Yeah, Begshoppers Are Annoying

I was reading a story about begpackers in Asia (and how people over there find these people annoying) when I got to thinking about begshoppers in Jacksonville. Those are the folks who show up to Walmart or a gas station with their vehicles in order to beg for gas money to get back home. Just as the general consensus in Asia is that college-aged guitar players should not embark on tourism without the funds, my thought is that local folks should probably not venture out in a car without gas.

I guess most of us assume the asking for gas money is a ruse in order to get drug or booze money, but the fact is that these people do generally have cars right there, and they will have to add gas in order to get back home. So it's not a total lie, I guess. But still stupid.

Most people who own cars also have a place to live. Plus, they have a means of transportation to get to work, but instead of working, they are begshopping. One of the begshopper families that hang out by the airport drives a fairly nice black Camaro. They just roll up on everyone they see with the same story of needing gas to get home as they drive all around River City Marketplace, asking for gas money.

Would I feel more like donating if they said they needed money to buy groceries at Walmart? Or if they needed cash to make payments on their nice Camaro? Honestly, I can't imagine a scenario where I would give begshoppers money, but the scheme only has to work on a few victims per day to get a few hits of meth.