One guy asked me near the bus stop for $5 for his fare to Denver. Well, I'm a bus rider, so I pulled out two local bus passes & said, "This should get you to Denver." "Forget it," he said with disgust.
The second time, I saw a woman in the parking lot of Home Depot with her kid. That should have been my first clue she was a scammer - bring the kid to pull at the heartstrings. 
I gave her a grocery store gift card that a friend had given me for taking her to the doctor. All the woman said was, "How much?" as she snatched it out of my hand. Saw her the following week with the same kid in a parking lot across the street. It pissed me off, but in the end, she is still more needy than I am.
If I have a couple of bucks, & see someone on the side of the road, I'd still give it to them. No more gift cards or passes, just a couple of bucks, only.
There was a DUer who posted their story some time ago. He/she said that they keep an envelope in their car with a bunch of singles & the family calls it "money for Jesus." The kids shout out, "Oh look, there's Jesus!" when they see some one with a sign on the road and they grab a dollar or two to give. 
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