Putting the bum on the bum's

[grandpa]

I was stuck in the Cincinatti bus station for almost a day while trying to make my way back west. That gave me some time to make friends with the cabbies (good for a meal or a doughnut), and to recognize the local bums. While I was there I saw something that still makes me smile.

An elderly woman was sitting on the curb having a smoke, and a local bum approached her. Before he could say a word she spoke up, "Hey, you got a cigarette?" Well, the poor fellow was stunned, and he just turned and walked away. It's works just as well if you ask for a quarter :)

[oldpro]

good one grandpa. i will have to use that one on our local bum. when i am in town she seems to be where ever i am and always asks "lemme hold a quarter". next time i'll turn the tables on her.

[Automan Empire]

Hee!
I've seen this technique in action. Hit them up for a donation right as they open their mouth to hit YOU up. Works like a charm!
I think it is the same principle I saw in action at a holiday gathering recently. One of the attendees has a 5-year-old daughter who has a hair-trigger for throwing tantarums, and is quite skilled at manipulating people that way. When the fifth tantarum in thirty minutes erupted near me, over nothing of course, I spontaneously screamed at the top of my lungs the same annoying way she was screaming. Long story short, that was the last tantarum- for days I heard later!
I think it is a matter of the other party having a routine by which they can seize control of the situation, however subtly, and thus manage to hold far more sway over their fellow human beings than they ought to. By choosing a response outside of their expected range of responses, YOU have maintained control, and shut down their game.
It never ceases to amaze me what skilled manipulators bums can be. If they applied that level of mental acuity and interpersonal skill and moxie toward actually bettering themselves....

[grandpa]

If they applied that level of mental acuity and interpersonal skill and moxie toward actually bettering themselves....

That is the theme of a poem I wrote after just such an encounter. It strikes a personal note too, since I once lounged beneath a bridge for months before pulling myself out. I've never been comfortable with approaching people to ask for anything, and besides, I'm plain scary looking :) I'd have to shave and cut my hair before I could do that. And if I shave I might as well get a real job... not gonna happen.

[Crush]

Aboriginal says to me, "got a light". Me"sure" abbo "got a cigarette".

Good bludgers those abbos.

[Essex_boy]

Before I could drive I used to have to sit around bus stations awaiting my connections, anyway I worked out that there has to be a formula for the number of bums in a bus station.

I never perfected it but I think it worked out something like:

The number of bums in a station is directly proportionate to the overall square footage of the station. So for every 100sq foot of teh bus station you could expect to see 1 bum.

Not perfect I admit but close to teh truth im sure