If you don't think physical appearance matters, watch this.

[audioguy]

A homeless man begs for a small amount of change, first dressed in a nice business jacket and then as he normally dresses.

Not a surprise but really unfortunate.

[video]http://www.godvine.com/How-People-Treated-This-Homeless-Man-Will-Surprise-You-But-Not-The-Way-You-Think-Shocking--5768.html?utm_source=GodVine%20Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=08/06/2014[/video]

 

[GaryProtein]

The results were not unexpected, but that was an eye-opening video to actually see the difference between the peoples' reactions.

 

[docvale]

This is definitely an interesting experiment, but, in all honesty, I would had reacted differently.

If someone is begging for money, usually my first criterion to decide whether to give or not to, is if that person is young/senior and healthy/with a disability. I think I might have given more than $50 (divided in several donations) to a man on a wheelchair and a terrible thing going on with his ankles: he smokes, so he's wasting the money I give him, but I feel terrible for him.

If a man wearing a suit and using a cell phone asks me for few bucks, I'd tell him where the closest ATM is.

If someone old, or truly poor, asked me for money for food, I happened to directly buy food for them. IMHO, that's the best donation.

 

[audioguy]

If you have any doubts about how our appearance affects ones reaction to us, check out another video. While this did not take place in the US, I have no doubt that the response would be identical.

 

[docvale]

The second video has clearly a more expected result.

 

[audioguy]

The second video has clearly a more expected result.

I'm not suggesting it doesn't. But shame on us (or at least me) for being so driven by physical appearance - judging a book by it's cover!!

Just sayin'

 

[docvale]

The second case can definitely be shameful. Well, let's remove the can.

I have a couple of anecdotes about that, though. As a M.D., I offered my help in a number of cases, and, strangely, help was more frequently rejected than accepted (specially if the cause of a collapse is drugs).
But once I listened to something that made me furious: a couple was walking in the downtown center of my old town in Italy. Some fest was going on and the crowd was large. The girl tells the man "should I fall here?". They moved away fast, so I could not follow them and alert the surrounding people about the risks in stopping and offering help.
Since then, I considered that the appearance can truly be misleading!

Unfortunately, in Italy many cases of aggressions are reported in contexts of provision of help for fake situations: most cases occur with people stopping cars for "emergencies". And unfortunately, when people know about these threats, they stop offering help...

The first case (i.e., money request) has a more complex psychology behind.
Then, again, I would never give money to someone that looks like having money: ATM machines are the solution to some cash-need problems, if someone needs cash...

 

[rockitman]

It is a surprise to me. I would more often give to a ragged homeless guy than some guy in a suit. Drugs/alcohol or not. The percentage of addicted homeless is quite high compared to sober homeless people.

 

[Orb]

Ross Kemp did a great episode (Extreme World) relating to the homeless in Las Vegas showing just how "invisible" they are to society.
Of course it shows those on sadly caught in downward spirals whether from some type of addiction, but also those caused by truly infortunate situations and who really are trying to improve their life.

Cheers
Orb