When we Beg

Begging or panhandling is to request a donation in a supplicating manner…

Internet begging, cyber-begging, or internet panhandling is the online version of traditional begging, asking strangers for money…

These are types of begging, and we all know that there are those who honestly need help in one way or the other and these set of people are often times on their way up, and in most cases they do not accept the help that they so need. What I’m talking about here is the habitual seeking for assistance by those who think they need help when in actual fact they don't. Take for example, your colleague in the office who asks you to "please help him plug-in his laptop cable into the socket located between your desk and his, not because he can't reach it but for what ever reason, some people have formulated the habit of asking for help even when they are not needed, or the neighbor who asks your for a shovel or water hose every time he/she needs one, sure you give it willingly, but what effect dose it have on you and your plans/finance etc, when this becomes a habit and the neighbor never buys his/her own.
A wise man once told his son, " IF YOU EVER NEED A HELPING HAND, LOOK TO THE END OF YOUR ARM" and frankly I think that is a sound advice, for unless something tragic happens, the helping hand will always be at the end of the arm, which cannot be said for the one who looks up to some external body to offer the help.
It's fashionable today to ask for help on things that you can and should do for yourself, it makes one wonder if low self-esteem is the aim of these acts of begging. The 'beggar on the street" brands him/herself as a helpless nuisance to him/herself and to the society that he/she is a product of, this we have all come to accept. But the person who prides him/her self as non-beggar goes about doing more begging than the authentic beggar.

Self-esteem is not bragging about how great you are, its more like quietly knowing you are priceless and a RESPONSIBLE member of a larger society; in the same vain, self image is how you see yourself or your opinion of who or what you are which is actually self concept, now what happens when someone who ought to be close to you is always asking you to do things for them, things you know they can do for themselves? You quietly start to avoid them? Pretend it’s ok but not willing to upset anyone?

Begging often times add to the problem than solve someone else’s problem, most of us can attest to this.
Islam encourages its devotees to always give alms to the poor in form of Zakat and the Christian doctrine throws its weight behind the act of showing mercy to the HELPLESS; the key word here is "helpless" can you call your colleague helpless? Or the guy who drives a Rolls Royce and asks you to help him clean the car helpless?

What are the aftermath-effects of this kind of begging? Or asking for help: on us and the society?

Your guess is as good as mine.
-Strained relationships
- More problems