Dealing with the Homeless 

I’m typing this here, because this happened mostly because I snuck off to a restaurant by myself that my family no longer likes. So, I can’t tell any of them because they’ll think it was odd that I was there at all.     

So, anyway, I was walking from my car at the edge of the parking lot to the front door of this restaurant, and this guy who had been doing nothing but standing there came walking up to me. I knew from previous experience what the homeless in that part of town looked like, and he was it, although a little cleaner than some. It was not a bad part of town. It’s what the refer to as “gentrified”, or “cleaned up”.  But some of the cleaning up didn’t totally stick. There are a lot of reasonably decent restaurants there, though, due to the gentrification. 

Anyway, this homeless man fell into step beside me, which doesn’t happen often. I’ve lived long enough to generally avoid being in a position to let strangers fall into step beside me. Although it did happen one other time when myself and a relative were traveling in another country, and that homeless guy talked his way into $20 of my relative’s money!  But not this time. I got lucky. As we walked, he talked.

So, he explained, I’m looking for a bed tonight, and there’s this place that charges $12 a night. I have $4.  So I was wondering if you’d help me out.

I should explain in advance that I have a brother whose ministerial duties have led him to have a lot of dealings with the homeless.  His advice to me was, it’s better not to give them money. If you want to help, give money to the shelter that provides help to the homeless. If you give the money directly to an individual, in could be spent on drugs or alcohol, which doesn’t help them.

His request was worded in such a way that it fell right into my area of limited expertise about dealing with the homeless.  Well, I said, what I would do then instead of giving the money to you is to give it directly to the place that’s giving you the bed.

Oh, he answered ambling away.  Later, as I was finding my seat inside the restaurant, I looked up to find that he was there, too, munching hungrily on the same expensive food that I was eating. I guess he had more than $4 after all!

I should say as a postscript to this story, that I did once buy a homeless person food at a local convenience store in that same part of town.  But it was what he asked me to get him. I don’t begrudge anyone the right to eat. I do sometimes begrudge being scammed for money, though!

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