revealed to me that the person begging doesn’t actually want money for food, but for other things.
Could be afraid that if someone randomly gives them food it’s laced with some shit or poisoned or something.. not always of course, just a consideration. I remember once in Chengdu of old I approached then soon after was chasing this kid down the street with some fruit from a bag I was carrying in hand like “gei ni ping guo!” when I saw a kid digging around in some trash with literally just food waste smushed up in his hands about to consume it, he ran off rather than take an apple….was really sad, knowing that the kid would be consuming food waste in a place where the food itself is suspect, food waste..damn. I know it wasn’t because he didn’t want food. Sometimes when those beggars come around night time bbq’s begging at the tables or if I see them trying to sneak into a table that has leftovers from people who have left, I’ll ask the owner to buy them some new noodles or rice or whatever and some extra to pack up for later, never been refused – they’re always *super* stoked, and the bosses in my experience even tho previously were generally ‘shooing’ have been obliged and happy to do so and let the homeless people sit and eat. In Chengdu, back in the day at like, “babi” and “mix”, there was always the same group of little kids who would hang out selling flowers, friends and I would always buy them food and they actually turned out to be super helpful in some sticky situations (ala fights and shit) getting all involved and swarming opposing parties. 😀