I gave money + food to a homeless guy. is that normal?

95% Normal

I hate charities. But, I will directly help people in need. Its good karma. I admit its a selfish good feeling for me to do this. I feel some relief that someone got out of the cold, some warm food, and at least some resources. I often think don't do this because it could just be an addict or whatever. I could care less. Life can suck. I think this is the best way to help people. Do it directly, not through these fake butt so-called charities that hold $1000 per plate dinners + spend lots of $$$ on media marketing + paying executives $100k + annual salaries.

It was freezing yesterday. As long as my cash/food gave the guy a temporary reprieve, good! It was in traffic, on the fly. He may just be a panhandler. I don't care. That cash will make its way into the economy. :-P Good karma.

Is it normal to do these random acts of kindness?

Voting Results

95% Normal

Based on 39 votes (37 yes)

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Comments ( 37 )

ArmusWasTheFirstTroll

9 years ago

It sounds nice, except for the karma bit. Is it not better to be good for the sake of goodness? To do something because you may attain better fortune is not particularly good.

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Avant-Garde

9 years ago

You sounds like a wonderful person.

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tooks

9 years ago

Normal compassionate response to a fellow human being in the circumstances.

I don't usually hand over money to homeless people (rarely carry cash anyway), but I offer to buy them a meal. That way I know my money hasn't been ciphoned off by the greedy execs of a charity organization, but I also know that the homeless person has had a good meal and the money hasn't been used to feed an addiction.

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disthing

9 years ago

Personally, I trust the average homeless guy on the street less than a charity set up to help the homeless.

In my country, it's pretty hard to end up on the street unless you have a serious drug/alcohol addiction, mental health problem or both. I see the same homeless guys day in, day out, and regardless of how much money people chuck them, their situation doesn't change.

So I'd rather give cash to a charity that runs a shelter, provides food and gives counselling to help people out of homelessness, than chuck one guy a few pennies or a sandwich just because he was on the corner of a street I happened to be on.

Anyway, yeah people get a buzz out of doing nice things. Although kinda undermines any altruistic motive to brag about it on a website :P

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- Ellenna
  
  9 years ago
  
  What country is that? What, no kids on the street because of abuse, including sexual, at home? No women fleeing family violence with or without their kids? No people who lost their job and then their rented accommodation and there's not enough subsidised housing to go round?
  
  Where is this paradise?
  
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  - disthing
    
    9 years ago
    
    "What, no kids on the street because of abuse, including sexual, at home?"
    
    If by kids you mean under 18s, then the numbers on the street are very low. Street children are incredibly rare in the UK and most are promptly picked up by social services. You will still get teenagers running away, or kids in families living in temporary accommodation, but you're unlikely to see any begging on a street corner.
    
    "No women fleeing family violence with or without their kids?"
    Sure - they can usually flee to Women's Refuges, or the local council is legally obligated to find you alternative living arrangements (temp. shelter) and advise on finding new permanent shelter.
    
    If there are children 'at risk', the local authority also has an obligation to carry out an investigation, and taking the necessary precautions to protect those children and prosecute any offending adults.
    
    You're unlikely to find many homeless people who are homeless solely because of domestic abuse in the UK.
    
    "No people who lost their job and then their rented accommodation and there's not enough subsidised housing to go round?"
    
    If you lose your job, you receive job seekers allowance to live on until you find work. If at the time you're in rented accommodation the local council will often pay your rent for a limited time (or find you temp. accommodation if you're evicted) until they can find you permanent council housing - in most towns and cities in the UK there is sufficient council housing available, albeit not always in the ideal location or condition.
    
    it's far from 'paradise', but as I said before, it's pretty hard to accidentally fall through the net and end up on the streets here. Tends to be a result of individual problems, rather than systemic problems.
    
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    - Ellenna
      
      9 years ago
      
      Well that all sounds very utopian, but from what I hear it's not quite as perfect as all that.
      
      Are there enough Women's Refuges? I ask this because in Australia there's a huge push to "raise awareness of family violence" but never any money for more refuges: more women leave violent relationships because of the "raised awareness" and the associated perception that the authorities actually CARE about it and find nowhere to go except in some states temporary subsidised motel accommodation.
      
      I know your local councils have always done a lot more for the disadvantaged than here in Australia, where they're mainly concerned with collecting rates & garbage, dog laws and a bit of mainly window dressing type welfare.
      
      Is the job seekers allowance enough to live on? Here it's so low there's no way people can afford private rental and assisted housing has been wound down by successive governments of both persuasions.
      
      I've always envied the UK's council housing, having known people from both England and Scotland who'd lied in it.
      
      If it's as good as you say, congratulations to all concerned. My impression was that Thatcher so ruined the welfare system in the UK that it had never recovered: I stand corrected.
      
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      - disthing
        
        9 years ago
        
        No, it's not perfect. But in my experience, it's a fairly robust system, even with its flaws.
        
        There are women's refuges in the UK, but I honestly can't say whether there are sufficient or insufficient numbers to meet demand. What I do know, is in recent years the funding for refuges has been cut back, so many refuges have closed.
        
        JSA (job seeker's allowance) is enough to cover food, utility bills and light travel. I was on JSA a couple of years ago, whilst also receiving housing benefits to cover my rent and council tax temporarily until my situation improved. It was a struggle, but I found life easier on benefits than for the first few months after I started working.
        
        Thatcher was a bit before my time, so I'm not entirely sure about the impact she had upon the welfare system. But the welfare system was at least good enough to enable my mother to raise me and my brother well (it helped in no small part that mum was sensible and creative with her money).
        
        I don't know how the UK welfare system compares to Australia's - I expect you have a better idea. And I don't mean to paint the picture of the UK as some utopia; the benefit system has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent times, mainly from people suggesting it is too generous and too open to fraud. There are also people correlating the increasing use of charity food banks by people in the UK with the cuts to benefits by the government, suggesting the poorest have been made poorer, and perhaps affording food has been made more difficult.
        
        All I know is, based on my first-hand experience, I can't imagine ever finding myself homeless in the UK without seriously messing up somehow.
        
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        Ellenna
        
        9 years ago
        
        Thanks for your thoughtful and informed (and literate!) replies to my questions: I appreciate it.
        
        Regarding women's refuges, if funding has been cut back resulting in closures I'll bet that as a result there will be countless women and their children in the category of "hidden homeless" as there are in Australia: either staying in violent relationships, living in their cars, couch surfing, moving into unsatisfactory relationships as an alternative to their kids going into care because they have nowhere safe to live.
        
        In Australia there are periodic melodramatic "exposures" by tabloid TV, radio shock jocks and/or self-righteous politicians of all persuasions about welfare "bludgers" rorting the system, but in my experience that's far less common than the bureaucratic process making it unnecessarily difficult or impossible for claimants to get what they're entitled to. And of course, any money rorted in the welfare system pales into insignificance when compared to the tax rorts of the filthy rich and the perks of poliicians.
        
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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  9 years ago
  
  Good points. Brag? I'm anonymous. Just curious.
  
  You must be in a European country, I take it? They make a point keep people from becoming economically idle (not that its perfect). IMO, people can't exactly get back on their feet without obvious food/shelter stuff. I think these people need to feel hope and purpose. Fact is, richer people fall into the same problems, but they have resources (monetary/social) to slack off if life gets too be too much. They also have easier connections into self-sustaining opportunities. Most truly homeless people don't have such advantages. Thinking about this? Homelessness shouldn't even exist in a first world country, nowadays.
  
  Now, vagabonds? That's a different story. I'm okay with that. No one has to follow the same life paths. Maybe the guy was a vagabond? I don't know. Maybe he was intending to score drugs? Fine, whatever, not that I think addiction is a good option. Like, as long as my little gift gave someone a happy reprieve, kewl. :-)
  
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  - disthing
    
    9 years ago
    
    Yeah, people can still brag about their random acts of kindness. Anonymity makes no difference.
    
    I'm in the UK, so yeah, Europe. Our welfare system is a pretty secure safety net, in general. It's rare to slip through and end up destitute without a little (or a lot) of self-destructive behaviour.
    
    Homelessness isn't something you can ever get rid of entirely - there will always be people who fall out of 'the system', or choose to leave it.
    
    I'm the opposite of you, in so much as I think charities often provide a brilliant function in society. The best ones let you know exactly where your money is going.
    
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    - Anonymous Post Author
      
      9 years ago
      
      Aha, the UK! No wonder you are the opposite of me. I'm not you, but I think the UK is open to this idea of public welfare. A major number of people agree that it takes community effort to take care of people because the life quality + economic benefits go up. There are monetary costs. They get shared through taxation. That is a huge dirty word in the US even if that action evidently can create a very stable, healthier community. We still don't have universal healthcare. In the UK? I figure it is a lot easier to get help. Here? It is truly sink or swim.
      
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      - disthing
        
        9 years ago
        
        "Here? It is truly sink or swim."
        
        I confess to not knowing the intricacies of the system in the US - but I thought some kind of provisions were available for the poor; food stamps, welfare payments, social housing etc.?
        
        And isn't Obamacare - or whatever it's actually called - supposed to support those that can't afford health insurance?
        
        Excuse my ignorance if I'm totally wrong :/
        
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Ellenna

9 years ago

Running late for work, I once passed a group of young people on the footpath wrapped in blankets on a very cold morning. I researched appropriate community groups and sneaked back out of work with the info and some money for them - only to find they were taking the day off from a very elite private school to try & catch a glimpse of a pop group staying in the hotel across the street!

I thought it was all very funny but co-workers made remarks like "I suppose that'll stop you giving to deadbeats" which it didn't: a few days later I sneaked a $10 note into the pocket of a very smelly old man who regularly slept in a lane near my work.

I once asked a regular young beggar in the city why he always approached me when I didn't look wealthy: he laughed and said that the ones who look rich don't usually give, it's the less wealthy who are the most generous.

I don't see such people where I now live, but I do give food to the local community space's weekly free lunch, and stay to eat food donated and cooked by other people.
I'm one step away from homelessness myself and I also lobby government for low cost housing, as if there were enough of this homelessness would hardly exist.

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reminiscent

9 years ago

Its normal and nice.

I personally refuse to give them money...I dont want it used to by drugs or alcohol I dont think that would really help them.

But I have given food....and once on a hot day i was in the city for a school trip and this homeless guy was sitting next to the vending machine. ..I asked if he was thirsty and let him pick out a drink.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  9 years ago
  
  I make those stereotype assumptions too. Now? I just don't care. I have good intuitive sense, I think. I can sense who is aiming to take advantage and who might be genuinely in need. Ultimately, I don't care. I mean, I have the resources so, why not?
  
  Very nice for you to give the guy a drink. :-)
  
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  - reminiscent
    
    9 years ago
    
    Im not sure who is on drugs or not.
    
    But if they ask for things besides money and if I am able to I dont mind at all. :)
    
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- Cuntsiclestick
  
  9 years ago
  
  The homeless in your area seem a lot nicer than the ones in my neck of the woods. I can recall being cursed out or threatened on seven different occasions by different homeless people for giving them food instead of money.
  
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  - reminiscent
    
    9 years ago
    
    I met a horrible homeless man once :(
    
    It was lunch time after college ...at the time my mom worked at the college... we decided to have lunch together and have something from the venders that set up.
    their food is so good...its restaurants that go and set up little places...im guessing cuz of the college .
    
    And this really fat homeless man asked me for money as I walked by...I told him ...oh Im sorry I do not have enough....because I only had enough money on me for lunch.
    and he started calling me names like selfish and bitch ...before he turned back to his friend to talk to him.
    
    I was surprised because no one had been so rude before :(
    
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    - Cuntsiclestick
      
      9 years ago
      
      I really dislike the ungrateful ones. Sorry that that happened to you.
      
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      - reminiscent
        
        9 years ago
        
        I was pretty upset.
        I told my mom I think he is well fed!
        I am happy I was with her...he was so much taller then me and so big...his anger would have been far scarier if I had been by myself.
        
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Pseodonihm

9 years ago

Yes, it is normal. We all should do these things. And blessed be to you.

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Thorolf

8 years ago

It's not "normal". It's unusually good. You should feel proud.

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sega31098

9 years ago

You should give them food, but don't throw money around.

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Mytwin295

9 years ago

Personally I believe that giving homeless people money/food will only temporarily solve the problem. You cant trust the homeless because by the end of the day they will still be hungry and homeless OR they will have spent the money on drugs and alcohol (or something there of). With charities, I never know if the charity is doing what they say they are doing and don't trust giving them my money. In my opinion, the best ting to do is to give people the tools they need to provide for themselves ( something like a homeless shelter but they also help you apply for a job or help look for work. unless they already do that in which case I am really stupid).

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GiveMeAFuckingNameAlready!

9 years ago

It's normal to have a soft spot in your heart for the homeless. Not all of them are drug addicts and alcoholics. Some of them were regular guys that got reamed in a divorce. People that couldn't afford medical bills and were forced on the street. Or vets that came home not so mentally healthy. These are the unwanted, the unloved, the loners and losers of society. Being homeless can happen to anyone of us.

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- slings_and_arrows
  
  9 years ago
  
  And even if they are drug addicts and alcoholics? That's how a lot of people deal with the shit things that's happened in their lives and it ends up making it worse.
  
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  - GiveMeAFuckingNameAlready!
    
    9 years ago
    
    I said "not all of them are". Now your just putting words in my mouth. When the only thing I want in my mouth is a warm boob or nachos. I say good day!.
    
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flightlesskiwi

9 years ago

You sound like a very kind person. Totally normal.

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213

9 years ago

You did well ,help as many as you can while you can

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howaminotmyself

9 years ago

This isn't quite how Karma works, but whatever you want to call it is fine with me. I personally don't care if someone uses my spare change to buy beer. Meth or heroin is different. There use to be a homeless man that passed by my house frequently, sometime I would just give him a beer. He was grateful and kept the meth heads who wanted to steal shit away. And I don't mind giving to charity because I understand how they operate and generally research before giving. Giving time is usually better anyway, if only I had more time....

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dickwashington

9 years ago

i don't give money charities i agree with you i will give the homeless money directly. but i am more then happy to volunteer at the soup kitchen its a good feeling you get to help a lot of people at once instead of just one individual

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RoseIsabella

9 years ago

I can see from the active debate that no good deed goes unpunished, but I do believe in Karma, and whether your kindness goes through the official channels of some charity or goes directly to those in need I imagine your Karma is quite good! God bless you!

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Anonymous Post Author

9 years ago

I saw a guy with a sign asking for shoes once. Hope he got those shoes.

Good karma, people. :-)

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- slings_and_arrows
  
  9 years ago
  
  Karma? There's no such thing. If you wanna help someone then you should do it because it should be done. Karma isn't gonna bring anything good for anyone...as it doesn't exist. Any number of awful things can happen inadvertently as a direct result of that man getting shoes.
  
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  - disthing
    
    9 years ago
    
    True dat - the motivation for kindness shouldn't be to later reap some cosmic reward.
    
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  - Anonymous Post Author
    
    9 years ago
    
    Karma exists if *I* create it. How's that?
    
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Are You Normal?

I gave money + food to a homeless guy. is that normal?