The Subway Blogs: Love them, hate them ,panhandlers are here to stay.

There are two sure things about New York City: (1) there will be billboards in Times Square, and (2) if you take the subway, there will be panhandlers. Now that we have established these facts, let's go on to the important stuff. A reader of my last blog (about talented panhandlers), alluded to the fact that some panhandlers are con artists looking to make a quick dollar. As much as I would like to be able to say that this isn't so, I am afraid that I will have to agree with her.

The Panhandler Conundrum

Now in my mind, panhandlers fall into three categories.

There is the talented entertainer who has music, or dancing, or puppeteering running through his veins. This person not only loves entertaining, but is also really talented. The only problem is he still can't get his 'big break'. So, desperately desiring to express his creativity, and to make a little money he performs on the subway. Riders normally appreciate panhandlers from this group, and some would go as far as to say that panhandlers from this group make the subway ride enjoyable (see last blog).

The second category of panhandlers consists of those panhandlers who are best described as modern day beggars. In this category falls the blind boy or old woman who sits on the platform with a pan and chants " any change, a little change please." These people ask for money without trying to arose sympathy, and it is really left up to the rider to make her choice to give or not. Without feeling compelled to, many riders decide that their good deed for the day will be to give money. Others decide that they will help in other ways (volunteering at a shelter etc.). This group of panhandlers are mostly treated with ambivalence; their presence is anodyne so riders come and go mostly unaffected and accepting of their presence.

It is the third group however, that draws the most passion from New Yorkers. In this group falls the panhandler with a quick sob story. Many of these panhandlers are con artists much like the characters written about by the great satirist and comedian Ben Jonson.

A Subway Conning

Let me illustrate. My cousin, a lifelong New York City resident, once told me an immensely amusing story. A man, obviously distraught, entered the train late one evening. The distraught man near tears, proceeded to tell the subway riders that he had been a hard working man all his life. He continued to say that his wife, a recovering cancer victim had run up such high medical bills that his family was left completely broke. At this point in the story, the man fell unto his knees and started crying. While the tears streamed down his face, he shouted, " I am tired of seeing my kids hungry, all I want to do is feed my little girls."

My cousin, a new dad at the time, immediately gave the man ten dollars.

The distraught man exited the train at the next stop. So did my cousin. What followed was just as upsetting to my cousin , as it was amusing to me. The man who had just been overcome with tears and weakened by sadness, quickly wiped his face with his shirt sleeve, and leaped up the stairs singing.My cousin is convinced that this man was a conman, and still refuses to give money to panhandlers.

To give or not to give?

This is precisely what is infuriating to many subway riders. How does one differentiate between someone who is truly in need and a con artist? Many riders find themselves torn; the story they hear tugs at their heart, their brains tell them that this may be a con. What should they do?

A good way to give, for those inclined to do so, is to set up a specific time and place to give.This way when you hear a touching story, you know that you are already helping needy people through your charity of choice. Another way is to just give to the panhandlers, with the knowledge that sometimes you will be conned. This works for people like me, who find it difficult to take the chance that the panhandler is truly going hungry/ cold/without medications or whatever story is being told. Yes, I know I am a sucker. But we are our brothers keepers, right?