I give him/her a cig and a smile. Its nice to be friendly. I also leave bottles in an easily accessible cardboard box on days when I put the recycling out. I

I give him/her a cig and a smile. Its nice to be friendly. I also leave bottles in an easily accessible cardboard box on days when I put the recycling out. I only give cash if they are contributing to the public space (playing music, etc). For security reasons I avoid giving change or cash to someone who is engaging me directly. If someone seems interesting I'll def buy them a meal (and eat with them) to help them out and continue the conversation.