I am supposedly in a vacation, and was looking for at least one day of complete rest. Mental and psychological rest , that is.

Last few days I was doing jobs and errands that I couldn't during work days, and thought that it was a good idea for the "vacation within vacation". So, I grabbed my GHB and camping bag and headed to s beach/camping ground that belongs to the establishement I work for. It was safe with a gate and guard, it had clean bathrooms , yet it was empty and just like a deserted island.

I reached there and was greated by the guy at the gate. And I started looking for the best cabin there is.

Other than the guard, there was a guy roaming around and cleaning. I saw him before on a previous visit with my kids, and have appreciated his work in that desolate place in the sun and the wind. So I gave him some money and food.

This time, I saw him , but was in no mood for company. So, I stopped the car near a cabin and headed to the bathrooms. He was coming towards me . grrrrr. Doesn't look like a good start. OK, he said : Hello, and I said likewise , and disappeared in the bathroom.

Five minutes later I came out, didn't see him , so I headed to the car. I took out a few things and put them on the picnic table. Then stood there thinking where to put the stove.

Suddenly the guy showed up, and right away started cleaning the cabin. Dust was all over and my mood turned cloudy. I asked him to stop , the cabin is OK. But he insisted the cabin needed cleaning.

Either he was sincerely appreciating my gift of last time and realy trying to do something for me, or he was looking for another handout. But it didn't matter at that point, and I carried my (still unpacked) stuff and left.

Grrrrr.... It would have been a magnificient day, all by myself and my BOB.

Morale of the story : don't ever be kind or generous if you cannot bear the consequences !!!

BTW, this was not the first time something like this happens. But it is one thing to happen at work or the market, and another thing to happen when you need to relax and be alone.

I am used to giving the needy. Just before heading towards that campground, I stopped at a shop and bought a few things including a box of 3-in-1 packets of Nescafe (coffee + sugar + creamer).

A low-income laborer was also there buying a few things including ONE packet of 3-in-1. He was talking to the cashier who was from his country in their own language, so I didnt know what was going on, but opened my 3-in-1 box and gave him 2 packets.

Luckily I don't know the guy and he doesn't know me. And there is a slim chance of meeting again. It is good to give, but not so good when the guy sticks to you like super glue.

My new rule is : never give a handout at a place you expect to visit again.

This is a valauble lesson for those with preps about what may happen when SHTF and there is more people who don't have anything.

No good deed goes unpunished!

It is always better to trade something to someone who needs than to just give that something to someone.

Wildman, I like to give people who have lower income. It is one way to feel the blessing of being middle class. I am not a millionaire or even close, but psychologically feel that I have all the money I need.

We should find a way to balance giving the needy, while also protecting ourselves from leeches.

Also, I am still looking for a way to spend one day ALONE.
Seems harder than I thought.

I agree with your feelings. Avoiding the making of leeches is the problem.

I learned from a church that the person in charge of the benevolence fund was the most coldhearted person they had. He could see through a scam in a second. He was able to propose creative ways of getting the person help in exchange for some labor, which they usually refused; do some janitorial work, kitchen work, wash a car, things like that. That weeded out the scammers.

Now, that is not to say that those who received help had to do labor. It was just a tactic that he was able to successfully use when needed.

In fact, those who received the help were often given access to some basic financial counseling, job leads, and other such services to help them return to self-sufficiency.

That is so true. Just disappearing causes too many problems; though it is easy to do.

A bunch of years back we took a vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. It consisted of me, DW, DS, and one of DS's friends. I told DW that all I wanted to do was: eat scrambled eggs, sausage, English muffins with orange marmalade, and tea every morning. That is all I wanted to do. No running around, no beach stuff. We were lucky in that there was beach reclamation going on. I watched it for hours on end from the balcony. But, I still had to do some things, but not a lot. I got lucky. I hope you are able to get some decompression time.

I don't know that I can spot a scammer, and I know I don't have the time to figure people out case by case. So when I do give charitably, it goes towards organizations like Red Cross or Save the Children. (It's not like I'm a millionaire or anything, but I try to help once in a while.) This method may shield you from problematic individuals, Chisel. Are there such organizations where you live?

Bingley: it is tough to "decode" the individuals. I was speaking earlier from a strictly organizational level. Anyway, I hope we all are able to help when we are presented with the opportunity. Caveat dator!

Yes, Bingley, there are many of them. And that is what I do most of the time. For example, in our culture we cannot adopt kids in the same way you do in the west (giving them our names ..etc.) but there are organizations that arrange different programs of orphan sponsorship. My wife & I have been sponsoring two orphans in the form of paying their expenses only. There are "advanced sponsorship" programs like we visit those orphans in their homes and check how they are doing in school ... etc. I have also proposed different types of orphan programs like homeschooling ..etc.

In addition to that I do support two households who are relatives. In both cases , father is dead and kids are either too young or have special needs.

Still, other situations pop up all the time, and that is when things are not really clear cut. You cannot see who is real or fake. My first rule in these cases : I don't give anyone who is asking. They can ask for gov assitance or charity assistance. In both cases someone visits their homes and check before giving them anything.

Re: being alone.
Well, I mean ALONE !!! Not even the wife. Just me and the BOB.

There is a corniche area a few miles away. But I will not be really relaxed , especially after reading news a few days ago about armed robberies in one restuarnt, one business van, and some resort area. I am not in shape to fight 3 armed teens nor ready to lose my wallet and car.

I wanted a very safe place .... and that campground is PERRRRRRRFECT, except for that annoying guy.

My best bet is go back there before the vacation ends, pay the guy and ask him :
please, please ... do not bother me

Only then I can spend a few hours, totally relaxed.

Who do you help? I dont know,I havent really got it figured out.I dont like seeing cold hungry people...I know that.Thats who I try to give enough to to eat and Im far more likely to give to someone who isnt in my face 'demanding' help.

Aggressive panhandling drives me nuts when they do it professionally,just lazy young(ish) plenty healthy types make me pass up those who need a helping hand.

What I do know is I could do better and always seem to forget that when the situation presents.

It doesnt take much to make someones day who truly is in need.
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Example-Jaded me,sitting in line at Jack In the Box,man about 30 comes up to window,can you help me? I wave him off,really didnt look at him. He says,you know what,I hope youre in this situation someday. Then I looked.He was clean,not some druggy type,and wasnt being aggressive.Walked away.See him go across the street to Lady and 2 kids in 8 year old range,also clean as situation allowed,they didnt have the trashy look.They had the poor look.

So I bought a bag of 1 buck jumbo Jacks and took them over to them.Guy says thank you very much,looked embarrassed as did wife.Turns out they were moving,car died and had NOTHING,and if they were scammers than so be it,he looked like a lower middle class family to me.In fact he looked a lot like me,and Ive been hungry too,never again by the Grace of God is how I see it.A man in need of feeding his family,and I almost blew them off.

So something very easy and cheap for me got a family a warm meal.What makes me angry is the scammers that cause me to ignore those truly in need.

Only big charity I trust is Salvation Army.

I do my scam research on the internet. Everyone knows it's true if they read it on the Internet!

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/salvhist.htm

My mother told me stories about my grandfather who fought in WWI in France about how the Salvation Army probably saved his life more times than he could count. It also allowed him to get money back home so my grandmother and her kids didn't starve.

The Salvation Army is probably one of the most respectable charities around in my opinion.

"Only big charity I trust is Salvation Army.
I don't know if they're a charity but I like the American Red Cross. When the United Way campaign materials go round the office, I decline and tell people I prefer to donate directly to the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, and ,of course, my church.

I wish to sometimes stumble in such people . I would gladly help.

Please don;t laugh at my fantasy-type thinking . I saw this video a while ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8zrkENy9QM

The lady cuts open a milk bottle and fills it with food and other stuff to make 72-hour kit. I thought of the 10-liter ( 2.5 gallon) water bottles I have aound and thought of making "emergency cache" stations around the areas I go camping. Several times we read sad stories of people getting lost ..etc. So, every "cache station" would have an original bottle of water (un-opened), and another bottle filled with food and shelter materials like the one in the video. I asked local forum members if they would support this but they warned that vandals will take them and the purpose will not materialise.

Instead , local campers made a different campaign of "winter kits" where they assemble kits of warm underwear plus some food and give these kits to poor camel herders they meet in the desert ( these are usually not local desert dwelling nomads, they are hired from other poor countries like Sudan and Bangladesh, and sometimes their employers do not treat them humanely enough).

I agree their idea is better than mine, but I still fantasize about one of those lost and almost dying, the ones we occasionaly read about in the newspapers, and they find one of my life saving kits.

Nice kit for a car, since bottled water can be carried in a car and swapped out as needed.

The milk jug carrying case is ingenious and the packaging tape will provide a good seal, IMO.

Probably most of the kits would be used inappropriately, but every once in a while they would serve their intended purpose. It reminds me of local custom in Arizona, at least, back in the 1950s when I began to get involved in the outdoors. The typical back country cabin was left unlocked and you were welcome to use it. The unwritten rule was to leave it clean, with particular attention to a nice pile of dry kindling next to the stove. I know this was true of both gov't and private (line camp) shacks. In fact, in the two line cabins I had occasion to use, standard equipment included a loaded lever action 30-30, tucked under the mattress (discovered and admired, but returned intact and operational). This delightful custom went away with the back packing boom of the 1960s-70s

What some folks do here is leave in roadside turnouts a few gallons water in milk jugs labeled for radiators as lots of folks overheat driving up mtn. They do get used.

Thats a great idea.

Chisel,those 2 young ladies have a site here I see thats very good. Small world,I bought my wondermill from them,they had best price on net at the time.

BTW,I will swear to wondermill being a fine product.And they were good sellers.Oh,they have a deal on the sun oven too,free dehydrator racks and a turkey rack.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/