Small town girl goes to the city

My friend Joan lives in Kings Cross and when I asked her if she had any stories, told me about how she's got to know a young homeless woman who begs for her living. Until I attended the SIM training course early last year, I hadn't formed any firm ideas on how to respond to beggars. Now I think that unless you do get to know someone, you can't tell if they are trustworthy or if what they are asking for is actually going to help. So it's pretty foolish to proffer significant help to a beggar you don't know. But buying them a taxi or train fare, going with them to a motel and paying for a night, or buying them something to eat can all be good things to do if you have the time and money. I've known this for a while but still I don't do it, so I asked Joan for some advice. She said that what she does is to:

1. Be prepared. Have some smaller order money set aside in a purse, so you're not riffling through your hundred dollar notes ;). I've also heard of people who keep a stash of bus tickets handy.
2. Regard them as human. They might be interrupting your day or behaving rudely, but they are actual people doing that. If they're rude, it might be most dignifying to politely have nothing to do with them, as you would any other rude person. Whatever the case, they deserve to be looked at, spoken to and to have their request considered. 

It's not just beggars with me though, it's shopkeepers too. How can I hope to engage with a beggar if I'm too shy to even mention the weather to a shopkeeper? *sigh* I pray that living in Santiago will teach me these things.