There are many beggars in Austin where I live too. I find it more irritating than sad though. They walk along the side of the road holding signs that describe their many faults in life with grammatical errors added in for laughs. Many beggars in fact aren't really beggars at all. Some do it for a living and often make more money than other jobs pay. In other words, these pseudo beggars aren't really poor at all. They have nice homes and make lots of money begging. Part of me says it's sick and part of me says it's also pretty ingenious.