After spotting a panhandler in his community, a man decided to offer the vagrant a job, saying he’d give him $15 an hour in exchange for doing yard work. When the panhandler refused, the man returned with his own sign. Things escalated — and it was caught on camera.
Ryan Bray was in his vehicle at a Bradenton, Florida insection when a panhandler approached and asked for some cash, according to Fox 13. “He reached his arms inside my vehicle, resting them and said, ‘Hey, do you have any money?’ I said, ‘No, but I have one better for you,’” Bray recalled. Instead of giving the guy a handout, Bray offered the panhandler a job.
Bray — who works for Bray Remodeling, his family’s business — said he’d pay the man $15 an hour to do yard work at his house, which was just down the road. Rather than being grateful for the opportunity to earn an honest living and taking advantage of the offer, the panhandler didn’t take too kindly to the proposal. “He said, ‘Absolutely not,’” Bray explained.
The man didn’t just decline the offer, though. Bray said the panhandler “started getting belligerent and cursing” as he refused the offer to actually earn some money through work, and he allegedly even went so far as to kick Bray’s Jeep as he told him to leave. Bray drove away, but he’d soon return to the scene of the rude exchange with a sign of his own.
“I offered him $15 an hour to do yard work for me and he refused. If we as a community stop paying them, they will leave our neighborhood,” Bray’s sign read. And, he spent three hours along the side of the road with the vagrant, holding that sign high for all to see as the man attempted to beg passersby for money. But, that’s not all.
According to Bray, the panhandler threatened to rape his mother and kill his wife, all because he wouldn’t just give him some money. Bray was undeterred by the threats and determined to warn others. So, rather than staying away, he returned to fight back against the aggressive panhandler once more.
With a local reporter in tow, Bray joined the panhandler who got angry about his offer at the intersection of 75th Street W and Manatee Avenue W again, but this time, he was there with cameras rolling. Unsurprisingly, the unnamed panhandler wasn’t happy to see Bray return with his sign or to be questioned by the reporters who had joined him.
The transient confronted Bray and the news crew, claiming he did nothing wrong and saying that he was the one being harassed. The panhandler also used foul language as Bray stood near him along the street, but he still managed to get money from at least one driver. “You can’t shut me down, brother,” he said after his panhandling victory.
In another clip from WFLA News Channel 8, the unnamed vagrant showed even more agitation and aggression towards reporters on the busy street corner, where he approached cars constantly. “Get the f***ing camera out of my face, brother,” he said. “Quit following me!” he yelled, telling reporters to leave. And, it’s easy to see why Bray, a businessman, felt his community was being bullied by panhandlers:
Ryan Bray said he understands the plight of homelessness but wants the panhandling to end. He hopes for stricter ordinances against it and for drivers to stop handing cash through their cracked windows so that panhandlers leave and stop harassing drivers. “I can’t have my 13-year-old daughter and my wife driving with their windows up and being berated the entire time if [panhandlers] don’t get money,” he said.
Adell Erozer, executive director for Turning Points, a nonprofit that assists the homeless, admitted that some people make a living off of panhandling and discouraged people from giving money to panhandlers. “It’s hard to tell the difference between someone who is really homeless and somebody who is out there just panhandling,” she said, adding advice for those who want to help the homeless:
According to the Turning Points executive director, if you want to help, you should give money directly to organizations that are helping the homeless and not to those begging for money on the street. “The best thing to do if we all really want to get rid of panhandlers is to don’t give to panhandlers,” Erozer said, explaining that giving to panhandlers encourages the behavior.
As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, he will eat today, but teach a man to fish, and he will eat forever.” What do you do when the man has no desire to fish for himself and would rather spend his time begging for your catch instead? Ryan Bray might have found a viable solution, simply holding a sign to warn others as he encourages panhandlers and the community to seek a hand up, not a handout.
When they come to your window, pepper spray them,
s strong right cross and a nut kick, see ya.
I admire Ryan’s self control. He handled the situation perfectly imho. I, of course would have over reacted immediately when the cranky bum threatened my loved ones (allegedly), and I would be in jail, wishing I had more self control.
I stopped to offer a guy work as i needed a bit of help, but as i talked to him it was obvious that he was drunk at near noon. i could not take a chance on him falling off a ladder.
They are homeless because of drug and alcohol addiction. Anyone giving them money is not their friend, but an enemy trying to murder them faster. And the enablers know it, but pretend they are earning points to enter heaven.
this site censors so….fuckthem.
Was the “drug and alcohol” a problem before or after the trip to parasitic land?
100% true story. I had a great job at a company you know all too well. I picked up items that would eventually be delivered to someone else. I already made very good money. One afternoon, I approached a red light in this fairly large city that I lived and worked in. This black guy was standing there with ‘his sign’. Since it was warm out and our vehicles had no air conditioning, I had the window down. This guy said “Hey, can you help a brother out with a few dollars?”. I sat there for a few seconds and then turned and replied ” you probably make more money than I do.”. He shot back ” On Fridays, I make 5. meaning $500 just standing there. I said, “see?” and drove off. That is their job.
Our city posted new signs at intersections and underpasses which state that there is absolutely no camping, no fires, no loitering. But you can hardly see these signs because of all the tents and panhandlers that are STILL THERE!
Good response by Bray, fighting fraud by exposing it.
He should arrange that an private detective follows the panhandler after his day at ‘ work ‘ defrauding the public. Chances are he goes to a nice home he owns in a nice neighborhood… then Bray can set up on that guys block with a sign that reads something like this ‘ Joe who lives at XXXXXXX is pretending to be homeless at the intersections of XXXXX and XXXXX and defrauds drivers to ‘ earn ‘ his living . He also threatens to rape peoples children who expose his fraud.. this is YOUR NEIGHBOR . ‘
Do not give them money, let them starve.
They don’t want food. Often refuse or throw it away if you just give them something to eat.
Bray will probably be-charged by a Dem prosecutor for something.
It is the country we live in now.
This happened in Manatee County, FL, not some blue craphole. Thanks to Gov. DeSantis and a solidly GOP legislature, Democrats are becoming an endangered species in these parts. Good riddance to them.
Had I been in Bray’s shoes, I would have bought the bum a one-way bus ticket to Baltimore.
The panhandler either has mental and/or drug problems or he is a total d**k. I’m going with number 2.
As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, he will eat today, but teach a man to fish, and he will eat forever.”
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“Give a democrat a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a democrat to fish, and he’ll come back when you’re gone, steal your fishing pole and destroy it.”
True statement I saw on a T-shirt once. “Democrats want everything you have except your job!”