A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES : Platform : The Panhandlers

WILFREDO CUBAS, Homeless, 33, from Honduras.

I don’t panhandle. I wash car windows for whatever people give me. Even a penny is OK with me. Each day I wash maybe 30 or 40 cars. Usually people pay 25 cents. But one time, and this is my record, a Korean man, about 55, gave me $60! I had cleaned his whole car. He said: “How much?” I said: “Whatever is fine.” And then he gave me $60! I sent $30 back to my two daughters in my country. They are 6 and 3 years old.

Today is my 33rd birthday. I first came here in 1989 and worked parking cars at Loyola. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, they’re no good for the car cleaning business. Friday or Saturday are best, when people have money. I don’t like to panhandle. Asking for money for nothing I don’t like.