If you read Edna Buchanan or Ann Rule and really study that CSJ material- you will find it very hard to use rest stops. To say that it is all hype;well, the dangers can be very real.

Florida has had awful murders of tourists in rest stops, the most notorious being a murder of a British tourist who was shot in his car as he was trying to escape. His wife was with him, I can't recall if she was shot but she testified against a couple of hoodlums who were robbing them.

Edna Buchanan would know.

christy1, it was not your normal panhandle... it was an aggressive invasion in an isolated place.
It made me feel extremely vulnerable.
WAY, WAY different than being approached on a street.
If my husband had not been right outside (but totally not paying attention) she could have brutally beaten me, taken my valuables and driven off without my husband noticing until it was too late.
IMO you should not panhandle in a place where people might be particularly fearful. For some reason I don't want to be around an aggressive bum when I have my pants down.
Maybe you don't have a problem with that... and I suppose in our twisted world of "PC entitlement" they can do it where ever they like.
But I don't like it... NOPE I don't.
Would I avoid a city that had agressive bums in every bathroom. Yep.