Maybe the fact that a third-party platform takes a percentage on the tip/coffee makes it somehow more legitimate.
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
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I could have been begging online this entire time? Where's the best place to beg online
Twitch
Oh indeed
Gofundme + Facebook
See, facebook is way too embarassing (requires being liked by people who use facebook 😒 ) and GoFundMe seems to be used for worthwhile causes, which I am not, but the mood has passed now.
Lot of that on Nextdoor. I have an account there under a fake name that I only use for lurking occasionally and the drama and begging on that place is absolutely disgusting.
I haven't seen much begging online. But yeah, online I don't have to talk to people. So it's better.
Ever hear of Go fund me?
Yeah but I don't go there. Isn't that a charity and project starting site? Do people just straight up beg there?
I know I've seen people with stuff like "Help me get quarters for laundry"
I think it’s hexbear that’s an instance with a few communities for begging.
In streets, they are talking to random strangers. Like I'm going to the grocery store, on the way there someone asks for money because they want money.
Online, they are usually begging their fans, or at least people who is showing some sort of interest. Like I'm watching a YouTube video, and the creator is asking for a donation, as a volunteer payment for their effort.
the way there someone asks for money because they want money.
Can you spare a dollar? I need a beer.
In reality, the people on the streets often "need" the money much more than the others, but then there's a whole class of street beggars pretending to look needy (not as big a class as movies might have you believe), but worse than them are the people who make careers of street begging - sure, they are hard up, need the money most of the time, but they live that way intentionally, for decades. No thanks, you look miserable and by giving you money this way I'm perpetuating that picture of misery on my daily commute home.
Can you spare a dollar? I need a beer.
Exactly, it's not related to me at all.
there's a whole class of street beggars pretending to look needy
Yep, in some areas that can actually give a middle class income.
Imagine working hard on a low income job, but you make enough to "fit in". You have a house, you have a car, your kids can join class trips.
Then there's a beggar that's making more than you, but doesn't have any kids. They have a better house, a better car, and goes to Thailand for two weeks every year.
The 79th/Biscayne street corner worker in Miami (in the winters of the 1990s) would head up to Chicago when it got too hot. He looked a mess, but in later years he had a Jack Russel terrier with him that looked like it never missed a meal or a grooming appointment. There were many of these "Snowbird street people" who would show up every fall - and some of them also did petty crime like stealing from cars, etc. It was too obvious: every year at the same time they show up, the break ins start again.
Then, on the flip side, some of those people you see genuinely can't find any other way to get their next meal, or afford a safe place to sleep for the night.
And I don't want to be making the judgement call there at the red light who is who. I would much rather have a system of UBI that means NONE OF THEM have a reason to be there. I'd pay taxes for that.
I have never seen a panhandler giving out the qr code for their gofundme. Thats what I would do.
I've seen it before, but it's usually when someone has a gimmick. Last guy I saw who did this was livestreaming while playing some game on a laptop, with the gimmick being he was going to do this for x number of hours at this location for a designated period of time. I think there was the opportunity to 1 v 1 him over it as well.
I appreciated the layers of dipping going on there.
For real? I really need $20 rn. Anyone willing to CashApp me? Perhaps you, OP?
In short: no, it is not - to me. Begging on the streets, at the checkout register, pass the boot firemen at traffic lights, on television commercials, it's all begging.
Inform us about your cause, don't hit us up for spare change or impulse generosity. If we want to give you our spare change, we can do that systematically based on actual decision making, not impulse based on very little - probably inaccurate - information about where the money is going.
Oh man, the firemen or whatever organization at lights really urks me. They kick out the pan handlers, but because they're city employees they get a pass? No thanks.