Over the past decade, in most urban cities of Germany.....beggars on the street have doubled and tripled in terms of numbers. To say it's a German problem....no, you see the same signs in Spain, France and Italy.
Even in my metro town of Wiesbaden, on a typical afternoon in an area of 285k residents....you'd come across sixty of them in the downtown area.
It's no longer surprising to be sitting in a cafe or outdoor restaurant on the streets of the city.....then to have some beggar come directly upon the table and flip the sign up....'begging for money' in German.
What was a bit surprising for me....as I sat and sipped upon a beer in the downtown area....that when the beggar came up to the established area of the pub (outdoors)....the German waitress (probably around 22 to 24 years old) came right up and chastised the guy to leave immediately. So he left.
Not just once, but five minutes later he attempted to slip into the cafe area....she went right back at the guy.
The thing is....more and more Germans are having less patience for this type of situation, and kinda wondering.....if they have the visa to be in the country (as a non-German).....shouldn't they be in a language class or job-training situation?
In an average year now, at least before Covid-19 came along.....I probably would get approached at least 200 times a year.
It's the kind of thing that might be accepted in some countries, but it's drawing negative attention in Germany. It makes you wonder how things will be in five years, or if the police get the tasking of moving folks along.
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