Mobile phone betrays Yemeni beggar (Bum's cell phone rings while panhandling - Oops!)

ABC (Australia) News ^ | 8.9.03

[mhking]

A man begging at a mosque in Yemen was exposed as not being so destitute as he pretended when his mobile started ringing inopportunely.

Yemeni news agency Saba said the embarrassed man beat a quick retreat after worshippers heard his phone ring inside his bag.

There are only about five telephones, both land-lines and mobiles, for every 100 people in Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries.

[mhking]

D'oh!

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Muleteam1]

Can you hear me now?

[tet68]

This same thing happened here in Atlanta.
the AJC that fishwrapper did an article about the well intentioned folks feeding the homeless in one of our central
city parks. Had a nice pic of a guy giving out bread/meals.

Only thing was a lot of readers wrote in about the fact that one of the homeless guys was wearing a cellphone!

Created somewhat of a stir on the oped page.

[steplock]

We got DEMOCRAT WELFARE queens & queers there also now??

[steplock]

Strike the last word in my previous message please - I hit post instead of preview.

[proxy_user]

Can't get a land line to his spot in the park, suppose...

In the early 80s, I was jogging around Washington Square Park, where several vagrants were sacked out in sleeping bags. As I ran by, their alarm clock went off.

[ChemistCat]

I'm not so sure that a homeless person couldn't reasonably have a cell phone. (Here, not in Yemen.) A prepaid phone needn't cost very much at all. I've seen them for $60. I just replaced a lost cell phone for about that much. And if one was looking for a way up and out of it, having some way for an employer to get ahold of one might be worth whatever had to be sacrificed to get one. There are "homeless" people who still have an automobile, after all.

But of course the most likely scenario is that he is one of those "well off" beggers who has just found it beats honest work.

[watchin]

Imagine that - a lying arab.

[happygrl]

I agree CC. And an alarm clock should be applauded, not denigrated.

Some of the homeless do work, or are looking for jobs. Hence, a cell-phone and alarm clock are a part of the boot-strapping and aspiring ambitions that we should wish for the homeless.

[ChemistCat]

It must be nearly impossible to get up out of homelessness unless someone takes pity on you and shares with you those essentials of respectable life--an address, a place to get cleaned up and store things, a safe place to sleep, money, transportation, and communication--without which one cannot be trusted enough to be hired.

After Mitchell in Utah, though, I imagine it's that much harder for the homeless to get trusted.