Business Owner Shames Panhandlers With Own Sign

Two panhandlers at a busy intersection in Muscatine, Iowa, had a sign claiming they were "broke and hungry." But when a nearby business owner offered them a job to make some cash, they declined ... so he wrote a sign of his own. "Offered these guys a job. They said no. Don't give money," it reads. He stood next to the panhandlers holding it, and his nephew posted the photo on Facebook Saturday, WOWK-TV reports. "My Uncle Mike offered these guys a job said he was busy right now could use the help they said no so he did this !! Wow don't give these guys any money," reads the post, which encourages people to "Share Share Share !!"

And share they did; as of this writing, the post had been shared more than 26,000 times. A commenter asked what the men did after "Uncle Mike" showed up with his sign, and nephew Michael Wooldridge responded, "They left and he followed them to there [sic] next stop." Later, Wooldridge added, "Mike told them there [sic] not welcome back gave kfc McDonald's everyone his number." His uncle, Mike Pothoff, later explained to WQAD that he had actually offered the men jobs twice, on different days, before going out with his sign. "I said, 'You're hired,' and they said, 'We're not from around here.' I said, 'Well, you're here,' and then they just smirked and turned around," says Pothoff, who adds that the offer is still on the table. (This mom got shamed after posting a photo of her kids' 300 Christmas gifts on Facebook.)