Comment by cerrelio | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cerrelio | Hacker News Reader

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I call it online busking. I live in SF and I'll often see fairly well dressed people sparechanging on corners. One guy, in his late 20s, would be out near O'Farrell and Mason listening to his iPod everyday as I went in for work. I never got his story, but he probably wasn't living on the streets - just "working" there.

I don't really have a problem with that, or people busking online. But before you plug in those credit card digits, you should ask yourself: "If I met this person on the street and they asked me to fund their {pet's surgery, vacation, novel}, would I do it?"

I had my "a-ha" moment for crowdfunding about 8 years ago. A friend-of-a-friend who was a promoter/bartender, whom I had just met, asked me to fund his Jewish contemporary art show. He seemed very passionate about getting it going. The total sum required was a few thousand dollars, so it seemed like an honest pitch. He friended me on Facebook and sent me the link to Kickstater. Later that night I was about to make a donation, but I stopped. "I don't even know his guy. Why am I giving him $50?" And that's when I linked the two behaviors.

Just because there's a nicely designed UI between you and the beggar doesn't make it something other than begging. I call it "busking" as opposed to "begging" because they are actually performing - they're (both the website and the person; they work in tandem) trying to make you believe they're not a beggar.

Disclosure - I published an award winning street paper and eventually received an award for my contributions to progressive politics for my work. I know many many panhandlers across the country and am deeply biased in their favour.

That said, panhandling is one of the more impressive sales accomplishments in our modern world. Good panhandlers understand the math - about 15% of people give, 15% of people call you a bum/tell you to get a job/otherwise insult you, about 25% just walk by and the remaining 40% say no. Consequently, they have learned that the only way to make enough money is to be relentless and keep asking, even if the last person threatened to kick your ass. Good panhandlers will make 200-300 contacts a day...

As a sales problem, panhandling has almost no compare. Your only 'product' is your humanity. And, unfortunately, since many of the people who panhandle have some rough years behind them they don't always look very good.

As a startup type, I have way more in common with panhandlers than people who work for the government. Their hustle both amuses and inspires me.

That's all a long, roundabout way of saying, "Seriously, don't use the word beggar. With all due respect, you don't know how much pain that word causes."

As for the well dressed fellow with the iPod, he may not live on the streets - truth is that many panhandlers have homes. But, I assure you that his clothing and iPod are part of his pitch. People are nicer to folks who look like them.

I would like to understand why the word beggar is not equivalent to the word pan handler..

for some reason my brain is not making the jump here.

Is the word bum equally offensive?

Is pan handler preferred because it sounds like more skill is required? what about if there is no tact or pitch and someone is just begging for food?

my brain seems to think all variations of this act are not things you would want to be called, despite if your engaged in it. but is it not calling an apple an apple?

just curious, not disagreeing and would like to know more, thanks

And GoFundMe, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Patreon are both the street corners AND the cups for the avant-garde beggar. An astute hustler would actively have pitches on all of them. I mean: a panhandler can only cover one physical street corner at any given time. It's better to cover all possible bases.

> That's all a long, roundabout way of saying, "Seriously, don't use the word beggar. With all due respect, you don't know how much pain that word causes."

Yes, I know how much pain it causes; so much pain that people are begging from behind technology now. Those people on Patreon/GoFundMe would never stand out on the street with a cup, because it's too painful for them. That's why I call it busking, which is begging with a performance.

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