Strange experience I had today with a beggar

[Tender Branson]

For my lunch break I drove to a supermarket here in Zell am See to get something to eat. When I got out of the store, there was a guy going from car to car with a magazine on which the front cover showed stuff about the Euro crisis and how it wrecked people. When he saw me approaching my car he went over and I went into my car and left the door open and he started to ask if I could give him some money because the "world will collapse and these are bad times and stuff". I first was really annoyed because the guy was literally wielding around this magazine in front of my nose and people started looking around what the guy was doing. So, I said that I don't have much money myself and need to pay a lot for rent, insurance, gas etc. I think this guy, as most of the beggars here and in Salzburg City are organized beggars from Romania and Bulgaria and other parts of South-Eastern Europe who have to beg a certain amount of money (also using children) and then give a big sum to their "masters" who live a good live. I offered him my Mohnkipferl that I bought so he could eat something, but he declined. So, I was really annoyed and drove away. But then I got a bad feeling and wanted to give him something, because maybe he was really a poor guy from Romania etc. and needed it. But the fact that he only wanted the money and not the Mohnkipferl probably was a good indicator that he wasn't in that bad of a situation. I have given to beggars though in past times, mostly 5€ or something. But this was the first time that I saw them around Supermarkets here in Zell am See, whereas in Salzburg they are already seen as some kind of "plague", coming from Romania and Bulgaria and elsewhere and "deploying" children to get more money, camping wildly in the woods, leaving behind a lot of trash that needs to be cleaned up and the police/state can't do anything because A) they are EU citizens that can't be thrown out and B) Salzburg had a anti-beggar law but that was ruled unconstitutional by the courts.

What do you usually do when you are approached by beggars ?

[Tender Branson]

Franzl, how would you as a German-American translate "Mohnkipferl" into English ?

[Vosem]

Franzl, how would you as a German-American translate "Mohnkipferl" into English ?

There is no equivalent term in English. "Mohn" is poppies, but we don't really have "Kipferl" -- I might translate it colloquially as 'cakes' or 'rolls' (so, "Mohnkipferl" = "poppy cakes/rolls"). Wikipedia has "Kipferl" being "kifli" in English, which is the formal culinary term, borrowed from the Hungarian, but most people won't recognize it. 'Croissant' could work too, colloquially.

[Tender Branson]

Franzl, how would you as a German-American translate "Mohnkipferl" into English ?

There is no equivalent term in English. "Mohn" is poppies, but we don't really have "Kipferl" -- I might translate it colloquially as 'cakes' or 'rolls' (so, "Mohnkipferl" = "poppy cakes/rolls"). Wikipedia has "Kipferl" being "kifli" in English, which is the formal culinary term, borrowed from the Hungarian, but most people won't recognize it. 'Croissant' could work too, colloquially.

But is "croissant" acceptable for Americans, because it's so French ? And French is meh ...

[Хahar 🤔]

Yes, we have croissants in America.

[Lief 🗽]

Yeah but they don't look like this:

[Paul Kemp]

Yeah but they don't look like this:

Is that a dog treat?

[Bacon King]

What do you usually do when you are approached by beggars ?

I virtually never carry cash, so if a homeless person asks me for money I genuinely tell them I'm not carrying any. If they want the money for food, I'll offer them anything I have on my person (I usually carry my lunch in my backpack when I'm around campus) and a couple of times I've bought them a sandwich or cheeseburger when I wasn't in a hurry and there was a deli or something nearby. Usually, though, a beggar will only ask me for one of my cigarettes, and I'll always give 'em one (I'm always very generous with my smokes; I once went to a party with a new pack and left at the end of the night with no cigarettes left, even though I only had four of them myself).

[Simfan34]

Yeah but they don't look like this:

Is that a dog treat?

That looks like it's moulding. But 5€? Is that a normal amount to give? No wonder they've formed begging gangs. It's like Ethiopia. Here in the US, or at least NY, one gives their spare change (so usually less than >$0.50) to subway beggars and a dollar perhaps to the musicians. The most I've ever given is about $3, and that was because the guy was playing a kora.

[memphis]

We have an idiom in English, beggars can't be choosers. I don't know how well it would translate into Austrian German, but I suggest using something similar to that in the future.

[Franzl]

Franzl, how would you as a German-American translate "Mohnkipferl" into English ?

Oh Gott. Frag mich was leichteres.

As to the question: It really depends. Generally I'm sceptical because a lot of beggars in Frankfurt are not going to buy food with it... I'll offer food directly if I have any, but almost never cash.

In the U.S. is a different story, as a lot of people really are screwed by the lack of a welfare state and really have big problems.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

A lot of the homeless people in my town usually have mental health issues, so I find that for the most part a smile and "hello" go further than actual money.

[opebo]

I think beggars, homeless people, and even the insane seem to be a good judge of character - they uncannily decline to approach me.

[afleitch]

I'm in Glasgow every day. There aren't many legitmate homeless people. Those who are sell the 'Big Issue' magazine and people buy them. The rest are either junkies (there are a core group of about 6-12) or Romanians as Tender Branson said who agressively beg.

[Simfan34]

I'm in Glasgow every day. There aren't many legitmate homeless people. Those who are sell the 'Big Issue' magazine and people buy them. The rest are either junkies (there are a core group of about 6-12) or Romanians as Tender Branson said who agressively beg.

I've always liked this Big Issue idea. Why don't we have it in the States? Apparently the inspiration for it came from here but hasn't been nearly as popular. For some reason street papers focus on social justice, and in doing so undermine themselves- the Big Issue is more traditional, sells more copies, and thus helps more people.

Bizzarely, it's the American papers that seem to take the "social justice" approach whilst European ones are more "practical-minded".

[Franzl]

Bizzarely, it's the American papers that seem to take the "social justice" approach whilst European ones are more "practical-minded".

Well, one shouldn't generalize too much, but I tend to think beggars in America are more likely to be in serious need of assistance. For obvious reasons.

[Spanish Moss]

What do you usually do when you are approached by beggars ?

Think about how the Democrats are a joke and hardly, if ever, talk about a serious issue (homeless), instead pandering to the "middle class".  Then I buy the beggar a soda or give them a few bucks.

[Simfan34]

What do you usually do when you are approached by beggars ?

Think about how the Democrats are a joke and hardly, if ever, talk about a serious issue (homeless), instead pandering to the "middle class".  Then I buy the beggar a soda or give them a few bucks.

You trying to kill them? Go buy them smoothies or something else that's nutritious and filling. One of those Ogalla or Naked drinks.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

What do you usually do when you are approached by beggars ?

Think about how the Democrats are a joke and hardly, if ever, talk about a serious issue (homeless), instead pandering to the "middle class".  Then I buy the beggar a soda or give them a few bucks.

This is an urban issue though.

[Keystone Phil]

There are beggars in Austria? I thought it was paradise.

[Tender Branson]

There are beggars in Austria? I thought it was paradise.

That's why they are coming ... from Romania, Bulgaria and elsewhere ...

[Spanish Moss]

What do you usually do when you are approached by beggars ?

Think about how the Democrats are a joke and hardly, if ever, talk about a serious issue (homeless), instead pandering to the "middle class".  Then I buy the beggar a soda or give them a few bucks.

You trying to kill them? Go buy them smoothies or something else that's nutritious and filling. One of those Ogalla or Naked drinks.

Or one of those really expensive brands of bottled water?