When you hear this phrase, what do you imagine the person does as a profession ?
Comments (5)
al_borland · 3h ago
I assume they work to optimize their panhandling profits. A/B testing various looks, locations, signs, and other tactics to get the most money out of people walking by.
fuzzfactor · 2h ago
There's always the guy in a choice spot who only gets up off his wheelchair after he collects enough money to walk a few blocks and get him some liquor.
My truck is old, damaged, unwashed (and seldom driven), so the traffic light beggars mostly self-deny since mine is usually the ugliest vehicle at the light.
Earlier this year it was a holiday weekend, IIRC maybe Easter and it might have been the Saturday afternoon after Good Friday. I pull up and recognize the guy in the median from a few times earlier, but this time I'm going to turn left, and pulled up to the red light first in line with the dude right next to me. There's about half a dozen other cars he approaches, and comes back while the light is still red. With the looks of my truck people figure I couldn't afford a better vehicle and I don't blame them. He says "Well I'm doing pretty good today but not like yesterday, that was $900.00".
No way he was lying to me at that time, he was prouly sharing news of his good fortune that he would never tell anyone else.
That was one choice spot.
al_borland · 1h ago
So if $900 is a good day, maybe we can assume $500 is average. That’s a 6 figure job.
I hear about this kind of this semi-regularly. It’s crazy to me that simply asking people for money can put someone in the top ~20% of earners. He probably made more than most people giving him money. It throws the incentives all out of whack for being a productive member of society.
OhMeadhbh · 6h ago
I assume they work in the United States, so their day job (engineering of some sort) only pays health insurance and stock options. To get cash for day-to-day expenses, they pull a shift pan-handling outside the local bank. So a "panhandling engineer" is an engineer who panhandle, not a person who specializes in engineering panhandling solutions.
My truck is old, damaged, unwashed (and seldom driven), so the traffic light beggars mostly self-deny since mine is usually the ugliest vehicle at the light.
Earlier this year it was a holiday weekend, IIRC maybe Easter and it might have been the Saturday afternoon after Good Friday. I pull up and recognize the guy in the median from a few times earlier, but this time I'm going to turn left, and pulled up to the red light first in line with the dude right next to me. There's about half a dozen other cars he approaches, and comes back while the light is still red. With the looks of my truck people figure I couldn't afford a better vehicle and I don't blame them. He says "Well I'm doing pretty good today but not like yesterday, that was $900.00".
No way he was lying to me at that time, he was prouly sharing news of his good fortune that he would never tell anyone else.
That was one choice spot.
I hear about this kind of this semi-regularly. It’s crazy to me that simply asking people for money can put someone in the top ~20% of earners. He probably made more than most people giving him money. It throws the incentives all out of whack for being a productive member of society.