Do They Collide? I Ask, and You Smile.

Do you think homeless people have a scent for when you're the type of person they have a chance to get some cash off of?

Let's start by discussing the two types of homeless people around these parts. There are the Passive Hobos and the Active Hobos.

The Passive Hobos are the folks that stand along the busy street with their cup or their instrument, singing or playing an awkward, improvised song. Or just wishing you a nice day. These are the nice kind of hobo, because you can let them know that today isn't their lucky day with you by simply not making eye contact, and they'll move right along to the next person. I don't mind passive hobos.

The active hobos though. They are the mobile ones. The folks that wander down the street and don't give a shit about eye contact. They'll flag you down if they smell weakness and make you feel way worse about not helping out than a passive hobo will. Plus their rate is a lot higher, normally asking for between 2 and 5 dollars.

Ok so on to my dilemma. I think I may have given myself an air of generosity or weakness two nights ago. I was wandering along University and a tattered, unkempt man in a sweatshirt (despite the freezing weather) walked right up to me in an extremely awkward fashion, saw that I had headphones in, and pointed at his ears. He must have been in his early to mid 30s, but looked well worn. He had a slip of paper in his hands that his eyes kept flashing down to, so I thought maybe he needed directions. So I took out my headphones and put on my personable demeanor. Only to discover moments later that he was either deaf or mute and this slip of paper had his little spiel written on it.
It read something like:
"Hello, my name is Jeff. SMILE (at which point I looked up and saw a massive smile on his face, so I shot him one back and continued to read.) I am deaf and need something to eat (or something along those lines) Could you please spare me $5 for food?"
And the back side of the paper read "GOD BLESS YOU"
So I grabbed my wallet and hesitantly took hold of a couple of singles, but went for the fiver instead. And he gave me a big hug when I handed it over.

So okay, of course this could've all been a very detailed pity scheme on this guy's part in his quest to score more booze. And of course maybe there's a better chance of him being conniving than homeless, deaf, and hungry. But what if he really was homeless, deaf, and hungry??? I guess that small chance was worth $5 to me.
OK BUT! this is still not my point. The 5 bucks was fine with me. I'll survive... and hopefully he will too. but then.

Then comes my point. That now I feel like news of my helping him suddenly spread through the Active Hobo underground. Literally, 6 seconds after parting ways with Jeff, a crazed looking old man who was missing some teeth and was geared out in a floppy eared hat affronted me outside Wando's and with his crazy eyes started asking if I could spare some money because he had nowhere to stay. He also had a sleeping roll on the ground next to him.

Okay and I know this sounds bad, but I felt like one was enough for the night, and I had somewhere to be. So I told him I couldn't help and he kept asking, so I made up an excuse and walked away (briskly).

Then today, I get hit by another Active! Usually I'll only get confronted for money about once a month. But this lady walked up and I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and not just brush her off, but all she had to say was a plea for a few dollars, so I had to move on.

So I guess what I'm saying is:
I'm on their radar and I need a way out!

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