Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
Depends on how they behave. If they get right up in my face and immediately tell me their whole life story how they're sick and hungry and have twenty children to feed, I'm usually skeptical. On the other hand, if someone is polite and especially if they ask for food instead of money, I'm more inclined to help.
Overall, I'm happy to help those who really need it but I've had too many bad experiences with people who were in it out of greed more than necessity. Prime example, some time last year I was on my way home from a vacation and had to wait at the train station for a couple of minutes when a guy came up to me and asked me for money because he was hungry. I told him I had no cash with me but I could get him a sandwich from a nearby vending machine where I can pay with my credit card. On the way to the vending machine, he asked me if something from the bakery at the other end of the station would also be okay. That was already a bit weird but okay. I left my partner and my luggage at the platform and took him to the bakery. On the way there, he pointed out that there was an ATM where I could get cash for him which I refused, then at the bakery he asked me for two of the most expensive snack they had plus something to drink, a total of over 20€. Quite the difference between that and the 4€ sandwich I had initially agreed to. The whole situation was so uncomfortable, I can't even remember what I got him in the end. And from the way he acted, I wouldn't be surprised if he just threw away the food once I was out of sight and asked the next person for money.
It's sad. There are so many people who ask for what they need and are genuinely happy when they get help and then there are greedy assholes like that guy. And because I usually can't tell the difference at a glance, I'm often overly careful and don't help even though I feel I should.