A handicapped, homeless, elderly man I often see outside a 7-11 asked me for a dollar so I gave him $5.00. A woman said to me "You shouldn't give him any money, he's just going to buy booze with it." I thought about it and then told her that it's his business what he chooses to spend the money on.
If anyone deserves a drink now and then on me, it's a poor old guy who is down on his luck. Think about if it were your father or grandfather. For God's sake, being homeless doesn't mean you don't deserve to make your "own" choices. Whether he chooses to buy a sandwich or a beer . . . it's not my business.
And this is not to say that I support giving money to alcoholics or addicts, but simply that this poor soul happened to ask me for money and I just couldn't say "No" today when I looked back into his teared-filled eyes.
This is not a political issue but a human one.
He is human and so am I and so are you.
Once in awhile, how about talking to someone in need instead of trying to get the heck out of dodge? How about noticing that homeless people were once people like us?
Martin Luther King once said,"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
My daughter asked me if she could give him some of her own money next time.
I answered, "Sure sweetie, and a drawing would be nice too."
