I do not recall when I latched onto this habit, but at some point in my adult life, I started to throw a few bucks in my pocket when I knew I was going to be out running errands so I could give it away. My rationale was that a some point in my urban day, I was going to meet somebody who needed it.
I have been statistically poor and I was always fortunate enough to have food, shelter, and clothing. Now I am not poor and I firmly believe that the differential between myself and a homeless or poor struggling on the edge human being, is all a matter of luck. I am not smarter, more gifted, and I did not just pull myself up by by boots straps and learn to work harder or set better goals than others. I was just lucky.
While I cannot assume that every man or woman I do this transaction with is homeless or close to it, my gut instinct tells me that it is probably so. Notice I use the word "transaction" and that seems very counter intuitive but I am not simply engaging in petty altruism or looking for a cheap thank you. I "get" something from it as well. I can remind myself that I am graced with material possessions and a job that doesn't leave me hungry at the end of the month and I create the delusion that I am doing a microscopic act of decency. If I was truly altruistic, I would do it with a sense of nothingness.
I don't conduct interviews. When somebody says," Honey, Miss, Sugar, (I live in the south) or Ma'am do you...." I just give my paltry offering and tell them to have a nice day. Sometimes we chat. I am aware of critiques from both the left and right focusing on why these acts are either wrong or insubstantial.
A leftist critique might sound like this: giving a few dollars to a homeless or indigent person does absolutely nothing to challenge or remove the current structures and social relationships that create and perpetuate homelessness and poverty. I am doing more to assuage my own guilt than to truly assist a brother or sister in need. I fear that might be a valid counter punch. The problem is that I cannot turn away. I am not transforming anybody's existence or even their day by releasing a buck or two. I hope I might be giving five minutes of something different than the moment just before. If I am hot I enjoy a cold drink, if I am cold I enjoy a warm one. I just assume that the person I encounter shares that with me.I fear that the changes needed to stop simply perpetuating the current system are so deep and revolutionary in nature, that I will be in the nursing home or gone to the big tree in the sky before they can even start to come to fruition. Karma might deliver me out to the street when I am elderly anyway because the elderly are always the most disposable beings and larger economic event could vaporize the nest egg.
Those on the right might firmly assert that I am rewarding bad behavior because that person might chose to allocate the money for something socially unacceptable. Do I really have the right to make that judgment? Might I chose to indulge in something socially unacceptable to ease the pain of my situation if I were that person? Is it just possible that person really is going to get a cold drink or hope to collect enough to just get a sandwich. If I am asked directly for food I do buy the sandwich. Does it actually matter in the end?
Another favorite often launched is that the indigent or homeless chose that lifestyle. Given the perils of survival on the streets I would venture to suggest a minority do so if at all.
This piece notes that the homeless are often subject to random violence and cruelty. Homeless people are burdened by substantial physical and mental illnesses that leave them even more vulnerable than ordinary working Americans without health insurance. This same piece notes that a good portion of homeless Americans are employed. The happy stereotype of the philosophical hobo who enjoys freedom with no care just seems like bullshit to me.
Hobos are not a myth, I just see them a a distinct sub-culture.
The homeless approaching me today who is a Vietnam Vet, too traumatized to adjust to life back home, or subverted by health problems might in a few years be the Iraq Vet.
Like many of you I do not limit myself to the liberation of a few bucks, I have my favorite organizations I donate to and volunteer when I can. Maybe what I am engaging in is foolhardy, wrong, delusional, and silly. I struggle with it.