The panhandling one runs into down here in my neck of the woods can be very unattractive. At the post office recently I parked and walked in; as I exited the building a man slouched past me in a way that looked odd. I drove across the street to the gas station and a 10-year-old boy approached me and asked if I had any spare change. I told him very politely in my mom-voice that panhandling isn't allowed in our town and he shouldn't be doing it. His story was that they ran out of gas near the station. And out of money?

A minute later his large angry mother came over and confronted me, telling me that her son wasn't panhandling. I dismissed her, telling her that it's a bad idea to abuse the people you're trying to hit on and that Child Protective Services would have a lot to say about her activity. She slipped back to her car where she puttered with the window washing for some minutes. I walked into the store where a younger child from the same family was looking as cute as can be and apparently trying to get someone to buy him food. I told the store clerk, they spoke to the woman, and as I drove away, the car was still at the pump and the older boy was again approaching someone who pulled in, dodging behind vehicles so the clerks wouldn't see him. The father was hiding at the post office because the family looks more defenseless without an able-bodied father present.

I called the store and told the clerk they were still at it, and she ought to call CPS, because these parents were training their children to scam and panhandle, and that is not acceptable parenting, even in Texas.

SRS