An Iowa business owner often passes panhandlers on the corner of a street in his hometown of Muscatine. He noticed that two of them were regulars and decided to help.

But instead of giving them money, like their signs requested, Mike Pothoff offered the young men a job. They refused.

WQAD reports:

“I said, ‘You’re hired,’ and they said, ‘Well, we’re not from around here.’ And I said, ‘Well, you’re here now,’ and then they just smirked,” Pothoff said.

Over the weekend, the same boys were back at it, holding signs saying they are broke and hungry.

Once again, Pothoff offered them a job. They declined. So Pothoff decided to join them.

And so he did, but his bright yellow sign had an altogether different message:

Offered These Guys a Job
They Said No
Don't Give Money

“It upsets me that we have younger kids or people that can work that are doing that,” Pothoff said. “It’s about, you know people that really do need money, and maybe they do, but I think they can work, too,” he added.

Pothoff has offered jobs to panhandlers before but he doesn't indicate that they've ever accepted. Yet, his message stands:

The only way you can ever succeed in your life is, you just got to push yourself and don’t let anyone stand in your way.