Journal Harmonious Botch's Journal: Panhandling
I've worked in an urban area of a major US city for years, and I've seen a lot.
We like to think that the panhandlers are a representative cross-section of the poor. They are not.
Panhandlers have their own heirarchy. It is often enforced with violence. I personally have seen one panhandler pull a butcher knife from his pack and chase another panhandler away who dared to beg on 'his' block.
I regularly see another group, two men and a woman, who troll the streets. She walks ahead alone, asking for money, looking helpless. They follow 20-30 feet behind. Every half hour or so they catch up with her and direct her into a side alley and collect the money. I saw these three for years before I by chance happened to see the transfer. It took me a while to recognize a what I was seeing. She is a virtual slave; she has no income, no home, and lives in fear of what will happen to her if she should displease them.
If you watch closely, and watch long enough, you will see that almost every female panhandler has one or more male companions who protect her and/or control her. It is much like the prostitution business: there are very few free-lancers, and almost everyone has a 'pimp' or protector. Some guys have 'stables' of women who collect for them, they go about making the rounds, collecting the money, so that the women have very little money at one time.
We seldom see the dark side of the hierarchy. But when we go back to our homes at night, and they go back to their encampments under bridges, scores are settled and order is maintained. Prime panhandling spots are valuable, as are women who look frail and vulnerable. So most of them are controlled by somebody. And that conrol is usually maintained by violence.
We like to think that the panhandlers are a representative cross-section of the poor. They are not.
Panhandlers have their own heirarchy. It is often enforced with violence. I personally have seen one panhandler pull a butcher knife from his pack and chase another panhandler away who dared to beg on 'his' block.
I regularly see another group, two men and a woman, who troll the streets. She walks ahead alone, asking for money, looking helpless. They follow 20-30 feet behind. Every half hour or so they catch up with her and direct her into a side alley and collect the money. I saw these three for years before I by chance happened to see the transfer. It took me a while to recognize a what I was seeing. She is a virtual slave; she has no income, no home, and lives in fear of what will happen to her if she should displease them.
If you watch closely, and watch long enough, you will see that almost every female panhandler has one or more male companions who protect her and/or control her. It is much like the prostitution business: there are very few free-lancers, and almost everyone has a 'pimp' or protector. Some guys have 'stables' of women who collect for them, they go about making the rounds, collecting the money, so that the women have very little money at one time.
We seldom see the dark side of the hierarchy. But when we go back to our homes at night, and they go back to their encampments under bridges, scores are settled and order is maintained. Prime panhandling spots are valuable, as are women who look frail and vulnerable. So most of them are controlled by somebody. And that conrol is usually maintained by violence.
