I used to live in London and there were a lot of panhandlers there. It was clear that for some this was their job. Moreso, you just need one little old lady to give em a fiver to beat busting your hump at MacDonalds for an hour (for less, even before taxes).
A lot of panhandlers were (clearly) illegal immigrants. Some had mental health problems.
Whatever the reason there seemed to be a code for the homeless, like not crowding certain areas (basically "territory").
I don't know the details but from an anthropological point of view it's interesting that even the desperate, destitute, mentally ill, drug addicts and illegal immigrants seem to have an innate capacity to self-organize.
I used to live in London and there were a lot of panhandlers there. It was clear that for some this was their job. Moreso, you just need one little old lady to give em a fiver to beat busting your hump at MacDonalds for an hour (for less, even before taxes).
A lot of panhandlers were (clearly) illegal immigrants. Some had mental health problems.
Whatever the reason there seemed to be a code for the homeless, like not crowding certain areas (basically "territory").
I don't know the details but from an anthropological point of view it's interesting that even the desperate, destitute, mentally ill, drug addicts and illegal immigrants seem to have an innate capacity to self-organize.