When Humanity is Lost: A Reflection On Charity.

Invisible, no matter how large the writing on the cardboard.

Photo by Ev on Unsplash

We’ve all seen them.

Standing at busy intersections, in front of convenience stores, gathered together in the seedier parts of town. They usually come equipped with hastily written script on some repurposed surface, usually cardboard. The message on it is unimportant but we all know what they’re looking for.

Money.

Like a modern equivalent to “don’t feed the animals,” somewhere along the way we were told things like, “Don’t give them anything,” “They’ll use it for drugs,” “They’re scamming you,” “You’ve heard the stories! Someone followed one and they drove off in a BMW!”

I’m not here to convince you that every person asking for help is telling the truth.

I’m not going to try and do that.

What I am asking is this: Hop in and ride with me for a min, just a minute.

There are scammers in every walk of life.

Thieves in every tax bracket.

But we also live in a time where most people are struggling, just one missed paycheck, one emergency, one accident away from not being able to make rent.

Section 8 and low income housing have wait lists years long, and there aren’t always other options.

Sometimes, there’s just the street.

Some well meaning folk suggest offering food, information, time, or taking someone directly to a restaurant as ways to avoid being scammed, or feeling taken advantage of. Often with that, come others speaking of how offers of food and the like were declined, so they “don’t do that anymore.”

But what I would like to point out is:

The they, in they, are human, in a world with other humans.

The risks of food being tampered with are real.

There’s a chance that your innocent kindness may come with not so innocent strings.

Not everyone wants to sit and eat dinner with a stranger under the banner of charity.

Sometimes people don’t want the reminder of their current situation.

Or deal with the judgment or the shame.

Maybe just eat in peace while they try to figure out their next step.

Sure, it’s often said “Well beggars can’t be choosers.”

But they’re still people.

People that life has stripped nearly everything else away except the ability to choose.

Even that can be precarious.

So, if it’s in you to give, give.

Give without the expectation of how it will be used.
Give without the need to know the full story.

Because just as being generous doesn’t make you naive, falling on hard times doesn’t make them less human.

So ultimately?

Give.

Or don’t.

Because it’s not really about them.

It’s about you.

-KC