Philadelphia
A Centre City resident tells Junto:
'In a city where every Wawa has a 'doorman,' where the fruitcakes and winos have staked out almost ever corner in Centre City, and where the professional panhandlers (managed by their pimps) have become part of the social fabric of Mayor John Street's dysfunction 'Hooverville,' it's no wonder that many Centre City residents have been quick to concoct responses to the beggars who target them from street corner to street corner.
'Here are a few:
''No, thank you.'
''Sorry, gave at the office.'
''Not your turn today.'
''I'm not allowed to talk to strangers.'
''Fuck you!'
Take your pick -- or none at all. Some panhandlers, after all, are quite clever. Some squat with dogs, evincing that family feeling. Others -- really, no shit! --
do the Dickensian thing, jiggling pencils in a tin. Still others are in rags. How pitiful. Worth a few bob, I daresay.
Yet, so far, thankfully, I haven't seen any Roumanian 'mothers' with their infant daughters as props.'
Editor's Note: What's your favourite panhandler response? E-mail your quips to JuntoEzine@yahoo.co.uk. All will be for publication, with attribution, unless otherwise requested.
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