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Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. -Proverbs
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do think saying "no" has some negative implications as well, even if the person doesn't take it personally. Like the article says the person would probably just think you (and the rest of society) is a prick. As I read the article, I didn't really interpret it as he was actually giving out $100 a week, but rather saying that if you gave a dollar to everyone that asked, you could spend a lot of money. We're also tal…
You can say 'Sorry, no' or just 'good luck'. If you have any genuine sympathy that will probably come across to them.
Anyone hand out food or something else instead? I am not a big can of cigarettes but I bought a big box of Clif Bars the other day and thought that, or something similar/smaller/cheaper, would be a good handout. I'm always weary of handing out money because it just seems very likely that it will be used for alcohol, drugs, etc.
As the article says, homeless people have ample food, due to the missions, et al. A friend of mine who had a brief homeless stint confirmed this, saying that it was easy to get three square meals a day while living on the streets. (It just takes standing in line for hours, which makes pursuing other things, which might help one get off the street, difficult.)
"You might describe my attitude, in the words of the philosopher McCartney, as “live and let die.”"
to
"Three weeks after my 18th birthday, I was taken by gunpoint to a Greyhound station in Orlando with a ticket to California and a twenty dollar bill."
I thought I missed a paragraph there or something.
I'm not rich but I've begun to give the homeless in SF quite a bit of my money. I used to just give them "spare change" and cigarettes, but you should see their face light up when you hand them a $5 bill + loose change. Try it with an open mind, you might find that it's the best $5 you'll ever spend that day. I used to think that I'd only make the problem worse by giving them money, but my perspective has changed. At…
I would not say the streets of San Francisco are mean. Out of many major cities I've been to, it looks like the nicest city for a homeless person to be. I don't know exactly what city does to help besides regular feedings on the Market str, but they all seem clean, weather is nice, people are tolerant, and many techy tourists spare cash. If there is such a thing as homeless heaven, I'd say SF is it's headquarters.
You must be posting from some alternate universe. 'Clean' is not a word I would use to describe the streets of SF.
I'm not rich but I've begun to give the homeless in SF quite a bit of my money. I used to just give them "spare change" and cigarettes, but you should see their face light up when you hand them a $5 bill + loose change. Try it with an open mind, you might find that it's the best $5 you'll ever spend that day. I used to think that I'd only make the problem worse by giving them money, but my perspective has changed. At…
Your eyes would light up too if you were a crack addict and someone handed you two hits.
Anyone hand out food or something else instead? I am not a big can of cigarettes but I bought a big box of Clif Bars the other day and thought that, or something similar/smaller/cheaper, would be a good handout. I'm always weary of handing out money because it just seems very likely that it will be used for alcohol, drugs, etc.
OTOH, I've only ever used Clif Bars in high-impact cardio settings, so YMMV.