BEGGARS - TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE

Last summer I was watching an athletic looking guy at the traffic lights, near Brignole station. He was in the middle of the road, throwing up colourful balls and catching them circus style. His audience were motorists waiting for the lights to change. The young man did his party trick and timed it so that he still had perhaps 30 seconds to run in between the cars to ask for money. Very few people gave him anything, but some did and the young man repeated his act for the next group of waiting motorists.  I saw him  from a bus window, thinking that -  at least -  he is trying to entertain people.

Just like in any reasonable sized city, there are beggars in Genova.
Roughly speaking there are two kinds. The first group are people offering a token service, such as car window clearners or young men walking around selling umbrellas, flowers, packets of tissues or simple African friendship bracelets. Or people playing an instrument - some of them can actually play a tune or two. 

  Then there is the second type: beggars coming to commuter trains, leaving multilingual messages on the seats, only to return couple of minutes later to collect possible contributions. There also seem to be the same, regular beggars kneeling on the portico on Via XX Settembre with signs saying in Italian "I am hungry, please help". Some of them come with dogs and sleeping bags. There are old ladies wearing very heavy winter coats, walking slowly and rattling plastic cups asking for money. Or people, who stop you on the street or outside supermarkets to ask for money.
  The problem is that even if I would like to help in some cases, I hesitate to do so. The urban legends about beggars who earn hundreds of euro per day could have something to do with it.  It is sad, when the feeling of being taken for a ride or being deceived, is stronger than the willingness to help.
   I always look at the general appearance: surprisingly often, the beggar is wearing brand new looking sports shoes. Or they can be seen talking to a cellphone while sitting on a box in a street corner with a hat in front of them. Sometimes it is obvious that this is a highly organised activity. Or what should I think when a "beggar" refuses to take a loaf of bread instead of money, despite a sign saying "I am hungry"?
   And then it happens, that we are reminded about a genuine need for help. A friend told me recently, how he had been rushing to a bus stop. A middle aged man, clearly a foreigner, tried to sell him a packet of tissues. My friend simply brushed him aside and said no. But for some reason, he turned back to have a closer look at the beggar. The man had stopped and burst into tears, his whole body shaking with grief. My friend went back, tried to hastily find some coins and gave them to him.
  When I heard this, I felt really bad about being such a cynic. Perhaps not everyone is part of a criminal gang. Now I have started to make some exceptions. But I will still not give anything to people with brand new looking sports shoes and cellphones.