08 December 2002 Cyber Beggars Got a computer? Got internet access? Too damned lazy to go out and work for a living? Then take up cyber begging! Yes folks, the beggar of today doesn't have to sit on a cold pavement with a cardboard sign and a tin any longer. Oh no, they can now sit in the comfort of their living room and beg via the internet! Now I know this is old news for anyone who's seen the Save Karyn website, but more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon. Even out in the journal community people are devoting their time and energy churning out hard luck stories and asking readers to send money. Wish lists? Pah, you're nobody these days unless you have your very own paypal account. Don't bother sending a token gift to someone you've befriended online, just send cold hard cash to the cyber beggars instead. True story folks, not only have I seen someone in the past week devote their journal to cyber begging (well, Christmas is coming up after all), they've even taken the time and effort to spam every news group on the net asking for donations. Now I've given money to beggars - yes I am that big a sap. Want to know exactly how big a sap I am? I've given money to beggars when I know they're going to spend it on alcohol. There's a couple of winos who hang around the town where I work. They're dirty, they're smelly and I doubt they'll change their ways. I don't know what happened to these people but they're living wrecks and I feel sorry for them. Hell, I've even stopped the car, scraped them up off the pavement and driven them to whatever hovel they're staying in at that particular time. Apologies if that disabuses anyone of the idea that I am a bitch queen from hell. So, I'm a soft touch. Why do I loathe cyber beggars then? Surely they're not doing anything any different from the guy who sits outside the tube station with a sign saying 'homeless and hungry'? Well, yes they are different. They're sitting in comfortable homes (believe me if you've ever been inside a hostel for homeless people, any home is comfortable in comparison), with full stomachs, tapping away on an expensive piece of computer equipment, uploading begging pleas to a domain and webspace they've spent money purchasing. See the difference? The sad thing is they'll get money. There's people out there who couldn't believe that anyone could do something so desperate without good reason and they'll send them a few pounds or dollars and it all mounts up. It's all perfectly legal as well. I don't know of any service or webspace provider who has banned begging sites, although I think it's high time they started doing so. In the meantime just don't give the cyber beggars any money, no matter how plausible their story sounds. Buy gifts off wishlists, or send a friend some money if they need it, but don't be fooled by the fraudsters.
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