Helpless or Hungry for Handouts?

When we left the Elephant Bar last night, the people had who had yelled at my dad had left the area, thanks to the manager who informed them they had to leave. The whole experience led me to wonder, though. What should we have done when a homeless family approached us outside of a restaurant? Given them money? Told them to get a job? Do what we did, just walk away and say no thanks? Who knows... Is there a right way to react to such a request as this? I don't think so. Every person whose home is the street has reached that point through a different set of circumstances. It's impossible to know what these are, so it's therefore impossible to know whether they need the help or not. Coming from my 'lens,' which is suburban, white, middle-class America, I don't think them ridiculing my father for not giving them money was acceptable. Maybe they really needed aid, but do they have the right to yell at my dad when he's not willing to provide it? I think not. If they needed help as they were asking for, they should have went to an agency that can help them instead of asking for handouts from random cars.