My rant on bums!

I hate bums! I REALLY hate bums. No, I'm not talking about the type of bum you wipe. We have to have that kind, or else, well, um... they're just really useful in the whole digestive process. I'm talking about the type of bum that tries to mooch money off of you. GRR! Anyway, here's my rant! Each of the two times that I've gone to the store in the past few days, I've been approached by someone in the parking lot begging for money. The first time was at Kmart. A scruffy lookin' dude was stopping everyone in the parking lot (and causing cars to honk at him to MOVE), asking for money. The ridiculous thing about it was, I actually saw a few girls give him money. That's why they do it, cuz they know they can get the money! He was walking around with a news paper, a red plastic gasoline canister, and a cigarette. Hmm... makes me wonder what he was gonna use the money for. ANYway, he asked me for 2 bucks, and I said NO! The second incident happened tonight. As I was exiting Safeway, some woman came uncomfortably close to me and gave me some sob story about needing ten bucks for her daughter's ear infection medicaiton at Rite Aid. I said "Sorry, NO!" It was dark outside, and in a poorly lit parking lot, I really don't appreciate being approached like that. And, who knows if she was telling the truth or not. I just flat out don't believe in handing money out like that to total strangers. They're making stuff up most of the time anyway. It's not like they're gonna come out and say, "can I have some money to buy some beer?" Plus, I really didn't have any cash on me. I rarely ever carry cash. I love my debit card. It's quick, it's easy, and it's more difficult for me to blow through money when I use it instead of cash. So, that's what I use. Both of these bum encounters were within a few miles of where I live. Until this week, I really hadn't seen bums in this part of the city. Usually, I see them on the off ramps of the highway or Interstate.... and of course, they're ALL OVER THE PLACE in Portland. I just wish that people wouldn't hand out their money to those people. It's rather frustrating!

As frustrating as these instances were, they don't even come close to one I had back in Idaho. A few years ago, I was taking some garbage out to our dumpster, and I opened the flap to dump my garbage in when I saw a man in there eating garbage. A police officer was driving by and made him get out, only to pull him out of the neighbors dumpster five minutes later. Now, that is just GROSS! At least he didn't ask me for money. I just remember the bits of moldy food dribbling out of his mouth full of rotting teeth as he mumbled some incoherent thing to me. EW!

Now that I live in a bigger city, I'm getting a little more used to seeing homeless people. However, they still give me the heeby-jeebies. Their begging REALLY REALLY bothers me. I mean, they expect to get something for basically nothing. I don't feel obligated, in the least, to give out the money my husband worked his butt off for to some stranger living out on the streets! GRR! GRR! Did I say, GRR?! I firmly believe that they should get a job and work for their money! And besides, there's soup kitchens and other charities that are specifically designed to help out people who are having it rough. So, why should I give my money to them, especially when I don't know what they're gonna do with it! I know, I probably sound like a mean person, but that's the way I feel! GRR!