I can see already that this is a conversation that I should bow out of early. May the road rise up to meet you, and the wind be always at your back.

I fail to see how the first situation would be considered aggressive.   A simple "no thanks" wouldn't have hurt.  You were rude. 

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. ~Ludwig van Beethoven

So S6 didn't want to be bothered and came off as rude and probably was. If I was pissed off, I'd probably ignore people out in public in general. I don't think calling someone me an asshole would make me dig into my pockets any faster though.

I've been called an asshole in downtown Olympia for not giving someone change even after saying no. It only happened once, but yeah, it does happen. I usually say "no, sorry" and 9 times out of 10, I'm not carrying cash.  

...but I just say "I'm sorry" to other spare changers.

I used to give to everyone but I hit my spare change limit a few years ago.

Asking a stranger for CHANGE is hard enough - no need to be rude back.

I have a feeling S6, that you will keep finding examples of aggressive panhandling...

can be seen as waves or particles.

It depends on which you are looking for.

...I always get asked for money. 'Six, I think there is a problem in Oly with aggressive asking for money, and I respect your opinion and right to be surly about it...I feel the same way most of the time, and as pedestrians we get "the ask" way more than bicyclists and motorists.

What I want in Olympia is a "get out of jail card" for folks on the street:

...if you are in dire need of food & shelter, folks should be able to go to City Hall and be given a voucher for 3 days support in the community (shelter & food), a "heads-up" on what services are offered by our community to support folks in need, and have your info recorded so you can't scam the system.

I'm not sure why a system is not in place like I just described-

-any thoughts?

If I'm asked "do you have spare change?" I find that a simple "no, I don't" answers the question.

Of course, "No" is a complete sentence

but I will buy a meal for them, and have been known to buy a night at a motel or a bus ticket.

"I de-clutch, you know." Juan Manuel Fangio when asked how he avoids flat-spotting his tires when he spins the car.

"Money may not buy you love but it might buy you happiness if you spend it in the right way, US researchers say. In studies they found that the old adage "it's better to give than to receive" is correct: spending money on others or giving to charity puts a bigger smile on your face than buying things for yourself."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/21/medicalresearch.usa

After reading this article, I promise to give change to the next person that asks.

Of course, I'm just being selfish...

 I really appreciate how so many people went out of their way to indicate I was the source of the problem, as opposed to two individuals who chose to harass me.

Thursday is payday.  I was already late for work.  To make things even more and utterly wonderful for me, my entire f-ing paycheck was eaten up by overdraft fees, most of which I can't make heads or tails of, and I'm a pretty intelligent person, but that is between me and my bank, and I think I can get most of it back.  Now would you want to talk to anybody approaching you for money right then?  Would you? 

I am under no obligation whatsoever to acknowledge someone speaking to me on the sidewalk.  I will under nearly every circumstance acknowledge people, and politely at that, even more so if I am visibly packing as I hold myself to a pretty high standard then.  But I digress...  

I was in a foul mood.  My ignoring two beggars does not justify a rude and agressive response from them.  I did not want to make a "S6 was being an asshole" out of this, I am more than capable of doing that myself when I want to :-)  Rather I wanted to comment on agressive panhandlers.

It is rather convienient that the other agressive panhandler I referenced was ignored.  That's fine, if you want to villify my actions.  Damnit people, how did I become the bad guy in this? 

If I have it, I share it.  I'll buy meals, coffee, bus tickets, whatever.  I have given up buying a cup of tea for myself to buy someone else a hot drink.  But I see here a lot of "bad me" for IGNORING someone? Maybe I should have drug myself out of my fould mood enough to mumble "sorry no" or maybe they should have just taken my ignorning them twice as a hint and not taken it upon themselves to cuss me out.

I am a pretty compassionate individual in my own way, but I refuse to be shoved into some sort of box or blamed for the actions of others because I didn't act in a certain fashion.  Agressive panhandling is a crime, and for good reason. Ignoring someone isn't. 

"How about we move away from this eerie-assed spectacle and get on with our eerie-assed day?" -Jayne "Firefly"

what is the mentality of someone who doesn't get a response to think the response will be better by calling them an asshole.

I wanted to stay out of the issue of aggressive panhandling as some will say I'm bias, etc. I respond to these calls all the time. And guess what, there are asshole panhandlers.

Just like there are asshole cops, or asshole physical therapists, there are asshole panhandlers, and they do nothing to help themselves let alone those that are having the same difficulty by being assholes. I don't believe Six did anything wrong. The only one that did anything wrong is the panhandler when they decided to take the contact to a new level. Just like some of the citizens on the Westside that go out of their way not to talk to me or wave when I wave at them, it doesn't mean they are assholes, they just don't want to wave at "the man." Six didn't want to talk to them, the panhandlers don't need to push the issue.

From a legal stand point though, calling a mark an asshole doesn't constitute aggressive panhandling. It might constitute anti-social behavior, but not a violation of law.

"I de-clutch, you know." Juan Manuel Fangio when asked how he avoids flat-spotting his tires when he spins the car.

...sometimes life plays a joke on us. Standing at a crosswalk worrying about money and being asked for spare change would seem to be one of those moments. Enjoy it.

 "Panhandlers Today.  The magazine for the up and coming panhandler."  Sorry, I realized the topic of this thread could be read several ways...  :-)

"How about we move away from this eerie-assed spectacle and get on with our eerie-assed day?" -Jayne "Firefly"

I have only once, in the seven or eight years I've been hanging out downtown, had someone be a jerk to me because I didn't give them what they asked.  In this situation, it wasn't even money; they had asked for the take-out dinner I bought for my wife.

Now, I get panhandled nearly every day that I go downtown... and I work downtown and spend most of my social time downtown.  Nine times out of ten I say no, because I actually don't have any money.  Sometimes I grin and turn my pockets inside out.  Panhandlers really are cool with it.  They don't mind if you don't have money, and they don't mind if you are unwilling to give them money.  Literally 99% (rounded down) of my interactions with panhandlers have been pleasant, even fun at times. 

In spite of all the comments on Olyblog, on the Daily O's site, and in the editorials, I have a really difficult time believing that we have a problem with aggressive panhandlers. Given my experience with panhandlers, I'd say we have just the opposite. We have a problem with big-headed pedestrians who think they're better than people who happen to be homeless, or who happen to be poor enough that they rely on panhandling.  Our problem isn't panhandlers; our problem is assholes who aren't panhandlers.

Panhandlers are human, and they don't like being ignored or mistreated.  I am well aware of the frequency with which they are ignored or mistreated, and I am honestly impressed that they don't have massive attitude problems as a result.  If I had to deal with what a panhanlder deals with on a daily basis, I'd probably mouth off at the first person to look at me funny.

[NOTE: I'm not aiming this comment at you, S6.  I hear that you were having a grumpy day; it happens.  I just got sparked up a bit because I always hear people complain about panhandlers, rather than about how panhandlers are treated.] 

The Canaanite's Call

"Assisi, home of Saint Francis, the 13th century patron of the poor, has banned begging, an Italian newspaper reported Sunday."

Story here.