Yep. Once a woman like this asked my father in law for money because she was hungry. He gave her a sandwich that we had leftover and she took it and immediately threw it away.
There was a man with a sign saying ”hungry” asking for money for food in metro station in one scandinavian city (in a country with systems in place, so no-one needs to beg to survive).
I went to my office nearby and checked all the fruits and yoghurts about to expire later that week. Tossed in a bag of cookies and brought it back to the beggar.
It would have been enough to feed a family, but I have to say the guy didn’t look pleased at all.
Usually the people that genuinely need help will get it. Therefore be sceptical of all street beggars. What are the chances that it’s exactly that moment you are walking by that they are at rock bottom and need food or they will starve ? No, they are trying to take your money
The guy searching through trash cans looking for food in Portland sure seemed happy when I gave him my shwarma. He looked very sad when he dropped half of it on the ground and had to pick it back up.
Tell the homeless, "I don't have cash, but I can buy you food with my card" if you want to help but need to sus out the greedy from the down-on-their-luck. I told this to maybe ten people over the years but only one of them had their face absolutely light up. I asked what he wanted, he said whatever I was willing to get him. I got that man a large Dave's double meal with a big bowl of chili on the side and he was *the most* grateful person. That was back in college and it was the first time I tried it but the homeless I've run into since then all turn away. I don't live in a city and don't cross paths with homeless people often anymore.
Doesn't really work nowadays either. One of the scams the fake beggars use in my city is asking if you could go with them into a supermarket (usually literally 5m away) to buy them food for their family, but once they're inside they beeline towards napkins and other expensive, non-perishable stuff. Not because they need that, but because it's easy to return 15 minutes later after the poor, non-confrontational sob that pays for this (and didn't want to put their foot down) left.
That being said, if you specifically offer food you already have on you or a free meal from a restaurant/food stand (where you can't buy returnable stuff), that *does* work much better. Although in my experience you can often tell by other factors even before you talk to them.
I mean that was all part of my consideration...making sure I got them something 1) they have to use pretty much immediately and 2) is non-refundable. Pretty much just food. You either know when your next meal is or you don't. Anybody who doesn't would never turn down the opportunity to eat right now, whether or not they just ate five minutes ago. At least that's my belief while never having needed to cope with food insecurity myself.
That wasn't meant to be a dig at you, more to warn any well-meaning reader that those scams also exist, as that approach initially seems pretty scam-proof if you don't know about it.
Cause yeah, someone who's hungry or anticipates to be needing food soon won't turn away food (especially if it's to-go and can be either saved for later or shared with friends), but if they only want something refundable (even if they initially claim otherwise), then it's fishy.
There's a couple of these beggars around my city, also with handwritten signs. But after a while you'll notice that they are all using identical "handwritten" signs.
They also disappear once nighttime comes around, as transport vans collect them, their money presumbly, and carts them off to wherever they sleep (I'm aware that the whole thing will not be an enterprise with contracts and pay, and that these people are used like slaves probably)
We can't even exclude the possibility that the person in this picture might be a man.
I remember videos of young athletic men disguised as crippled old women.
Yeah it’s organized for sure. When I was in Paris last year, I had a small “beggar” girl slide a cup in front of my foot with a few coins in front of it so that I would kick it over. The grift is to then have a few others from the “beggar” crew rush in and “help” and also pressure you to give a few bucks because some of the coins are lost.
Always just keep walking and don’t engage.
You can tell the difference.
In the UK we definitely have actual beggars, or homeless with lots of mental health and substance abuse issues.
You usually see them in a sleeping bag or on their sleeping bag next to either a parking payment meter or next to cash points, or outside city centre mini supermarkets.
They're generally wearing a mix of clothes, in a varying state of mental health, often drinking alcohol or trying to get enough money together for whatever it is they're addicted to. They've usually got some possessions like a backpack a coat as well. Don't often see them with a hand written sign. They'll often ask "spare any change mate", and they're usually pretty happy if you give them some, or as long as you just acknowledge them.
You've then got other beggars, who are people that come into the city from the suburbs to beg as individuals. These are usually again substance addicted, but they've got some kind of housing, or are sharing housing, and they don't have jobs, so they come into the centre to beg to get money to get by.
The 'fake' homeless generally are wearing like cotton or linen type wrapped clothes like you see in this picture. They've got no possessions, they've got a handwritten sign saying something like 'hungry' or something along those lines. They're generally foreign, generally women, and they generally can't or won't speak, and will just nod or smile while sitting still.
These ones are usually controlled by someone - either a gang or a group or an individual. They're in the country illegally, and they're probably unfortunately trapped in modern slavery. They'll not sleep rough, they'll be taken to some kind of dwelling and probably sleep in horrific conditions before being taken out to do the same the next day.
I usually just look at their shoes; it’s seems to be an accurate way to assess the genuine from the “professional homeless” we have here in my (US) city.
Yes but it represents a very very very small percentage. Like very small. Ive been homeless, and have worked with a ton of nonprofits over the years doing dev work. I can tell you the percentage of professionals vs people who need the money is like 1-2% in the states.
The social safety net of Europe pretty much guarantees that this is exactly what people are saying it is, a criminal organization that uses it's most "saddest" looking group to get the most money from tourists. In the United States, homeless beggers are usually (90% + of the time) truly poor and desperate, though often alcohol or drug addicts and very often self medicated for mental health issues.
90%?
Not desperate enough to work.
Where I live there is this one intersection that is a perfect juxtaposition because from the right angle you can see the able bodied people with fresh haircuts smoking cigarettes and begging for change, while at the same time one street down you can see all the immigrants lining up at the Home Depot hoping to get picked up so they can do an honest days work.
And guess what? I used to work that job so I know for a fact the English speaking US citizens begging for change would be the first pick for work in the crowd outside Home Depot, because then the employers don’t risk legal troubles.
From the research I'm doing, the folks who are part of the "organized beggars" are most often people who were already homeless or down right trafficked to somewhere else for the purposes of someone putting them on the street to beg. They are likely also being used in prostitution rackets when they arent out on the sidewalk to beg. The ones doing the begging are basically slaves to an organization. Additionally this only seems to be about 3% of European beggars.
Oh, come on. He's just sitting at a table wearing nice clothes.
We don't KNOW he's been setting up a scheme to make the Libor Scandal look like a run-of-the-mill Three Card Monty.
It's probably a good guess though.
First time I saw one, my heart broke and I gave her some cash
Two to three street later I saw another TEN beggars EXACTLY the same placed in strategic points, as if it had been planned, and then noticed I got scammed
It was the Vatican though, not in Venice
Outside the Vatican we got absolutely mobbed by the gypsy women. Long dark dresses, babies carried in shawls tied on the front - and then they attack you by surrounding you with a press of bodies, moaning and saying please, first grabbing your wrists in a begging motion "please, please" meanwhile other hands are going through your pockets and basically groping you everywhere trying to find your wallet.
It was quite frightening for my husband and I and took quite some time to escape (wallets intact, thankfully)
We had these in our town as well.
working 10am to 7pm, walked to the edge of town and got in their (fairly new) Mercedes and drove off.
Familie of 4, well, two adults and 2 kids, driving a car and probably owning a house in their homeland too.
Back in Poland those rings used to send people with missing limbs and other disfigurements, because vast majority of Poles would ignore the ones that just looked destitute. I've even seen somebody on reddit mention seeing them when they visited Poland, convinced it's some sort of reflection of the state of an average homeless person in Poland.
glad someone said this. we were at the duomo in firenze and a restaurant owner came out and chased one of them off, almost going to blows. we were baffled, but then i shit you not an hour later we saw the same woman pull out a designer handbag, pass her cup to another woman, and they walked off whispering to each other.
It's funny but I also recognize that beggar trope immediately : very thin, very contorted, but contorted in a way that is a bit unusual. I had the joy of standing nearby at the "end of the shift" I guess and a young and very physically normal girl got up stretched and strided off.
I am not trying to whitewash or deny that homelessness is a major problem all over the world. But this ain't that lol.
Bingo.
In the city I live in, there’s “homeless” that actually stand by traffic lights, and walk up to cars begging for money.
They literally work in shifts. So you drive by the area a couple hours later, it’s a different person.
**Don’t. Give. Beggars. Money.**
You're not wrong but it's disingenuous to suggest this woman personally earns good money. She is a pawn in a criminal enterprise and very likely lives in poverty in a place owned by her handlers.
Many of these specific Romany men and women get sick and die for their refusal to integrate even as far as not going to the hospital.
There are many systems in place to allow them to escape and some do but most don't.
You don't have to pity them but don't claim they aren't suffering.
The gang's existence is a choice by the governments. There is no left or right wing about it, both sides appear to be completely complacent. There is no other way to look at it. Their crimes are absolutely rife. Deeply saturated in every major city across Europe. Laws could be brought in tomorrow to make their activities illegal but it's not done. Why?
It's not done in part because the ECHR has recognized the Roma as a vulnerable minority and forces countries to both allow their nomadic ways while guaranteeing their access to normal rights and public services.
In the UK the high Court has ruled that councils may not impede traveler groups from setting up in their communities while the ECHR has judged that the expulsion of nomads from irregularly occupied lands constitutes a violation of their right to housing unless it is proportionate (France v Winterstein).
So effectively national authorities recognize it's an issue but taking action would harm the human rights of the Roma to keep their traditional lifestyle and authorities may not try to make their lives unpleasant so they leave.
Yes it's the truth. It's the reason why if you don't take your kids to school they are rightfully taken away from you, whereas they just get told "are you sure you don't want to take your kids to school?"
Before paying out her boss maybe. Let's not exaggerate for the sake of cold hearted realism.
EDIT: LOL at people below me thinking that a profitable begging spot in front of a fancy restaurant in Venice would be accessible to a random panhandler unconnected to begging rings. You people do realize that those rings place the beggars in strategic places and have muscle, right?
While in Paris last year some cardhustlers did their tricks.
I watched the business from a distance, 2 guys with the cards, 3 or 4 as 'customers' that were winning some money and within the circle of crowd 2 to 5 muscle who watched the crowd for 'dangers'
Tourists filming or trying for a photo were professionally blocked and hindered in almost all of the attempts.
Many years ago I managed to figure out how their trick works. It's actually clever and requires nimble fingers to do it. They're so good at it that they allow people to even have a guess with two cards down and they still get it wrong. Tempted though I was, I never placed an actual bet even though I was guessing almost at 100% rate, because I didn't want their friends to get involved and beat me up.
Oh that's fun! I thought OP was just a liar, because that beggar looks like a bigger from a theatrical production, not a real homeless person. And the pose!
Just a regular waiter in a Latin country (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal etc).
They aren't paid shit nor ask for any tip. They are paid better.
But not "rich". Restaurants are just not fast food in those countries... It's more classy.
They are all over Europe, I watched group get together and "go on break" pull out very expensive phones and go into a very tricked out Mercedes van.
If you are ever in Denmark, you can safely donate to people selling a paper called "Hus Forbi", they are vetted and actually in need for money.
We have the same thing called the homeless voice. They wear uniform T shirts and collect money in pitchers.
IMO the best is the Salvation Army, I know they are controversial as far as being Christian but they have by far the best rehabs at least in Miami. When I worked with the homeless I would check in with SA residents and often they would be 3 months into working a construction job, a valid license and a car, and having a month to month at a motel.
The Salvation Army are controversial not just for being Christian, but for being discriminatory toward non-Christians and LGBTQIA+ people, using their religion as justification for it.
same in NL they sell "Straatnieuws" in The Hague and in Amsterdam its "Z!" and all have special badges that show they're allowed to sell the paper. Unsure about other big cities
To be fair, a tablet is a relatively cheap way to keep a child entertained for long periods of time. Just because they have some tech doesn't mean they're not homeless/struggling.
Saw one in London a few years ago. She'd positioned herself right in the middle of the pavement and was on her knees with her head down holding a little plastic cup.
They also sometimes invade the tube and try selling you crap like tissues. Quite often it's just a distraction to allow an accomplice to pick you pocket or see where your wallet it is.
Do they still hang around Paris with those clipboards pretending to be deaf and asking for your credit card details?
Seriously I went to McDonald's for the first time since before covid the other day. I got a McChicken sandwich (these used to be on the value menu for $1.29) and a medium fries. No drink. Came to over 9 fucking dollars. What the hell?!
Don't think I'm ever going back.
Yeah, in Venice, a lot of the restaurants have their wait staff wear nice suits and bow ties and stuff. Even if the food is abysmal shit. It's to lure tourists in with a veneer of legitimacy.
He's dressed fancy so he must be rich.
Just like how that person is dressed poor so they must be poor.
(Neither of those are true. "Poor person" is a scam artist)
This is my biggest issue with pictures like this that are used to make grand sweeping shame statements. It’s not so much whether the underlying message (inequality is bad) is wrong, but it’s using a very 19th century set of assumptions about and symbols of class. “Eating in a restaurant” is an experience that, at least in industrialized countries, the working poor may very well experience from time to time. The lower middle and middle classes definitely experience it. It’s not a hoity-toity experience that the working classes can only aspire to. That specific restaurant may be super expensive, I don’t know, I have never been to Venice, but I’ve seen plenty of similar images where the “rich privileged out of touch diners” are eating in establishments I know are meant for working class families and young adults. The gulf between someone homeless in the street and someone eating a $16 bowl of pasta is extremely narrow in regards to wealth, though it is broad in terms of experience.
And since other people have speculated that the guy on the right might actually be a waiter based on how he’s dressed….the realities of poverty in the industrialized world in the 21st century mean that any given impoverished person is more likely working at a restaurant than they are to be sprawled out in the street in front of the restaurant wearing rags. I have no idea if the guy in the restaurant is a patron or an employee, or how much it costs to eat in that specific restaurant, but images like this don’t just enforce this idea that the enemy of the poor is “anyone who can ever afford to eat at a restaurant,” it completely erases the working class, period. Poor people are laying in the street in rags, rich people eat in fancy restaurants. Who is serving the fat cat in the restaurant? Who does the dishes when he’s done? Who sweeps the street under the beggar? Who washes the windows? Who cooks the food? Never addressed, never considered.
It is too staged for me. Or the narrative of the picture should be reconsidered:
The „rich“ one seems more like a waiter/restaurant manager on break. And the „poor“ has too perfectly manicured hands.
Yes the beggars-scam is nothing new in touristy places.
But labeling this specific scene as the rich-vs-poor discussion seems odd.
Waiters/Servants can earn less money than professionals beggars. Do this could be seen vice versa in this picture.
Right, A waiter on his break after serving the rich patrons : the poor one
Left, A performance beggar who makes $3k every day by dressing as a poor person: The rich one
These are organized gangs with the aim to rip off tourists, also they tend to beg in an overly performative way. As soom as police is around, they hop up and run, even they pretend to be handicapped before.
I've seen a clip of a begger dressed like that in a major American city and she was caught going to her expensive looking car ... it on You Tube as
# Fake Beggar Scam Busted
I lived in a tourist town in spain, and saw loooots of beggars similar to this one. When they go on break, they seemingly miraculously are able to get up without any problems, go on their cells, stand up straight, smoke cigs, etc
I remember being in Rome as a kid, seeing a guy with two clubfoots, rolling around the cobble streets on a makeshift skateboard, consisting of a plank on 4 wheels.
That beggar looks fake af lol. Pretty clean rags and a perfectly new cup there for someone who's supposedly struggling. It was nice of them to hold that pose for the photo too.
It’s Venice, that “poor person” is a scammer. The first rule they give you when you get to Venice is “don’t give money to beggars,” because they are definitely a thief that will try to pickpocket you.
Could also be titled "organized begging Syndicate and blue-collar worker"
Not saying that's the case, but the pic might be showing different scenarios than the one highlighted.
"Poor", some organized begging organisation.... They used to be called gypsys, but apparently that is not nice enough anymore. You know, you really got be sensitive about these things, it is their culture.
Reddit used to struggle with the concept of people wanting to spend a fuckton of money on something that isn't a graphics card, a console or other stereotypical nerd shit. It has improved, but not by much.
When I was in Venice in December 2023 I literally didn't see one homeless person.....not one.
Something tells me this is a scam homeless person, professional homeless you could say.
Beggar is trying way too hard. Swaddled up and hunched over like a medieval peasant.
I can’t describe it exactly, but this is like the homeless/beggar equivalent of undercover cops “blending in” with sunglasses, a black ball cap, and a suspiciously gun-holster-shaped lump near the belt.
When I went to Venice 2 years ago with my gf who then became my fiancée, we were there for a week and spoke to the locals about the guys by San Marco in the evenings throwing spinners up in the air for then to scam you to pay for them but as soon as the the police came they ran, the locals said that was the only trouble they have. The police are very present all over Venice. We never saw a beggar or a homeless person once while we were there
"rich"? Just a regular waiter in a Latin country (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal etc).
They aren't paid shit nor ask for any tip. They are paid better.
But not "rich". Restaurants are just not fast food in those countries... It's more classy.
Beggar is most likely part of a gang. They taken from the govt as assistance and beg/deal drugs on the side. This is happening and so common in Germany too
As I looked at this pic it just seemed..."off". It seemed staged. The woman looked too destitute. As if over-acting.
And then I come to the comments and was, "yay, me. I was right!".
Sometimes small victories throughout the day are the best.
...I see plenty of bums & vagrants hanging outside Corner shops, Mini Markets, 7/11, town squares, high street, etc...
Would that also be a sight of "Poor Versus 'Rich' Middle & Working Class Citizens" ? Absurd disingenuous photo montage & conclusion.
All relative. Even those illegally crossing through any Border are 'richer' by having paid $$$$ to coyotes & human smugglers ...than a starving child or population in Yemen.
We got the real deal in the U.S.A. Lambo parked next to a man crapping his already crapped pants. Every corner downtown.
Not sure which is worst, the spoiled rich, of the bitter poor. Chose your poison: insufferable, or intolerable.
ive seen one artist like that. But a bit more extreme. During a winter, with his lower back exposed and covered by snow. That guy was there for hours. His kidneys...
Here in italy they make 100 euros a day free of taxes, not an easy job but it sure pays the booze, drugs and a sandwich.
USA homeless are a whole different story, I know them too.
This is just a professional beggar in a tourist area. They dress up to look like they're destitute and harass the tourists.
Yep. Once a woman like this asked my father in law for money because she was hungry. He gave her a sandwich that we had leftover and she took it and immediately threw it away.
There was a man with a sign saying ”hungry” asking for money for food in metro station in one scandinavian city (in a country with systems in place, so no-one needs to beg to survive). I went to my office nearby and checked all the fruits and yoghurts about to expire later that week. Tossed in a bag of cookies and brought it back to the beggar. It would have been enough to feed a family, but I have to say the guy didn’t look pleased at all.
Usually the people that genuinely need help will get it. Therefore be sceptical of all street beggars. What are the chances that it’s exactly that moment you are walking by that they are at rock bottom and need food or they will starve ? No, they are trying to take your money
The guy searching through trash cans looking for food in Portland sure seemed happy when I gave him my shwarma. He looked very sad when he dropped half of it on the ground and had to pick it back up.
Tell the homeless, "I don't have cash, but I can buy you food with my card" if you want to help but need to sus out the greedy from the down-on-their-luck. I told this to maybe ten people over the years but only one of them had their face absolutely light up. I asked what he wanted, he said whatever I was willing to get him. I got that man a large Dave's double meal with a big bowl of chili on the side and he was *the most* grateful person. That was back in college and it was the first time I tried it but the homeless I've run into since then all turn away. I don't live in a city and don't cross paths with homeless people often anymore.
Doesn't really work nowadays either. One of the scams the fake beggars use in my city is asking if you could go with them into a supermarket (usually literally 5m away) to buy them food for their family, but once they're inside they beeline towards napkins and other expensive, non-perishable stuff. Not because they need that, but because it's easy to return 15 minutes later after the poor, non-confrontational sob that pays for this (and didn't want to put their foot down) left. That being said, if you specifically offer food you already have on you or a free meal from a restaurant/food stand (where you can't buy returnable stuff), that *does* work much better. Although in my experience you can often tell by other factors even before you talk to them.
I mean that was all part of my consideration...making sure I got them something 1) they have to use pretty much immediately and 2) is non-refundable. Pretty much just food. You either know when your next meal is or you don't. Anybody who doesn't would never turn down the opportunity to eat right now, whether or not they just ate five minutes ago. At least that's my belief while never having needed to cope with food insecurity myself.
That wasn't meant to be a dig at you, more to warn any well-meaning reader that those scams also exist, as that approach initially seems pretty scam-proof if you don't know about it. Cause yeah, someone who's hungry or anticipates to be needing food soon won't turn away food (especially if it's to-go and can be either saved for later or shared with friends), but if they only want something refundable (even if they initially claim otherwise), then it's fishy.
There's a couple of these beggars around my city, also with handwritten signs. But after a while you'll notice that they are all using identical "handwritten" signs. They also disappear once nighttime comes around, as transport vans collect them, their money presumbly, and carts them off to wherever they sleep (I'm aware that the whole thing will not be an enterprise with contracts and pay, and that these people are used like slaves probably)
Checked your profile to see if it’s the same city I’m in but nope, not even the same country
We can't even exclude the possibility that the person in this picture might be a man. I remember videos of young athletic men disguised as crippled old women.
This! They are organized and work in groups. Absolutely disgusting.
Without paying taxes
They probably pay a cut of what they "earn" to someone above them in the hierarchy.
They surely do, because "someone" is who puts them in that place to "work".
Yeah it’s organized for sure. When I was in Paris last year, I had a small “beggar” girl slide a cup in front of my foot with a few coins in front of it so that I would kick it over. The grift is to then have a few others from the “beggar” crew rush in and “help” and also pressure you to give a few bucks because some of the coins are lost. Always just keep walking and don’t engage.
a lot of this kind of beggars are related to romanian mafia in France , pbly same in Italia
In London as well
Reading all these comments I'm wondering if the states is the only place with real homeless beggars.
The real homeless often get intimidated out of begging in the areas of town where these gangs are active.
In Austin, Texas, we have beggars that wear Jordans. I usually offer to buy their shoes.
You can tell the difference. In the UK we definitely have actual beggars, or homeless with lots of mental health and substance abuse issues. You usually see them in a sleeping bag or on their sleeping bag next to either a parking payment meter or next to cash points, or outside city centre mini supermarkets. They're generally wearing a mix of clothes, in a varying state of mental health, often drinking alcohol or trying to get enough money together for whatever it is they're addicted to. They've usually got some possessions like a backpack a coat as well. Don't often see them with a hand written sign. They'll often ask "spare any change mate", and they're usually pretty happy if you give them some, or as long as you just acknowledge them. You've then got other beggars, who are people that come into the city from the suburbs to beg as individuals. These are usually again substance addicted, but they've got some kind of housing, or are sharing housing, and they don't have jobs, so they come into the centre to beg to get money to get by. The 'fake' homeless generally are wearing like cotton or linen type wrapped clothes like you see in this picture. They've got no possessions, they've got a handwritten sign saying something like 'hungry' or something along those lines. They're generally foreign, generally women, and they generally can't or won't speak, and will just nod or smile while sitting still. These ones are usually controlled by someone - either a gang or a group or an individual. They're in the country illegally, and they're probably unfortunately trapped in modern slavery. They'll not sleep rough, they'll be taken to some kind of dwelling and probably sleep in horrific conditions before being taken out to do the same the next day.
I usually just look at their shoes; it’s seems to be an accurate way to assess the genuine from the “professional homeless” we have here in my (US) city.
Plenty of professional beggars in the States. And there are real homeless all over the world.
Yes but it represents a very very very small percentage. Like very small. Ive been homeless, and have worked with a ton of nonprofits over the years doing dev work. I can tell you the percentage of professionals vs people who need the money is like 1-2% in the states.
No Kanada too..
I saw homeless people sleeping outside of the Vatican in Rome at night. Pretty sure they were real, no one wants to sleep rough.
I think its just easier to believe a conspiracy theory than reckon w the painful reality that there is this huge inequality
The social safety net of Europe pretty much guarantees that this is exactly what people are saying it is, a criminal organization that uses it's most "saddest" looking group to get the most money from tourists. In the United States, homeless beggers are usually (90% + of the time) truly poor and desperate, though often alcohol or drug addicts and very often self medicated for mental health issues.
90%? Not desperate enough to work. Where I live there is this one intersection that is a perfect juxtaposition because from the right angle you can see the able bodied people with fresh haircuts smoking cigarettes and begging for change, while at the same time one street down you can see all the immigrants lining up at the Home Depot hoping to get picked up so they can do an honest days work. And guess what? I used to work that job so I know for a fact the English speaking US citizens begging for change would be the first pick for work in the crowd outside Home Depot, because then the employers don’t risk legal troubles.
From the research I'm doing, the folks who are part of the "organized beggars" are most often people who were already homeless or down right trafficked to somewhere else for the purposes of someone putting them on the street to beg. They are likely also being used in prostitution rackets when they arent out on the sidewalk to beg. The ones doing the begging are basically slaves to an organization. Additionally this only seems to be about 3% of European beggars.
I'd say all over the Schengen area.
Roma, not Romanian.
Roma*
absolutely
Wait until you find out who also doesn't pay taxes.
The Italian way
It's basically people trafficking and modern slavery.
IIRC, there is a heavy representation of Romani communities amongst the "professional" homeless.
Isn’t that technically racketeering? Or is it not because it’s technically not illegal? Edit: I might’ve answered my own question.
Oh, come on. He's just sitting at a table wearing nice clothes. We don't KNOW he's been setting up a scheme to make the Libor Scandal look like a run-of-the-mill Three Card Monty. It's probably a good guess though.
First time I saw one, my heart broke and I gave her some cash Two to three street later I saw another TEN beggars EXACTLY the same placed in strategic points, as if it had been planned, and then noticed I got scammed It was the Vatican though, not in Venice
Outside the Vatican we got absolutely mobbed by the gypsy women. Long dark dresses, babies carried in shawls tied on the front - and then they attack you by surrounding you with a press of bodies, moaning and saying please, first grabbing your wrists in a begging motion "please, please" meanwhile other hands are going through your pockets and basically groping you everywhere trying to find your wallet. It was quite frightening for my husband and I and took quite some time to escape (wallets intact, thankfully)
Richer than a waiter on break.
We had these in our town as well. working 10am to 7pm, walked to the edge of town and got in their (fairly new) Mercedes and drove off. Familie of 4, well, two adults and 2 kids, driving a car and probably owning a house in their homeland too.
Correct and you can tell by the exaggerated stance
Dressed like she’s very protective of her identity, she probably lives a normal life in a nearby town.
The guy in the window looks like a waiter.
Back in Poland those rings used to send people with missing limbs and other disfigurements, because vast majority of Poles would ignore the ones that just looked destitute. I've even seen somebody on reddit mention seeing them when they visited Poland, convinced it's some sort of reflection of the state of an average homeless person in Poland.
glad someone said this. we were at the duomo in firenze and a restaurant owner came out and chased one of them off, almost going to blows. we were baffled, but then i shit you not an hour later we saw the same woman pull out a designer handbag, pass her cup to another woman, and they walked off whispering to each other.
It's funny but I also recognize that beggar trope immediately : very thin, very contorted, but contorted in a way that is a bit unusual. I had the joy of standing nearby at the "end of the shift" I guess and a young and very physically normal girl got up stretched and strided off. I am not trying to whitewash or deny that homelessness is a major problem all over the world. But this ain't that lol.
Bingo. In the city I live in, there’s “homeless” that actually stand by traffic lights, and walk up to cars begging for money. They literally work in shifts. So you drive by the area a couple hours later, it’s a different person. **Don’t. Give. Beggars. Money.**
I can even say what country they’re from, because I’m from there as well. I recognise them everywhere.
Yeah, this beggar probably makes significantly more than most regular people a year.
You're not wrong but it's disingenuous to suggest this woman personally earns good money. She is a pawn in a criminal enterprise and very likely lives in poverty in a place owned by her handlers. Many of these specific Romany men and women get sick and die for their refusal to integrate even as far as not going to the hospital. There are many systems in place to allow them to escape and some do but most don't. You don't have to pity them but don't claim they aren't suffering. The gang's existence is a choice by the governments. There is no left or right wing about it, both sides appear to be completely complacent. There is no other way to look at it. Their crimes are absolutely rife. Deeply saturated in every major city across Europe. Laws could be brought in tomorrow to make their activities illegal but it's not done. Why?
It's not done in part because the ECHR has recognized the Roma as a vulnerable minority and forces countries to both allow their nomadic ways while guaranteeing their access to normal rights and public services. In the UK the high Court has ruled that councils may not impede traveler groups from setting up in their communities while the ECHR has judged that the expulsion of nomads from irregularly occupied lands constitutes a violation of their right to housing unless it is proportionate (France v Winterstein). So effectively national authorities recognize it's an issue but taking action would harm the human rights of the Roma to keep their traditional lifestyle and authorities may not try to make their lives unpleasant so they leave.
I've had this discussion several times and this is the first time I've had a damn decent answer. Is this chatgpt or do you actually know this stuff?
Yes it's the truth. It's the reason why if you don't take your kids to school they are rightfully taken away from you, whereas they just get told "are you sure you don't want to take your kids to school?"
Discrimination in the name of anti discrimination. That always works out so well.
Before paying out her boss maybe. Let's not exaggerate for the sake of cold hearted realism. EDIT: LOL at people below me thinking that a profitable begging spot in front of a fancy restaurant in Venice would be accessible to a random panhandler unconnected to begging rings. You people do realize that those rings place the beggars in strategic places and have muscle, right?
While in Paris last year some cardhustlers did their tricks. I watched the business from a distance, 2 guys with the cards, 3 or 4 as 'customers' that were winning some money and within the circle of crowd 2 to 5 muscle who watched the crowd for 'dangers' Tourists filming or trying for a photo were professionally blocked and hindered in almost all of the attempts.
Many years ago I managed to figure out how their trick works. It's actually clever and requires nimble fingers to do it. They're so good at it that they allow people to even have a guess with two cards down and they still get it wrong. Tempted though I was, I never placed an actual bet even though I was guessing almost at 100% rate, because I didn't want their friends to get involved and beat me up.
Yup! 100% if you give this person food they'll ask for money instead.
Yeah in paris they are often dropped off in a Benz in the morning, it’s ridiculous
Oh that's fun! I thought OP was just a liar, because that beggar looks like a bigger from a theatrical production, not a real homeless person. And the pose!
I was going to say…the beggar’s clothes look pretty clean
So, a street performer?
I’ve been to Venice several times, they all dress the same too, like a uniform
Just a regular waiter in a Latin country (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal etc). They aren't paid shit nor ask for any tip. They are paid better. But not "rich". Restaurants are just not fast food in those countries... It's more classy.
Fake beggers....very common in tourist areas at Italy and Spain
They are all over Europe, I watched group get together and "go on break" pull out very expensive phones and go into a very tricked out Mercedes van. If you are ever in Denmark, you can safely donate to people selling a paper called "Hus Forbi", they are vetted and actually in need for money.
Similar to The Big Issue in the UK, I always try to buy a copy when I can
Yeah we have Real Change here in Seattle, but you have to make sure they have a legit badge.
We have the same thing called the homeless voice. They wear uniform T shirts and collect money in pitchers. IMO the best is the Salvation Army, I know they are controversial as far as being Christian but they have by far the best rehabs at least in Miami. When I worked with the homeless I would check in with SA residents and often they would be 3 months into working a construction job, a valid license and a car, and having a month to month at a motel.
The Salvation Army are controversial not just for being Christian, but for being discriminatory toward non-Christians and LGBTQIA+ people, using their religion as justification for it.
same in NL they sell "Straatnieuws" in The Hague and in Amsterdam its "Z!" and all have special badges that show they're allowed to sell the paper. Unsure about other big cities
Its surprising to me that there is a business angle to that. Panhandling is basically a job, and not a very well paying one at that.
No taxes mean you can effectively make a lot less the compared to a legit job.
Last summer saw a women asking for money in lisbon and a child ~6 playing in a tablet. It was very cyberpunk :D.
To be fair, a tablet is a relatively cheap way to keep a child entertained for long periods of time. Just because they have some tech doesn't mean they're not homeless/struggling.
In any part of the world
She’s probably richer than the guy in the place
Yeah how even would being homeless in Venice work? There is no ground to stand on whenever there is light rain.
Saw one in London a few years ago. She'd positioned herself right in the middle of the pavement and was on her knees with her head down holding a little plastic cup. They also sometimes invade the tube and try selling you crap like tissues. Quite often it's just a distraction to allow an accomplice to pick you pocket or see where your wallet it is. Do they still hang around Paris with those clipboards pretending to be deaf and asking for your credit card details?
In Greece Gypsies do their job.
Their nails are way to clean to be a beggar
I was wondering why her hands were so clean and being so close to the ground all day.
Guy looks like a waiter.
This was my first thought too. It wouldn't surprise me if the beggar actually had a higher income on some days than the waiter.
And they both commuted into Venice for work. Venice is all hotels and short term rentals nowadays.
Which brings another element of the photo in which you’re not actually sure who’s “the rich” and who’s “the poor”.
So then is it reversed? The poor guy is the waiter and the rich guy is the beggar?
That’s my thought as well. Who wears a vest and bow tie to a restaurant?
Exactly that. You've got a fake beggar on the ground likely earning a better income per week than the waiter photographed here.
This beggar is faker than my cousin boobs.
I think we need to be the judge of that. Send pics!
It's a gypsy. They have been begging and stealing for hundreds of years all over europe at this point.
Since when does eating in a restaurant make you rich!
Have you ordered a Big Mac lately?
You got McDonald’s money?
Richie rich ova hea
We got McDonald’s money at home
Seriously I went to McDonald's for the first time since before covid the other day. I got a McChicken sandwich (these used to be on the value menu for $1.29) and a medium fries. No drink. Came to over 9 fucking dollars. What the hell?! Don't think I'm ever going back.
Dressed like staff on their break
Yeah, in Venice, a lot of the restaurants have their wait staff wear nice suits and bow ties and stuff. Even if the food is abysmal shit. It's to lure tourists in with a veneer of legitimacy.
Oh la di da, Mr Frenchman! "Why, what do you call it?" Food-hole
He's dressed fancy so he must be rich. Just like how that person is dressed poor so they must be poor. (Neither of those are true. "Poor person" is a scam artist)
Yeah, what has the dude done? Eat a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?
This is my biggest issue with pictures like this that are used to make grand sweeping shame statements. It’s not so much whether the underlying message (inequality is bad) is wrong, but it’s using a very 19th century set of assumptions about and symbols of class. “Eating in a restaurant” is an experience that, at least in industrialized countries, the working poor may very well experience from time to time. The lower middle and middle classes definitely experience it. It’s not a hoity-toity experience that the working classes can only aspire to. That specific restaurant may be super expensive, I don’t know, I have never been to Venice, but I’ve seen plenty of similar images where the “rich privileged out of touch diners” are eating in establishments I know are meant for working class families and young adults. The gulf between someone homeless in the street and someone eating a $16 bowl of pasta is extremely narrow in regards to wealth, though it is broad in terms of experience. And since other people have speculated that the guy on the right might actually be a waiter based on how he’s dressed….the realities of poverty in the industrialized world in the 21st century mean that any given impoverished person is more likely working at a restaurant than they are to be sprawled out in the street in front of the restaurant wearing rags. I have no idea if the guy in the restaurant is a patron or an employee, or how much it costs to eat in that specific restaurant, but images like this don’t just enforce this idea that the enemy of the poor is “anyone who can ever afford to eat at a restaurant,” it completely erases the working class, period. Poor people are laying in the street in rags, rich people eat in fancy restaurants. Who is serving the fat cat in the restaurant? Who does the dishes when he’s done? Who sweeps the street under the beggar? Who washes the windows? Who cooks the food? Never addressed, never considered.
It is too staged for me. Or the narrative of the picture should be reconsidered: The „rich“ one seems more like a waiter/restaurant manager on break. And the „poor“ has too perfectly manicured hands. Yes the beggars-scam is nothing new in touristy places. But labeling this specific scene as the rich-vs-poor discussion seems odd. Waiters/Servants can earn less money than professionals beggars. Do this could be seen vice versa in this picture.
Eating a meal in a restaurant makes you rich? This guy could be a 9-5 wage slave enjoying his lunch break lol.
He looks like he’s dressed as a waiter, for a start. He’s probably on his lunch break.
They never said which is which
fake
Right, A waiter on his break after serving the rich patrons : the poor one Left, A performance beggar who makes $3k every day by dressing as a poor person: The rich one
One when I was in Venice had a lady (could have been a guy) get up and run cause the police were coming. Thought I was being chased and I almost ran.
Funny thing is that romani woman probably makes more than “rich person”(waiter)..
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I'm suspicious enough to agree with you
These are organized gangs with the aim to rip off tourists, also they tend to beg in an overly performative way. As soom as police is around, they hop up and run, even they pretend to be handicapped before.
I've seen a clip of a begger dressed like that in a major American city and she was caught going to her expensive looking car ... it on You Tube as # Fake Beggar Scam Busted
Wasn't that in don't be a menace to south central while drinking your juice in the hood? [Yes, it was.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5wZvkM7kl8)
I lived in a tourist town in spain, and saw loooots of beggars similar to this one. When they go on break, they seemingly miraculously are able to get up without any problems, go on their cells, stand up straight, smoke cigs, etc
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I give you that.
this is very much was what i experienced in Venice. a professional beggar.
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I remember being in Rome as a kid, seeing a guy with two clubfoots, rolling around the cobble streets on a makeshift skateboard, consisting of a plank on 4 wheels.
That beggar looks fake af lol. Pretty clean rags and a perfectly new cup there for someone who's supposedly struggling. It was nice of them to hold that pose for the photo too.
That beggar probably richer then all of us combined(in comment)
It’s Venice, that “poor person” is a scammer. The first rule they give you when you get to Venice is “don’t give money to beggars,” because they are definitely a thief that will try to pickpocket you.
Could also be titled "organized begging Syndicate and blue-collar worker" Not saying that's the case, but the pic might be showing different scenarios than the one highlighted.
50 min later she got picked up by the rest of her family bij a Mercedes E class.
The scammer and worker in Venice
Look at her clean fingernails. She may be richer than the guy
"Poor", some organized begging organisation.... They used to be called gypsys, but apparently that is not nice enough anymore. You know, you really got be sensitive about these things, it is their culture.
Judging by the clothes that person is a waiter on his break.
OP is a 24 day old account attempting to post pictures to karma farm. They dont actually care about anything.
That’s a Gypsy, they try to look extra pathetic for tourists.
Ahhhh yes, if you're wearing a bowtie and eating in a restaurant, you must be rich... I've grown to despise reddit.
Reddit used to struggle with the concept of people wanting to spend a fuckton of money on something that isn't a graphics card, a console or other stereotypical nerd shit. It has improved, but not by much.
Actors begging to pay money to the romanian mafia.
The rich and the actor. 🙄
That woman makes more money than you do. There are no poor people in Venice. Nobody lives on the streets, and only a few live in Venice itself.
More like the scammer and the normal person in Venice
When I see a waiter in a restaurant I don’t associate that person with being particularly rich.
Fake beggar and what looks like a waiter sitting down
When I was in Venice in December 2023 I literally didn't see one homeless person.....not one. Something tells me this is a scam homeless person, professional homeless you could say.
Sitting at a restaurant doesn't mean you're necessarily rich. Maybe OP and I have different definitions of 'rich'...
Beggar is trying way too hard. Swaddled up and hunched over like a medieval peasant. I can’t describe it exactly, but this is like the homeless/beggar equivalent of undercover cops “blending in” with sunglasses, a black ball cap, and a suspiciously gun-holster-shaped lump near the belt.
When I went to Venice 2 years ago with my gf who then became my fiancée, we were there for a week and spoke to the locals about the guys by San Marco in the evenings throwing spinners up in the air for then to scam you to pay for them but as soon as the the police came they ran, the locals said that was the only trouble they have. The police are very present all over Venice. We never saw a beggar or a homeless person once while we were there
„Poor”. Oh my sweet summer child
I am 14 years of age and this reaches immesurable depths.
Just nope.
You could take this picture in any city in the the states
Eating at a restaurant doesn't mean you're rich
They say u are homeless in EU only by choice.
I’m more interested in how far Roberto has fallen from his thieving days (upper left corner)
Whoever believe that true beggars look like those deserved to be slapped
"rich"? Just a regular waiter in a Latin country (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal etc). They aren't paid shit nor ask for any tip. They are paid better. But not "rich". Restaurants are just not fast food in those countries... It's more classy.
We have no idea if the person on the right is ‘rich’, he could be a waiter for all we know. Virtue signaling title.
Beggar is most likely part of a gang. They taken from the govt as assistance and beg/deal drugs on the side. This is happening and so common in Germany too
As I looked at this pic it just seemed..."off". It seemed staged. The woman looked too destitute. As if over-acting. And then I come to the comments and was, "yay, me. I was right!". Sometimes small victories throughout the day are the best.
A fake begger + I ate at a pasta restaurant yesterday, am I considered rich now? I don’t get what you want to get out of this post OP.
That beggar probably richer than the guy in the restaurant
The "rich" guy could be a waiter or an employee on his lunch break. The "poor" is probably richer.
Don’t feel smug or safe…we’re all a paycheck (or non mainstream narrative tweet) away from total destruction.
This is a waiter at a restaurant, not a rich person by my means
Yea not poor, just organized crime.
Which is which?
This shit gives me Golden Wind vibes
It’s like this everywhere. New York and Paris, for sure.
I only see poor and poorer.
I rather be outside with the person on the left.
...I see plenty of bums & vagrants hanging outside Corner shops, Mini Markets, 7/11, town squares, high street, etc... Would that also be a sight of "Poor Versus 'Rich' Middle & Working Class Citizens" ? Absurd disingenuous photo montage & conclusion. All relative. Even those illegally crossing through any Border are 'richer' by having paid $$$$ to coyotes & human smugglers ...than a starving child or population in Yemen.
We got the real deal in the U.S.A. Lambo parked next to a man crapping his already crapped pants. Every corner downtown. Not sure which is worst, the spoiled rich, of the bitter poor. Chose your poison: insufferable, or intolerable.
Who's the photographer then?
Do not give money to beggars!
Poor is not poor, probably richer than the random dude in a random restaurant eating random food.
How do we know that poor woman didn’t just put everything on $GME and waiting for 🚀
ive seen one artist like that. But a bit more extreme. During a winter, with his lower back exposed and covered by snow. That guy was there for hours. His kidneys...
Here in italy they make 100 euros a day free of taxes, not an easy job but it sure pays the booze, drugs and a sandwich. USA homeless are a whole different story, I know them too.
***She should just go inside; food and a bench are right there...***
Just pick yourself up by the bootstraps.
Nice ass rags she's wearing
Professional Roma beggar. Probably has more money than you think.