...late at night. I should have known better. This guy walks up to me with a 40oz of Cobra and asks me if I can help him out. I said, "I don't work here."

He says, "No, it's not that. My brother died tonight, and I really need some help. Could you find it in your heart to give me a couple bucks?"

I told him, "Sorry for your loss, but I'm not going to give you money because your brother died and you want to get drunk."

He said, "No, I need the money for cigarettes."



I kid you not. WTF is wrong with people?

Good choice on his part.


I'd go for the Cobra before Cigs too.

So I guess it was more important to drown his sorrows, than calm his nerves?

I mean.


Seems like you could bum a smoke off someone. Somewhere.



Not that likely to bum a 40oz Cobra off of just anyone.


Seems logical.

So did you buy him some smokes?

Once a homeless approached me on my way to my local pub in England and in his thick Irish accent said
Can you spare me change for a cuppa?
I said I give you a pound but you need to go to the shelter and get a meal with that. He said Aye
I am in the pub few minutes later and I see him trying to buy booze at the counter
I said to him weren't you supposed to go to the shelter?

He simply replied
I don't tell you what to do with your F#@king money!!!!


Go and figure

No.

But I was polite. I didn't tell him to **** off.

Robert, that story is hilarious. And about what I would expect.

Life is hilarious and the book is called Moronic Escapades

I went to Wal Mart today, and there is a spot that people panhandle...

There were 2 of them there looking for $$ for food. So I cam home and made up a pot of spaghetti and took some back for both of them. The were fricking starving...one said he was a Gulf War vet and he was now homeless. The other guy was old and sick and lost his job.. and had no where to go.

That was extrodinary of you.

However, my dude wasn't homeless. He was just a drunken bum.

Are you looking for an answer for ALL people or just this particular person? According to my recent studies in Bio Genetics, I hypothesize that a mutant version of a particular allele of a certain gene on one of his 23 homologous pairs of chromosomes has caused some phenotypic variation resulting in a deficiency thus described in your situation. But I could be wrong.

The guy was upset over the loss of his brother. Spends last dollars to buy booze to dull pain. Booze makes smokers want to smoke. Needs smokes now. Brother who used to supply them is now dead due to lung cancer. Hence he asks a stranger. Seems perfectly logical to me.

I get the sense you aren't a particularly compassionate individual. Or perhaps you doubted the brother dying story. Or just don't like giving your hard earned money to strangers drinking 40's. Can't blame ya there. Point being, "WTF is wrong with people?" can apply to you as well! "There but for the grace of God go I" young man. I think it's nice he asked so politely. I'd have given him a smoke or bought him a pack, but I'm a sucker for those in need so...

JMO

There always are genuine cases but human dishonesty makes one very skeptical.

I'm a nurse. I know what compassion for my fellow man is. I also know the difference between being down and out, and being a bum. The guy's brother didn't die today. He probably didn't even have a brother. He just wanted someone to give him money, so he could buy cigarettes.

I apologize for doubting your compassion level. As a nurse, you most definitely have that; you couldn't do it without it. So kudos to you.

I'm too gullible. Thank God I live in the sticks and never go anywhere. I still feel bad for the guy, dead brother or no dead brother. He's obviously got problems far greater than you or I. I always did root for the underdog, picked the runt of the litter, and played with the kids nobody else liked. I can't help it, I have a mutant empathy gene.

I'll shut up now. Carry on with the "WTF is wrong with people?" inquiry. I obviously don't know...yet. Back to my secret underground lab for further investigation.

See i am very much like that. I have always been that way. Stamp gullible to my forehead. The guy was probably an addict. Nicotine or alcohol, or both. Addict tend to be good at making up stories to get what they need to get their fix. It could have been worse, he could have been peddling for crack or something. If he needs a beer or a smoke, i would give him a dollar, then he has to find the rest else where to pay for it. A dollar is not going to break me.

They are mentally ill in most cases and it is about as far as they can go in life. The best they can do...very sad.

Sounds like he moreso needed to call a friend than try to bum money for cigs.

maybe his smokes are his friend..in his mind