Not on purpose, of course. I thought I was helping a homeless kid. But a little background-
A couple years ago I was walking to my car at night after work, carrying a plastic bag full of stuff. A guy happened to be walking next to me and said, "Are you looking for a place to sleep too?" I told him I wasn't. He was a young guy, said he got mixed up in a cult and was looking for the Good Samaritan Church. I told him I would walk him there since it was about a block and a half away. I did, then went home. Later I thought, I hope he was able to get to someone. There is nothing open and no services for someone at night in the part of town I work in. I wish I had taken an extra step.
A few years later I was downtown with a friend at night, having some drinks. We were walking back to my car when a guy stopped us and asked if we could help him out. He said he had just got in and there had been a mix up and he didn't have a place to stay. All he wanted was a coffee and some food. I told him I didn't have any money, sorry. Which was true, but as I got to my car I noticed that we had been within half a block of a convenience store. I could have got him a coffee and a sandwich with my credit card. Again, could have taken an extra step, helped someone out. For some reason, these two incidents have always stuck in the back of my mind.
So today I was walking along with my wife and my son and a young guy comes up and says he's been homeless and needs a place to stay. He's been calling shelters and can't find anywhere. My wife says to me (not in English- being bilingual is pretty handy sometimes) that we should help him. I say, sure, but how? I am not a saint, no way we're taking this kid home. So we decide to put him up in a hotel. But I start thinking about putting down my credit card for a kid, probably 19, for a hotel room and I see that's not going to work either.
In the meantime I told him I could use my phone, and he's contacting people to help him out. At one point he says he just talked to his friend and he can stay there but the guy needs some cash for rent- $50. At this point, I think, hmm, a likely story. And parts of his other story are not matching up quite right. But he has no home. That much I am sure of. My wife must have been skeptical as well, because she says to me (again, not in english), "Well it's only $50, even if he is tricking us."
So to make a long story short, I gave the kid the money and dropped him off at his "friend's" house. Later on I get a call from one of the numbers that he dialed on my phone. The voice says, "I got a call from your phone." I say, "Maybe it was your friend XXXXXX, he used my phone to dial some people earlier." I describe this guy to him and he says, "That guy's not my friend, he's a junkie, he ripped me off. Do not trust that guy, he's evil. He's a liar. He stayed one night at my house and then stole a bunch of stuff..."
I didn't write this as a cautionary tale, because there is always a risk in helping strangers, and I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from doing what I did. I do regret not trying to phone some shelters, I could have taken him there, and even if he didn't stay, I wouldn't be funding any heroin dealers. Mainly I feel sad because a young guy, not yet 20, has a life of misery and pain ahead of him, with little hope of it ever getting better. And I never want to worry about this happening again if I help someone out and I don't think I will. But it might. And that bothers me as well.