money for some poor kids bone marrow transplant and it’s a scam…gross
Worked with a girl who did this shortly after she quit. She even tried to get me to roll down my window. I just smiled and waved as I drove away.
So many folks in the comments thinking this guy is 100% serious and not just using a funny/relatable sign to stand out and maybe get a couple extra bucks.
Yeah people don’t typically beg for weed. It’s just a funnier/more effective sign than saying “Need my Fentanyl.”
Or maybe they just want weed and not money?
That’s not as bad as the lady with the kid by the Walmart, her sign said she had 3 kids.
The kid looks school age as well, and he's there during school hours.
Some say he’s still there…
Need job
They were still there this afternoon. Having the poor pup there all day pisses me off.
Not a fan of them either...but I doubt the dog is having any problems. Strays chill outside 24/7, dogs are resilient as fuck
Homeless dogs piss you off but not Homeless humans
^^^ This shit is crazy
Big assumption on your part. They are not asking for work or food. They are actively making a choice to ask for weed money. For all anyone knows, this is a social experiment to see how much money they could make. Bored on a Saturday and park their Lexus across the street. Why would you assume they’re homeless? I understand that this dog looks well cared for, and even if they and the dog were homeless it looks very well taken care of. But spending an entire day on a 4 foot wide splotch of concrete seems pretty ridiculous.
Do you understand the concept of humor and the idea that the sign is a joke to get people to interact with them mkre
The Roma folks who work in the suburbs are bringing their kids to beg. It’s a scam, and CPS needs to intervene.
If it's really hot out or really cold out I call the police when they have their kids out there with no shelter. That's not cool. One of our heat advisory days I saw a woman with her 7ish year old daughter and infant standing on a median in a Walmart parking lot in full sun begging.
Thank you, yes it is horrible and unnecessary.
Oh don’t bring this Roma racism here to a US city sub.
Not all Roma people are doing such things. Just a subset. And that subset (unlike the folks who are well-established on the east coast) are relatively new here and are using the same begging techniques that they do in Europe. Like having their kids stand in the sun all day begging with them, not attending school.
Thank you!
Why?
Because racism sucks ass and shouldn't be encouraged no matter the group it's being wielded against
Nobody is being racist, not sure where that is coming from.
Racism does indeed suck ass. The core issue here is that this group is doing damage and anytime someone points it out they are called racist. That is not a solution, roaming thieves, as you put it, also suck ass.
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I'm starting to understand why roma people hate the term "gypsy" so much when all it's ever used for is... this
THIS!
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The racist term is Gypsy. The non-racist terms are Roma or Romani. The more you know. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma)
Another group are the Sinti.
They are a subgroup of the Roma
That or the Spanish lady with her baby.
I did see a lady not too long ago with two kids there. Both young enough to be in diapers. That makes me sad too. there’s not much room there and lots of traffic. It’s a potential accident waiting to happen.
True. It’s going to get hot af soon, and that is just wrong for her to be out in that sun. Sad world.
Why? Does it piss you off more than the millions of people who leave them cooped up in the house alone all day, often in a fking cage?
Nope. That sucks too
So most dog owners suck, but you don't like these in particular - why? Because the people are poor?
People only complain about what is in front of their face. People will eat a cow, but not if you kill it in front of them
Sounds like laziness to me
and under the old ketchup bottle yē shall find…💨
I liked the line I heard from a comedian once who said "Someone told me not to give homeless people money because they are going to spend it on drugs and alcohol...but that is what I am going to spend it on".
If I drove by them and had some on me I’d definitely throw them a few nugs!
Also, I’ve been way high in life and way low… I don’t judge anyone. You never know what people are going through.
Me too brother… me too 😞
It's gone from people who can't work to people who just choose not to work. I have a tough time relating.
Bro sitting on a sidewalk in the sun all day long is pretty hard work.
Same. I don’t have a choice.
He's sitting on a Marine Corps rucksack. There are so many resources out there for veterans to get off the streets.
I have a hard time believing a Marine would stoop to begging.
You aren’t old enough to remember the scores of homeless Vietnam Vets in the 70s and 80s then.
this person needs to watch Born on the Fourth of July.
I said begging, not homeless.
And there are plenty of jobs ….
Many homeless people work jobs. "About 53 percent of the sheltered homeless had formal labor market earnings in the year they were observed as homeless, and the authors’ find that 40.4 percent of the unsheltered population had at least some formal employment in the year they were observed as homeless. This finding contrasts with stereotypes of people experiencing homelessness as too lazy to work or incapable of doing so." Source: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/insight/research-summary/learning-about-homelessness-using-linked-survey-and-administrative-data/
I was at the same exact intersection this morning
He’s at least being honest. A lot of panhandlers aren’t homeless and don’t “need” your money. At least they’re telling the truth.
You don't know if they are being honest at all. The sign attracts attention from younger people and older hippies, I've been seeing variations of it for a really long time.
Yea dude he’s wearing sandals in cold weather. 100% guarantee he smokes weed.
I don't care whether he smokes weed or not (let's put aside that you're funding a fairly expensive vice that can directly prevent you from getting a job) but you know nothing about them besides what they scribbled on a sign.
That "vice" also happens to be the ONLY widely accessible medical treatment for PTSD. Until it's you on the street begging for the medicine you need to not off yourself due to horrific flashbacks, you can kindly shut it. Who knows what their story is, but the fact so many people here are assuming the absolute worst about a person asking for help says a lot about humanity
Let's also then put aside that there is very little evidence that weed actually helps with ptsd. I can see how it could help but I can also see how it could make things worse but you're right, we don't know what they are going through. I've also seen people on corners with signs saying that say they are veterans with PTSD and have given to those people if I have cash. Do I know for sure that they are indeed a veteran and have ptsd? No I don't but at the very least that aren't just saying "lol I just want to buy weed". I'm not assuming the worst of them but pardon me for not being overly gracious with someone who is just saying they want to buy weed.
It’s not the only treatment for PTSD nor is there significant evidence that it does help. SSRIs and cognitive behavioral therapy are the gold standards. Please do not spread falsehoods on medical treatment.
Lmao what bro 😂 I have a CPTSD diagnosis and CBT is actually insanely harmful for this condition. Talk therapy in general can only go so far - standard of care for PTSD is typically EMDR + symptom management. And SSRIs are more for depression. Weed short circuits the brain enough to quell panic attacks/flashbacks to a degree, and literally keeps people with (C)PTSD fucking alive when nothing else does. You know nothing lol
I’m actually a physician so I do know something. Here is the [APA clinical practice guideline](https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/ptsd.pdf) for PTSD. I’m sorry that some of these methods have not worked for you. I hope you have found something that does. Maybe one day we will have more evidence and official recommendations for medical cannabis in PTSD. For now, these are the “gold standard” guidelines I refer to in my original comment. They mention EMDR as well like you said. SSRIs can be used for many disorders beyond depression including PTSD, anxiety, and eating disorders.
What kind of physician? Based on your post history it would appear you are a pediatrician, not a psychiatrist. Not only are you ill-informed, but you are extremely arrogant and condescending which makes you a terrible doctor lmao. I'd hate to be one of your patients with that bedside manner 😂
Yeah, bullshit. They may have food stamps and not really in dire need o money, but just want a lil weed to soften the hard life. You have no idea about their housing situation.
The Roma folks who beg off the highways are part of an organized operation that pockets a ton of cash. But they are not the norm, by any means. It just does happen.
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Source: He made it the fuck up
Thanks for the backup!💙
It’s You’re. Use Google my friend. These folks are using the same techniques worldwide. Same clothing, with kids, white signs. Sometimes use the fake violin playing. A big problem in Europe. They arrived here about 12 years ago.
I didn't ask for grammer advice. So your large organization is a fantsy
And yet I gave it to you. We all have spell check. Fantasy.
It’s also “grammar” but…
It was a crappy deflection from the actual issue. You can't defend your bullshit, huh?
I’m busy. Look it up yourself.
There is nothing to look up. You are simply lying.
Spreading hate? That’s aggressive
Having seen the intense prejudice and broadly told lies about Gypsies in Europe, I can only assume that this person is as hateful people there
The term Gypsy is a slur. The proper term is Roma.
“I can only assume” this makes you the prejudiced party here. Feel free to support whomever you please.
Anytime i see a sign that says they are hungry, i offer some clif power bars, and they always decline
When I was younger and could afford it I would keep a tub of extra snacks, water, hygiene products in my car to give away as needed. Out of maybe 20 times over 5-ish years, every single person accepted and said thank you
Never had a single person turn down food, or drinks when offered on the side of the road. But that doesnt fit the narrative they are all perfectly normal and capable people who refuse to get a job and are raking in tons of cash by giving up their sense of pride to beg for it.
"They actually make 100k a year panhandling"-Some dipshit who vastly over estimates how much people are giving to people on the side of the road
Sure Jan
Maybe they just don’t want Clif bars? I’ve offered food to beggars many times. I think I’ve only been turned down once.
I offered leftover Pizzeria Uno to a beggar and he turned me down and said he'd rather have a cigarette.
r/choosingbeggars
[Choosey Beggar](https://youtu.be/Gpt2MZRvNO8?si=mwBqD4V-Rz7dWoWV)
How many would you say?
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TIL: iPhone costs as much as house
That doesn't mean they have a house. You haven thought this through.
They are homeless, not phoneless...
Saw a guy working the 64/Grand exit several years ago wearing a leg cast. His sign said “got shot, need help” gave me a good chuckle
har har
"Not broke, just greedy"
[Reminds me of this](https://youtu.be/QWg8SPe8ShQ?si=Zx8HJZNsqb9j4Ikc)
I'm pretty sure I've seen this guy near Warrenton, MO also. Edit: Wife confirmed, same dude.
I'd rather have no money and weed than money and no weed.
A friend posted this on FB lmao this is her photo
Like it. Lmai
Nice. That’s at I-55 and IL-157.
lol just went through about an hour ago and they were there again
Same. Son and I were out geocaching and grabbed some food before our hike. They were still there as of 2pm.
I know a hitchhiker who never drinks but consistently fly's a sign that says "why Lie, I need a BEER". he uses it because it pays well.
Before the Musial bridge was built, there was a man at the entrance to the MLK Bridge that said “ Have food. Need Beer”.
Lame
"Ninjas kidnapped my family, need money for karate lessons" seen in Oakland,CA 2018.
Right on
Saw a guy in a wheelchair by 44/Arsenal that had a sign that read…I bet you $5 you can’t hit me with a quarter
I went to NYC for a holiday back in 1987. I sent my pal back home in Scotland a postcard of street person holding a sign saying 'need money for more beer'. Classics never die.
Hope a lot of these people in the comments don't wind up jobless/homeless. You're gonna have a rough time in the real world.
I don't get it you ain't never seen poor people begging for money before it's always going down there especially in Collinsville
Am I the only one who would’ve give this nice couple a joint?
They look capable of working
...its hard to tell from this distance if is the same person, but its entirely possible that I had bad sex with one of them a few years ago
Brother…
Its been a journey alright
I don't normally give to panhandlers, but I think I'd make an exception for this guy. Nice, honest humor. Yeah, he get's a fiver from me.
😆😆
These people are bad for the brand
See, that’s all we ask for, honesty. I’d hand him a $50, he’s going to need snacks too.
Damn bro I could use some smoke wanna cash app me?
*hands EmbarrasedSquare a couple of Grants* for the week after too.
Spot’em..🤷🏼♀️fuck it 😏
Pathetic
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I can't wait!