Some of the beggars in Helsinki have become aggressive in this way. They come very close to you and demand you acknowledge them. They won't go away until you speak. I like the idea about using the phone to make a photo but be careful they don't grab it out of your hand.oompah18 wrote:new tactic round here is for "beggar" to ring bell on front door, & while you deal with him, a second "man" is round the back door. Hasn´t happened to us yet, but was in local paper about this happening in pensioners´homes recently. Whenever I get hassled in tampere, usually at the bus stop, by the regular beggar lady, I just get out my phone & point the camera at her & she runs away fast. she walks a long the bus queue, while we are waiting, asking each one of us individually, & she gets so close to your face it is scary. The other people usually turn their backs or ignore her. She always approaches me if I have a child with me, very unnerving!
The beggars in Helsinki are very organized. They have their own turf which no other beggars are allowed to use and they gather together in the main railway station, at the end of the day, to wait for their handler to take them home as a group.
There is one girl in her early 20's who can pull the saddest, most mournful face while dressed as a peasant-extra for the set of a Frankenstein movie. Sometimes she has a card that says she's poor and from Moldova and other times, a card about her brother being terribly ill. The first time I fell for her act. (my first summer in Finland) The second time I didn't. You should have seen that meek, pitiful expression change to hard anger in a flash. That was the first and only time I witnessed an honest moment from her.
That is really upsetting to read. I imagine the guy was just standing there calculating if he could overtake you and rob your house. Finding out he would have two people and sheer to deal with made him leave.Cory wrote:---I pointed the sheers at him and told him to get out of the house..he had made his way into the eteinen and was trying to open the inner door by this point. He backed out and stood there----