How do you handle panhandlers?

Ive been playing this game for over a year with only being asked for money once.. UNTIL.. lately. This morning I was decorating my store and approuched by THREE different people asking for money and 2 of them while I was afk stayed there asking over and over demanding an answer.. also saw them in chat history asking basically anyone that came by for money. EEK. Not really sure what the best answer to give these people is? I mean in RL I , whether Im a sucker or not, if I have change .. give it. But its really hard to relay that symphathy to people that dont need the money for anything life sustaining like food or shelter. How do you handle it when strangers ask you for money? Do you give it? If you say no, how do you go about it in a way that makes you not look like a jackass?

Offer them a job doing something for you. The last time I had someone ask for money, I asked them to proofread some notecards for me and I would pay them. They went away.

I make them talk to me for a long time for it. They end up having to chat with me for line an hour or two to get it.

I'm surprised some of them have such patience!

Awesome, Keiki. I haven't had this in a long, long while. Last time, I took too long to respond and they just left me alone.

Just say no!

Oh Keiki , that is A GREAT idea !!! I have lots of stuff I could use help with and I will definitly try that next time. I mean part of me just wanted to give it , but then I thought would that just encourage their behavior? So that they will continue to go on and bother more people because it worked for them? That was my dilemma on that .. I told one of them if they are short on cash to look up the Gnubie store and Yadni's Junkyard , but since they have 0 dollars , I dont know where to really recommend they get money fast other than money trees or camping chairs or lindex/slexchange etc.

I get this all the time when I am in my shop working.
I give them a truthful answer I tell them that If i gave money to every one that asked me i would soon not have any. I also direct them to LindenX and explain how they can buy money.
When I stared 2 years ago The first thing I wanted to know was where can I buy L$. I actually got very up set that I could not buy them from LL and had to use a Third party sight (gom). I did however learn quickly that it was not a big deal and there was nothing to worry about in using gom. I also learned quickly that I could sell lindens on gom easily also.

I never ever asked or begged for money and I will never ever will give to any one who does.
This does not mean that I don't give I do lend money to close friends and I do give away many items of clothing that I have made to a wide variety of people for a wide variety of reasons.
Second life is a luxury and as such if you don't have the money to buy lindens then do what you can with out them (with SL you can do a lot with out L$) and if you can afford the money then get your ass to Lindenx and buy them

I call them the pathetic losers that they are and tell them to get lost.

Once I said "no" and that I thought it was rude. I answered some questions the new person had, and he went away. I've had about a dozen I think - usually I just say "no," with no further explanation.

I don't think they are necessarily pathetic losers. But I also think no one should give them money. They'll be ok once they get an independent mindset.

The nicest way to deal with Panhandlers is to give them a notecard full of Money Tree locations. Not only do you get them off your back, but you end up helping them out in the process.

You can pick up a copy at NCI - Carl keeps them updated rather frequently

Not seen this yet, but I'll tell them about my money tree

I say no and if they keep being a pest I mute them and rocket away.

I also give in RL and honestly I don't even care if they buy beer with the money. But SL I tell them to use lindex.

This has only happened to me once when I was approached (while shopping for shoes of all things) by a beggar who asked for 200 lindens.

I expressed some surprise that someone could afford a computer and high speed internet connection but yet had to beg for 60 cents. I got an unprintable reply and was sprayed with something that set my avie on fire. I found all this very bemusing as I wasnt until then even aware that it was possible for another avie to attack you. Fortunately I was with a friend who was packing all sorts of defensive technology and she drove him off.

Sorry but I think they 'are' pathetic loosers

This isnt RL as Six pointed out. This is a game. They dont NEED it. I dont have a house in SL dont make me homeless!?

I automaticaly assume theyre kids.... ( shouldnt they be on the teen grid? )

Oddly no-one asks me But then I only hang at my store and most of the type of ppl begging wouldnt be looking at textures to build and create ...they would want it to buy clothes hair weapons vehicles...so at the risk of sounding snooty I think my store attracts older wiser more creative people...( generally) altho I did get a charming person shout out last night

" lets copy these textures and display them in our yard "

Clearly using the software we all know about... she got an ban and a serious warning...I bet shes done her fair share of begging...low life scum LOL

In RL? "shrug/smile) Sorry guy/ma'am." and keep walkin.

In other MMO's: "Quest! Vanquish enemies!" When they whine... "There's no point to being here EXCEPT for questing and vanquishing enemies. If you don't enjoy it, you're in the wrong world and more $ won't help."

Phone solicitations from groups I belong to: "Sorry, I've already made all my charitable donations for this year."

In SL: "Sorry, no $ for charity. What can you sell me or do for me that'd be worth paying for? "

How do I handle panhandlers? With a panhandlerhandler.

I tell them to f*ck off.
The other day I even met one in the preview begging for money. What the hell did he want with that there ? Loosers.

I've always directed them to the LindeX.

"Just click that little blue L$ button and type in any amount of L$ you want at all and click OK".

Made them go away so far

Before 6/6/6 I used to ask them to sell me something I want.

Now I give them a box and tell them to wear it.

I'm also considering giving them a landmark of a "Newbie Zoo" I saw in Ishtar, it's a big cage with sex poseballs/money chairs. there's even a bench to sit and watch and a "do not feed the newbie" sign.

If they're IMing me out of the blue from somewhere distant, they get no replies from me and are instantly muted.

If they're right there near me begging away, I do the same thing I do in WoW when I get those obnoxious duel challenges from hyperactive kiddies with something to prove: I ignore 'em.

I don't put them on mute or anything, nor do I TP away...but I stay put, completely silent, just to just see how long they'll waste their time on a non-responsive avatar. See...they're simply not going to get a single $L out of me no matter how hard they beg or demand or threaten...and I figure that if they're talking to the brick wall that is Eryn Curie, they're not out there bugging others who actually MAY give them the handouts they so desperately want. It's fascinating to watch what they do before they give up (usually after a good long while) and fly off.

Most of them are just like most panhandlers in real life...they beg and plead and act fairly civil at first, but when you turn them down, they insult you in their very next breath. Fuck 'em; let THEM link two pretty prims together themselves and sell it for chump change like the rest of us.

If they are complete strangers I tell them no and offer to show them a couple locations of where some vendors have freebies.

Alot of nice vendors have done some nice things to help new people out, genuine noobies are grateful for this, the panhandlers will go away once they realize cash isn't in the equation.

Hmmm, maybe I should make a notecard with landmarks to gorean hunting grounds and other sims like Jessie and tell them that magical money trees pop up out of the ground from time to time but you have to be there at the right moment to get the monies! (of course I'd only give this out to the rudies)

I've had quite a few anonymous requests for L$ since the new alt system was introduced. I never give them any L$, but instead direct them to a camp chair, but in all cases they never responded. I strongly suspect some of them are simply alts who go through the list. If they try enough people, they will make money.

Best solution is totally ignore them, same as in rl.

I offer them newbie packages which I've put together and generally hand out when I do my newbie classes. If they say no, which they do 99% of the time, they'll generally disappear on their own after saying so -- because they know they've been found out as not to be newbs. If they say yes I talk to them a bit, tell them how to access LindenX, explain that when I need money I generally go there and give them landmarks to the Shelter, Yadni's and GNUbie. (which are in the newbie packs but this way they dont' have to hunt for them).

I'm generally nice to newbs -- if they really are newbs.