A Little Something I Recently Wrote On Homelessness In America

Written early on Christmas morning 2010

There are those who will not give money to certain panhandlers because they believe they will use the money for alcohol and/or drugs. I have never truly understood this rationale and have asked friends who take this tact to explain their mental processes to me.

What I usually get in response is some mishmash of what appears to me to be a combination of judgment, self righteousness and a need to parent people who are often twice their own age, all wrapped up in a pretty package of middle class entitlement and with an equally pretty bow on top.

First, if I were homeless and/or living on the street and/or living in abject poverty there is a better than average chance I would be driven to drink and drug too (I currently do not engage in either) and I would venture to say the same is true for my friends who engage in this practice of refusing to give money to those they believe will use it for such things.

Second, how can they tell a person is going to use the money for alcohol or drugs? Is there some antennae such people are always wearing that I somehow consistently failed to notice after more than 25 years of working with the homeless in four different states and various environments? No, really. That's a serious question.

Third, what if, just what if the people aren't going to use the money for these purposes? Not  that I believe it matters. As one of my friends recently shared in a discussion I had with some people on this topic, what business is it of mine what the money is going to be used for?

I think this may be the place where those people come in who won't give money but instead say something along the lines of, "I'm not going to give you any money but there's a decent deli around the corner. I go there myself all the time. I'll buy you a meal there."

Okay. That's pretty cool. But you know what? I have personally known a number of seemingly good-hearted, hard working people--nice people, for almost 30 years, who have taken this tact. And I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's some reason this tact, as a default response, has always irked me as well. I think its because this one, while exponentially more generous than the other one, seems to have an air of, "Hey! You want my money? Then you gotta play by my rules, baby or Big Daddy (Big Momma) ain't gonna help ya!"

Mmmm, I just don't know.

These are just some thoughts that came to my mind early on this Christmas morning as I think about all the homeless people, children and families on this day. May All Beings Be Free.

© Raven/Sage Mahosadha

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