My last job was running the railroad yards in Chicago. There,s panhandlers at most stop lights, alot of them are career beggers, alot of scammers. There doing just about anything you can think of, one guy at a stoplight says I,m not a begger, he climbs up the fuel tank steps, and has a clip board, the paper has lines on it, with people,s names and dollar amounts like 50.00 to 400.00 dollars. He said he,s collecting money, for a bum house and says everybeen homeless. I tell him yeah, I,ve been homeless since may 04, and it,s not that bad. I tell him creative scam, now get off the truck, really who is going to give someone hundreds of dollars,just sitting at a stoplight. If you go to warm weather states like Cal., Az., the beggers go staight to the truck parking lot, at a truck stop, there,s so many beggers,they bring there 4 person family. I had a women in Charolette N.c., begging so I help her out with some canned food, she wanted money, a few minutes later she shoots the tank twice, real smart if I had 6,800 gal. of gas, in the tank. There was gun fire all night there. I see people at a truckstop, asking for gas money, there usually young and don,t realize how much it cost to travel, in 08 I payed 6.09 per gal. at a Pilot truckstop, on the N.Y. thru way-I-90. There,s countless stories of people stranded at truckstops, they know they don,t have the money to make it, but there determined to make it to there grandma,s funeral, we drivers take care of folks like that, give them money,feed them, directions, snacks,water, etc. You corner for dough and jump for show, If you can turn and burn on a 125, you can ruin a 450 riders day.
