No small change
There are lots of jobs I would hate to have to do. One of them is panhandling. Can you imagine if that were your job—your only means of support?
With the exception of a few polarizing political causes, few people worry about how CEOs, baseball players, movie stars, or other (too) highly-paid individuals are going to spend their money. And I know I waste plenty of the tiny bit of money that comes through my hands. So, jettisoning the supposedly pious concerns about how someone will spend any money I give them, and precisely because I'm free to give, I've been trying to give the largest bills I have on me to people who ask for spare change on the street. Granted, I can't do this a whole lot (I'm a grad student), but it beats blowing the same amount of money on myself for say, going to a movie. Almost no one would question if I chose to treat myself to a movie, right?
Especially now, that San Franciscans passed the inhumane "sit-lie" law, that makes it illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks for most of the day (all the way till 11pm!)—yet one more form of criminalizing homelessness, and during a time when homelessness is up thanks to the economy—a $10 or even a $5 might buy someone a little bit of dignity, some time in a restaurant where they can legally sit down and enjoy a cool beverage or a meal or a snack.
Hell, I have Netflix. It's no sacrifice for me to wait for that movie on DVD. How little it costs me to buy someone the right to sit down and eat!
Besides, I've had money demanded of me at gunpoint. I appreciate being simply asked.
With the exception of a few polarizing political causes, few people worry about how CEOs, baseball players, movie stars, or other (too) highly-paid individuals are going to spend their money. And I know I waste plenty of the tiny bit of money that comes through my hands. So, jettisoning the supposedly pious concerns about how someone will spend any money I give them, and precisely because I'm free to give, I've been trying to give the largest bills I have on me to people who ask for spare change on the street. Granted, I can't do this a whole lot (I'm a grad student), but it beats blowing the same amount of money on myself for say, going to a movie. Almost no one would question if I chose to treat myself to a movie, right?
Especially now, that San Franciscans passed the inhumane "sit-lie" law, that makes it illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks for most of the day (all the way till 11pm!)—yet one more form of criminalizing homelessness, and during a time when homelessness is up thanks to the economy—a $10 or even a $5 might buy someone a little bit of dignity, some time in a restaurant where they can legally sit down and enjoy a cool beverage or a meal or a snack.
Hell, I have Netflix. It's no sacrifice for me to wait for that movie on DVD. How little it costs me to buy someone the right to sit down and eat!
Besides, I've had money demanded of me at gunpoint. I appreciate being simply asked.
