Heads up: Panhandling beyond the downtown area

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

quote:Originally posted by mr.jaynes

quote:Originally posted by cks511

There is one that will follow you after she has made the initial request.  Once she knows where you live watch out.  She approached me broad daylight on the Westport side of the trail, asked for money, I said no.  She apparently followed me and tried to break into my apartment the next weekend.   People who thwarted her identified her down to the last detail.  She was never caught.  She has also been seen harassing BCBS workers who park in the 15th and Main St lot.  But I've never seen her at QT.  She sometimes has a little kid with her and says he needs insulin.  I hope I see her at QT someday when the cops are there.

There's also another one who hangs out off of West 23rd across the bridge, claims she needs $5 to take her son to McDonalds.

so the fiancee and I went into Wendys last night for a quick bite to eat after a trip to the store for some groceries and the strangest thing happened.  About halfway through our meal, a man approached us and whipped out a 7 speed blender out of a reasors bag.  And stated "only 6 dollars and it's yours, I need some grub".  Now typically I would have said something to effect of "get the **** outta here I, I don't want your ****".  But I was speechless, and was thinking to myself "did this really just happen".  Needless to say, I told the guy after staring at him speechless for a few seconds "not interested, go try someone else."  This was at the one near 71st and riverside.

this happened to you IN Wendy's?  I would have went to the manager and told him to remove the thug off the property.

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by TUalum0982

quote:Originally posted by mr.jaynes

quote:Originally posted by cks511

There is one that will follow you after she has made the initial request.  Once she knows where you live watch out.  She approached me broad daylight on the Westport side of the trail, asked for money, I said no.  She apparently followed me and tried to break into my apartment the next weekend.   People who thwarted her identified her down to the last detail.  She was never caught.  She has also been seen harassing BCBS workers who park in the 15th and Main St lot.  But I've never seen her at QT.  She sometimes has a little kid with her and says he needs insulin.  I hope I see her at QT someday when the cops are there.

There's also another one who hangs out off of West 23rd across the bridge, claims she needs $5 to take her son to McDonalds.

so the fiancee and I went into Wendys last night for a quick bite to eat after a trip to the store for some groceries and the strangest thing happened.  About halfway through our meal, a man approached us and whipped out a 7 speed blender out of a reasors bag.  And stated "only 6 dollars and it's yours, I need some grub".  Now typically I would have said something to effect of "get the **** outta here I, I don't want your ****".  But I was speechless, and was thinking to myself "did this really just happen".  Needless to say, I told the guy after staring at him speechless for a few seconds "not interested, go try someone else."  This was at the one near 71st and riverside.

this happened to you IN Wendy's?  I would have went to the manager and told him to remove the thug off the property.

yep just sitting there minding our own business.  I would have except they had a huge line and were very short staffed.  I could have told him myself, but once again, was caught quite off guard by what had just happened.

[Conan71]

I got a funny one as I got of the expressway on 49th W. Ave:

Cold, broke, ugly.

God Bless!

[TUalum0982]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

I got a funny one as I got of the expressway on 49th W. Ave:

Cold, broke, ugly.

God Bless!

gotta love the west side!! There are some nice areas, but some crazy people around there.

[Breadburner]

I always like..."Need Beer".....

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

I got a funny one as I got of the expressway on 49th W. Ave:

Cold, broke, ugly.

God Bless!

well if it was a woman, ugly can be fixed with a brown bag if you want to float a Jackson for a BJ.

[we vs us]

Downtown among safest areas in Tulsa, says the World.

Crime in the IDL accounts for a little more than 2% of the citywide total.

[danno]

Cherry Street is the worst, with that McDonalds parking lot being mecca for panhandlers. I have gotten all sorts of stories: one guy said that he needed gas to drive to Okmulgee, and I said no. About two weeks later, heres the same guy, same story, except this time he offered to sell me gamecube games. Thats great, selling your kids video games to buy meth. Many times there have been panhandlers standing by the drive through menu, hitting up people in their cars as they try to order. Why McDonalds allows this, I don't know. They used to come into empire all the time, one dude tried to sell steaks from reasor's to customers. The doorguy isn't too fond of them, and usually kicks them out really fast (one panhandler pulled a box knife on him, which did not end well for that panhandler). I'm as charitable as the next guy, but people should be careful when approached by these guys. Many of these panhandlers are either mentally ill or addicted to drugs that can make them  aggressive (crack, meth, paint). I still feel sorry for them, though.

[HazMatCFO]

The northbound exit ramp off I-75 at Southwest Blvd and 17th almost always has a panhandler. Sometimes he brings a female companion or a scruffy dog for added impact.

Another popular spot for panhandlers is the eastbound exit ramp off the BA at Utica.

[si_uk_lon_ok]

I thought I'd give you my thoughts. I've travelled around a bit and been to cities with panhandling problems much worse than Tulsa, and with the petty crime that tends to accompany really bad panhandling and cities that have no problem.

I think the answer is based on two ideas, 'let the market sort the problem' and 'divide and rule'.
Firstly, you give some better behaved homeless people a legitimate item to sell, many areas have magazines written by the homeless. That way you are giving money, but actually getting something in return. The better the magazine the more sold, also the magazine can regulate who sells it, if people get too pushy the lose the right to sell it. They would also be restricted to the locations they can sell it to stop too many sellers congregating and getting into conflict with each other.
Secondly, people with skills can become licensed buskers and allowed to perform in set places.
This creates two types of homeless people now, the legal ones who have an income source and the rest. The legal ones now have a stake in insuring that the others don't give them a bad name or encroach onto their patch for selling magazines or busking. Now you have people out on the street all day long, who will tell someone to shove off and call the police on them if they feel someone is panhandling and the problem gets around 90% solved. Also people can feel fine in saying no, because they know there are legitimate people they can donate to.

[breitee]

Toss a paint balloon at one the next time you see one begging for meth money.

[breitee]

Toss a paint balloon at one the next time you see one begging for meth money.

[mr.jaynes]

It'll take more than tweakers (meth addicts) to make me leave Tulsa again, I promise you: I am here to stay. Still, I rate meth users and dealers around the same way I'd rate sex offenders-and they should be dealt with as such.

[danno]

Did any of you see that recent South Park episode that dealt with this issue? Lol.

[Aa5drvr]

>>Sometimes he brings a female companion or a >>scruffy dog for added impact.

Sounds like Mathis Brothers commercial or the "1-800-2-sellhomes" lady.