I think it put it all in perspective for me this morning, as I hurried down the street to get to my internship a man asked me if I could spare some change today. He was with a woman, and they looked tired and desperate.
I said "no, sorry, not today" and was on my way. But I struggled as I continued to walk. The decision I've made to not hand out change indiscriminately makes sense on some level, but when it comes to saying "no" to people who are obviously in need, I'm still at a loss. It doesn't feel very good. (I'm sure it doesn't feel very good to them either).
And then I wrestled with this: I was on my way to an internship at an agency that exists, in good measure, to assist people just like those I had refused to help. Should I go back and tell them about the services available to them? Should I tell them about the programs here in the city that might be able to help them: the Multi-Service Center, the Village, the Salvation Army, etc.?
I kept walking.
This afternoon I'm going to the Multi-Service Center to help set up for the homeless count. And tomorrow morning I'm going to be there at 4:30 am to help in the process. But this morning I had an opportunity to help and I kept walking.
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After a while...
2 months ago
Years ago while exiting a fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills with my boss who was a multimillionaire, we were approached by a homeless man asking for money. He was dirty, and appeared to be very down on his luck. My boss was carrying his leftovers in a doggy bag and offered it to him. The man promptly refused the offer and advised my boss that he really wanted the money to buy alcohol and did not want the food. Now here is my problem with this senario, should we stand in judgement of how the money would be used? While opening your wallet do you ask what they will use it for?
ReplyDeleteMy mom who is in her 70's has always given, and says she is not concerned how they will use it. She says that just in their asking is enough for her.