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You are walking down a street in Paris and there is a man kneeling on the footpath holding a sign that says “J’ai Faim!” (I’m hungry?). What do you do? Put some money into his cup, give him some food, or look the other way to avoid making eye contact?

This is a regular event in any major city and everyone treats it differently. As a family my children were always very uncomfortable by the presence of beggars and would urge us to cross the road to avoid these people. But is that fair?

There are three types of beggars that you encounter in Paris or Europe.

The first are the street sellers who are generally immigrants from north Africa. You will find them “selling” anything from keyrings, to bracelets, to bottled water, and in Paris you will find them especially by the Eiffel Tower or in front of Sacre Coeur. They are insistent with any tourist, they are illegal, so do whatever it takes to avoid them.

The second type of beggars in Paris are the “Romanian/Bosnian” refugees that work in professionally organized gangs to accost tourists at the major sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysées, Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame. These teams of women dressed in long skirts and scarves hound tourists for the change in your pocket. Their techniques at gaining Euros are varied. There is the “gold ring found at your feet” trick, the “I’m a poor Bosnian refugee, and need money to feed my family” technique, and the Gypsy woman with baby sleeping in arms” approach.

The third type of beggar is the single person sitting or kneeling on the footpath holding out their hand or cup urging your generosity to take over and make their day. These people are often outside a church, or on a very busy footpath.

Recently I had a traveler, Willy, from Christchurch (NZ) who spent a month staying in our apartment in Paris. On her arrival in Paris she discussed with her husband how she was going to handle beggars and what their plan was in confronting these sights. They together decided that they would make a donation to every beggar they came across. Admirable, yes, but please don’t travel to India!

From a social responsibility point of view it is to be understood that the Paris Administration has very good systems in place to look after the poor. They even have a large bus which travels around the city day or night “picking up” those beggars and street dwellers to take them for a hot meal or offer them accommodation. Many do not accept these services, as living on the streets is a preferred way of life for many, which must be respected although it is difficult to comprehend for most of us.

I have recently been touring in Europe and was sitting at a restaurant in Venice overlooking a busy thoroughfare near the Rialto Bridge. Kneeling on the footpath nearby was a gentleman in his 50s with a cup in his hand motionlessly waiting for the donations of passerbys. I was quite saddened because I found that maybe 9 out of 10 people who walked within a metre of this man did not even look at him - a fellow human being silently requesting the generosity of touring visitors. One person in ten would either hand him some food (i.e. cake of chocolate) which was slipped surreptitiously into his back pack or drop some coins into his paper cup. This I watched for some time, and quite frankly it rather spoilt my appetite!

At the end of my dinner I called the waiter over, and while asking for the bill I suggested that he included on my bill a meal with wine, that he would offer on my behalf to this beggar. I was surprised by his answer. “This man you must not feel sorry for, he will never be hungry, and he makes about 400 Euros per day, and will return to his own home (and car) in the suburbs at the end of the day”.

Four hundred Euros per day! I should have been the one on the footpath! I then discussed this with the hotel staff, and Armando recounted to me that he had approached this man with his family and offered to take him home for an evening meal. The beggars reply was “I don’t want your food, I just want your money”.

So next time you are walking along the footpath and see someone with a cup begging for money, what will you do?

Let me know your comments, and if you have had specific experiences yourselves with beggars that other travelers might be able to learn from. I'm wanting to collate interesting stories and experiences anyone has had with beggars through Europe.

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