I gave a homeless guy a dollar
Why I feel good about it
I was driving today and came to a stop light. There was a homeless guy with his sign walking up the concrete median. I rolled down my window and gave him a buck and he thanked me. Now, I’ve heard countless times (as I’m sure you have) why I shouldn’t be giving these people money. I didn’t know this person. I didn’t know his situation and I didn’t know what he was going to do with that dollar. Was he going use that $1 to buy alcohol, or cigarettes, or drugs or maybe food or help his family or find lodging or buy clothes? I didn’t know and I really didn’t care. That was not the point of me giving him a dollar.
This guy is standing in the brutal Texas heat all day long. He always has to deal with the elements. This is a person on the fringe of society. He lives on the edge. He is emblematic of Us and Them. He has known our world but we have no concept of his. There is a complete disassociation. Hundreds of people a day drive this route and see this one guy out pleading for money and instantly pass judgement. While he tries to make a small connection with us, we do everything we can to feign seeing him. We pretend that we are talking on the phone, or we look around our car or we just ignore him. He now sits in judgement of hundreds of us, bearing the weight of rejection on his tired shoulders. He has seen it all before. There is…
