I am sitting at the coffee shop during my usual coffee break, reading technical documents online and blogging about random stuff when a woman comes up to me and asks for a dollar.
Some observations….
1) It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to walk into a crowded establishment and begin begging. I mean, this is usually relegated to the space outside the coffee shop (or atm, or convenience store).
2) It used to be a quarter. Man prices are going up everywhere. I mean seriously, a dollar?
My kindness towards those on the street tends to vary according to circumstance. I am aware that homelessness exists, and people can be stuck in a tough situation. But you being to notice disturbing patterns of behavior amongst people which tend to mitigate my generous nature. One afternoon during the summer I witnessed a conversation between a “homeless” person and some parking attendants at a nearby intersection. The gist of the conversation? The “homeless” man was clearing several hundred dollars a day (a few hours of work) just begging at the intersection. He looked like hell, but was waving a fat wad of cash.
I stopped giving to these people at that moment, but I still feel guilty about it. Not everyone is a fake like this guy, but how can I tell? How does one know who to help and who not to?
The answer is to support those charities that help people who need it, and steal myself to walk buy those on the street. I still occasionally breakdown and make a “donation” but not nearly as much anymore.
