I would like your thoughts on this.

[protovoltaic]

I was standing outside of Subway talking with Jason, Joe, and Ed about larping and other such inconsequential things when something odd happened. A man walked up to us in ill-kept clothes and asked if we had any money to spare. The conversation stopped and nobody made eye contact with him except for me. I said "sure" and pulled out my wallet,

Comments

[tigersharkiv]

Jason would probably say that there are always programs, ways for people to continue without begging on the streets, that they are there because they choose to be. I think that's a little premature, it certainly seems possible that people can truly get the short end of the stick sometimes.

On that same token, I hate being taken advantage of. I've found myself in these types of situations more often than I would want to be, and my reaction is usually about 50/50 on if I give them money. Sadly, I believe the deceptive people are probably better at convincing me to open my wallet.

Possibly if I had a more stable life I would be more open to giving money. With no income that four dollars weighs a lot more on my mind (basically one meal if I spend correctly). Although I know we're both in the same boat there so that doesn't exactly test true.

If I give money or deny it, I feel bad afterward. Overcoming social constructs is difficult, especially when there are people perpetuating them by playing into the idea. If you could somehow restore trust between people everything else would fall in place.