Grand Rapids "Saftey Ambassadors" job is to annoy panhandlers out of town
10 replies, posted
[quote=]GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Cities can no longer ban panhandling -- but there seems to be nothing to stop them from trying to annoy the panhandlers out of town. That's one of the jobs Grand Rapids' new downtown Safety Ambassadors have picked up.
It's part of the report to the Downtown Development Authority on what the new Safety Ambassadors have been doing since they hit the downtown streets two months ago.
The Safety Ambassadors started working during Art Prize. There are eight of them on foot, bikes and a Segway. In their first couple of months, the Safety Ambassadors -- who work for the DDA -- have given out information, held umbrellas for shoppers and wiped graffiti off downtown buildings.[/quote]
[quote=]"Our goal is to kind of use our free speech to be equally as annoying to them," Eledge said. "We like to keep them moving. If they're moving around, they're not making as much money and we actually had several successes of being so annoying they just get on a bus and leave the area."[/quote]
[video=youtube;t04M072TJUs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t04M072TJUs[/video]
I can't help but laugh every time I see one of those dudes on a segway.
[editline]wat[/editline]
a few weeks ago I was driving through Detroit and a whole group of like a dozen old white people were all strapped with helmets and knee guards, rolling deep on segways. fucking white people lmao
The guy in the video said he wants to give panhandlers a better life.
Giving them a better life by having them get on a bus and get out of town?
[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;42857559]The guy in the video said he wants to give panhandlers a better life.
Giving them a better life by having them get on a bus and get out of town?[/QUOTE]
God forbid they actually admit to having poor people in the city.
[QUOTE=SoaringFallus;42857548]I can't help but laugh every time I see one of those dudes on a segway.
[editline]wat[/editline]
a few weeks ago I was driving through Detroit and a whole group of like a dozen old white people were all strapped with helmets and knee guards, rolling deep on segways. fucking white people lmao[/QUOTE]
It's an interesting mode of transport, but it's also a bit comical to watch and I can't take them seriously. Kind of like a modern day Sinclair C5.
[IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/11/05/article-1326823-01FD44E10000044D-596_634x436.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;42857559]The guy in the video said he wants to give panhandlers a better life.
Giving them a better life by having them get on a bus and get out of town?[/QUOTE]
There are charities in the city for the homeless and needy, people panhandle because it's easy to make money, you can make a good amount just standing on a street corner with a sign. Lots of them aren't even homeless.
I don't mind beggars who don't have any other means of support or can't work legitimately for a living. I object when a beggar can make more money than the average person does with a nine to five job. Yes, such beggars do exist, leastways in India, in fact, there was this one story about a millionaire beggar king somewhere in Mumbai with his own personal suite of beggars and a large fortune.
I used to work in Grand Rapids and there was always a panhandler at at least one intersection on the way to work.
thank goodness the system is saving our holy communion from these petty scum
[QUOTE=snookypookums;42857589]It's an interesting mode of transport, but it's also a bit comical to watch and I can't take them seriously. Kind of like a modern day Sinclair C5.
[IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/11/05/article-1326823-01FD44E10000044D-596_634x436.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Segways seem to be more useful than the C5.
However it seems everyone but the states banned them.
[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;42857596]I don't mind beggars who don't have any other means of support or can't work legitimately for a living. I object when a beggar can make more money than the average person does with a nine to five job. Yes, such beggars do exist, leastways in India, in fact, there was this one story about a millionaire beggar king somewhere in Mumbai with his own personal suite of beggars and a large fortune.[/QUOTE]
Those are begging mafia's which are pretty different from buskers/panhandlers. In places like [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharavi"]Dharavi[/URL] there's some truly Fagin-level shit that goes on, which involves kidnapping kids/luring runaways and then brutally mutilating them (some of the boys are even castrated) and are then forced to beg and become property of their "owners" - guys like what you describe.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.