The panhandler's lament: In an increasingly cashless world, fewer have a dime to spare

Washington

JOHN Sullivan wears a giant foam hat in the shape of a whale. It works well as a conversation starter when he panhandles on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street in Georgetown. But one hot afternoon in July, no one stops to ask Sullivan about the whale. And no one stops to drop a dollar in his pink plastic cup.

Passing by, one young man in sunglasses turns and shrugs. "I don't have any cash," he says apologetically.