By Associated Press
COOS BAY, Ore. - A police survey says panhandlers outside Wal-Mart in Coos Bay can make $300 a day. Inside, it takes a clerk a week to make that much.
Police say people who have a problem with that needn't look to the law - asking for money is considered protected free speech.
Coos Bay authorities say most panhandlers are not criminals.
Coos Bay Police Captain Rodger Craddock says most have lived in the city a long time and they actually have homes. Craddock says, "This is just their chosen profession."
He says most are docile, and that people should report those who are not.
Bob More, director of housing and emergency services at South Coast Community Action, says many panhandlers are there for the money - to feed their addictions.
He suggested a voucher system involving tickets people could give that are good for a meal or bed in a shelter.
This is the kind of crap that pisses me off about the system. I just spent 6 years learning stupid stuff and pounding beers at college when I could have been making $300 a day outside of Wal-Mart.
Why am I the only one who's noticed that the dam has burst while everybody else is complaining about how wet their socks have gotten? I think the real issue here is not how much money you can make panhandling but how little Wal-Mart workers are paid for their time.
When people are rewarded more for begging than working hard for 40+ hours a week, perhaps there's something wrong with the system. If not, the only thing a logical person can conclude is that they aught to hang up their blue vest, grab a strip of cardboard and a magic marker and start hanging around on a street corner. America, we are better than this.
$300 a week is $7.5 dollars a hour. The Oregon minimum wage is $7.80 and just got bumped to $7.95 an hour. There just isn't enough information like if this was post or pre tax and if health insurance is included in the employees benefits. Also we do not know the position and seniority of the $300 a week employee. I'm guessing the employee is at the low end of the spectrum. Not everyone can get paid big bucks without a specific skill set.
