Is this what it has come to?

[aclivity]

Major Fallout said:

There was a story of a guy selling matches on the street, that was driven to and from the street in his Chauffeurs driven Rolls Royce every day.

I am going back about 30 years now, so Chinese whispers and all that jazz.

further back than that, in fact a similar story from 1891, in a Sherlock Holmes story The Man With the Twisted Lip

[Meoricin]

Limey 666 said:

A similar thing happened to me a couple of days ago, a bloke claiming to be deaf of i guess eastern european trying to sell pictures of horses puppies etc but claiming not to speak english either with a note saying i have to eat etc etc so i told him to fk off as i am all heart me.

I had an English-looking guy at the door in a similar situation a few weeks back - his note said he was trying to fund art school. The pictures actually looked pretty decent - at a glance they were pencil sketches. I did wonder how he knew to turn straight to the dog pictures though, given that he shouldn't have been able to hear ours barking. He wanted '£10 or £15' for a picture, iirc.

[BlackVanDyke]

I can't get my head round it - doing that sort of door-knocking must be absolutely vile with loads of verbal abuse, risk of violence and I can't imagine many people actually give them any money - so why do it? Either it pays a lot better than I think or those people must be really, really desperate.

Same with windscreen washing at traffic lights - freezing cold, quite dangerous, again verbal abuse... there must be easier ways to earn enough to eat, surely?

[grumbledoak]

deevlash said:

She'll have been part of a gang, sent out by the person who smuggled them into the country to go out begging to pay back their passage to the country.

I'd far rather give money to our own beggars. Many of whom are ex-services struggling in civilian life and given nine tenths of fk all help.

Not that I'm saying the Eastern Europeans are having a great time of it.

[Life Saab Itch]

BlackVanDyke said:

I can't get my head round it - doing that sort of door-knocking must be absolutely vile with loads of verbal abuse, risk of violence and I can't imagine many people actually give them any money - so why do it? Either it pays a lot better than I think or those people must be really, really desperate.

Same with windscreen washing at traffic lights - freezing cold, quite dangerous, again verbal abuse... there must be easier ways to earn enough to eat, surely?

Because every so often they will get lucky and scam a vulnerable old people.

[mini me]

SeeFive said:

Gare du Nord is full of them, as is Gare de Lyon as at last Thursday.

Watch out for the ring trick which seems to be very popular with them in Paris. Peasant sidles up to you, reaches down to the floor and picks up a brass but hallmarked wedding run - big fat jobbie not unlike a large plumbing olive and asks if it is yours. Then they want you to buy it off them - and it seems with many, the greed kicks in for 10 euros and "cash for gold" when back in the uk (not me by the way). Of course, it is worthless crap.

Good old socialist care and lack of border controls keeping us all on our toes.

This happened to me by the banks of the seine when I took my then girlfriend to Paris. At the time I had about 2 grands worth of engagement ring in my pocket waiting to pop the question. I was so confused and worried about being mugged and conscious of the ring in my pocket I gave the guy all the change in my pocket to get rid of him.

Kinda laughed about it afterwards when I told the missus why i gave them anything at all.

Edited by mini me on Tuesday 15th February 08:35

[johnvthe2nd]

mini me said:

This happened to me by the banks of the seine when I took my then girlfriend to Paris. At the time I had about 2 grands worth of engagement ring in my pocket waiting to pop the question. I was so confused and worried about being mugged and conscious of the ring in my pocket I gave the guy all the change in my pocket to get rid of him.

Kinda laughed about it afterwards when I told the missus why i gave them anything at all.

Edited by mini me on Tuesday 15th February 08:35

did you get the ring back from the 'then' girlfriend? (the irony may be large here)

[AlVal]

don't even start me on the windscreen washers. My missus is keen to remind me at any opportunity of the "incident" with a windscreen washer years ago. It's the only time she's ever seen me get mad. (I was going through a "car detailing" hobby phase, and had spent all weekend extremely detailing the car, to pull up at the lights and have some tinker approach the car with filthy water and a rag full of grit. As I say, I'm very slow to anger, have only been in physical confrontations perhaps twice in my life, but this clown wasn't taking no for an answer. I think it was his continued smile as (in superslowmotion) I saw the first drop of dirty water drop from the rag towards the car. jumped out of the car, bucket was launched a considerable distance, with him not far behind.

[hairyben]

Yeah had this. And on public transport. I bet many people find them knocking on your door intimidating, odds are they make a few bob.

Personally, if it came to it, I'd choose sitting down on a fking railway line over begging.

[El Guapo]

ajstephe said:

I personally wouldn't give money to anyone knocking on my door that wasn't a proper charity.

Agreed

[prand]

SeeFive said:

Gare du Nord is full of them, as is Gare de Lyon as at last Thursday.

Watch out for the ring trick which seems to be very popular with them in Paris.

Watch out? Like anyone would really fall for this? (Here sir, I've just found this gold curtain ring, just lying here on the ground, shall we go halves?) This was tried on me at least 4 times in Paris when I was last there, and it's such a blatant peice of scammery, it's almost embarrassing to witness.

My fave was being stopped by a guy in Rome asking where the petrol station was (I was able to point it out to him), who then proceeded say he'd been at a trade show and as thanks for giving him directions he would give me a couple of lovely "suede" jackets for me and my wife. I was just about to refuse and then he really blew it and asked for a donation, when I refused started to get really shirty. Most entertaining.

[Dog Star]

al1991 said:

The first one I declined and she coughed in my face (nice!).

I was working as an adviser to long-term unemployed in my local Job Centre up until a year ago and the hacking up in your face was a very commonly used technique by gentlemen from a certain Asian country that have a large population up north - to a man they would all want signing off sick.

Anyway they would do the hacking up thing and it was a very blatant attempt to intimidate and get you to end the 45 minute interview and let them go. I'm made of sterner stuff and stood (well, sat) my ground.

[Zod]

bumblepup said:

Mobile Chicane said:

The girl outside Waitrose in Cobham looks particularly pink-cheeked and well-fed. Last time I saw her, she was pregnant.

There is one who sits on a stupid little chair outside of the Waitrose on Weybridge Hight Street. Pisses me right off, I mean Weybrige, really, where have you got to live to get away from these people. Can we not at least have a home grown begger!!

One in Highgate High Street outside Tesco Metro. Then there's the van that drops off the sellers of wilted carnations and the windscreen washers at Henly's Corner.

[Kudos]

Life Saab Itch said:

Because every so often they will get lucky and scam a vulnerable old people.

This. Suspect a lot of "intelligence" gets fed back to HQ for a further visit as well

[okgo]

Disgusting.

It annoys me that they let those awful people sell magaziens outside otherwise nice places, Cobham being one, also there is this disgusting fat bit of st that stands outside M&S in Teddington, with a fking iphone and a dog!

[B.J.W]

Bowler said:

“please help, young baby, no food, hungry, please give me some money”

My response would be something along the lines of.

"Will help, mower in shed, grass needs cutting, hungry? Will give you a couple of quid once you've done some bloody work and earned it"

[croyde]

People unable to speak English and clearly only having just got here and selling the Big Issue really feks me off.

I thought the Big Issue was there to help long term homeless people, down on their luck for whatever reason not some chancer that comes over here for supposedly rich pickings.

As to the guy begging with a Merc E-Class 55 reg, well he obviously needed a much newer model.

[GTIR]

AlVal said:

don't even start me on the windscreen washers. My missus is keen to remind me at any opportunity of the "incident" with a windscreen washer years ago. It's the only time she's ever seen me get mad. (I was going through a "car detailing" hobby phase, and had spent all weekend extremely detailing the car, to pull up at the lights and have some tinker approach the car with filthy water and a rag full of grit. As I say, I'm very slow to anger, have only been in physical confrontations perhaps twice in my life, but this clown wasn't taking no for an answer. I think it was his continued smile as (in superslowmotion) I saw the first drop of dirty water drop from the rag towards the car. jumped out of the car, bucket was launched a considerable distance, with him not far behind.

If only I caught that on camera!

[MadMullah]

kosovan albanians

be careful of them.

we get them coming around doing the whole i'm a muslim too please help so once my mother gave one some money.

next thing you know she had a load come up into the shop after my mum got them out she realised a few things had been stolen.

be very careful

[matt1269]

I had a "deaf" man visit my house once trying to sell drawings of animals etc. He wanted a fiver for a picture of a dog that looked like my own, so I reached in my pocket and only had four pounds. He then told me to get lost and walked off.
Oh how I laughed.