A Lawrence woman complained to police there that she has been approached by other women on the streets asking for money because they were the victims of domestic violence and needed money to leave town.
Other Lawrence residents have also complained of aggressive tactics by panhandlers and have been told to ignore them.
Chalk up another advantage of life in Iola and other small towns. How long has it been since someone has stopped you on the square and begged for money?
Now, it isn’t that Iola is immune. But the begging fraternity has different tactics for small towns. Rather than stand on street corners and call out for money to passersby, they make the rounds of churches. They don’t score at every church office. Sometimes they do a little detective work, get the addresses of pastors and go there. Pastors and their wives are soft touches.
When all else fails, they discover that the Iola Police Department is also the place to contact the Salvation Army. Those truly in need can get money for food there, or, if they are convincing enough, for transportation to another town where they may (or may not) have family.
The cities, even middle sized ones like Lawrence, have a different problem. Panhandling is a way of life for some folks there. They fall into two groups: the deserving and the not-so. Those who get sympathy tend to be older, not physically well and, most of all, not insistent. The not-so seem fit enough to mow a yard, sweep out a parking lot or chop up enough kindling for a week’s worth of fires. Their asking sometimes takes an arrogant tone.
Which brings to mind Iola as it was in 1939. There would be a knock on the back door. The man standing there with a battered felt hat in his hand asked what he could do to earn a meal. Sometimes there actually was wood to chop. Or a carpet to hang over the clothes line and beat with a woven wire bat. Or sidewalks to sweep. Usually, though, the opportunity for a quid pro quo was missing. But he had offered, so he was fed.
Perhaps the house or the garage behind it was marked in some way not apparent to any but the initiated. In any case, the knocks on the back door came regularly enough — and were always answered. I think the offer of work made all the difference.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
