I would love to give Nancy Thoerig an education on the homeless and poverty stricken, but I can’t. Because I’m not homeless. (‘Hey, lady! Can you spare me a penny?’ Sept. 29 Times-News)
I’d love to tell you what puts a person on the street, and how they spend the change they collect, but I can’t. Because I’m not homeless. Neither are you, Nancy.
I do know this: When I see someone on the corner asking for change, I give it to them. I don’t judge. I don’t look at their tattoos to determine how they might spend their money. Because I really don’t know. I’m not homeless.
Honestly, I don’t care how they spend it. They’re begging for change. Do you know how that must feel, Nancy? Of course you don’t. You’re not homeless. We could never relate to someone like that.
So what if they spend it on booze, or other”‘eccentricities”? The money I gave them isn’t getting them off the street. All of money they get that day, month, or even year isn’t getting them off the street.
They’re just trying to get through the day with what they feel they need. They’re nicely asking for the money, instead of putting a knife to my throat or a gun to my back. That’s good enough for me.
What exactly is an “eccentricity,” Nancy? The way it sounds, you seem to think that anything that isn’t food is wasteful spending to a homeless person. A homeless person may be homeless, but they need more than food, just like you and I. They are human beings. What if that man you insisted on buying breakfast for didn’t need to eat?
What if he had a splitting headache and just needed something to take for it? What if he needed a new shirt, because the one he was wearing was falling apart? What if he felt he needed an umbrella, because he wanted extra protection from the rain?
He could have needed any number of things that didn’t involve drugs, alcohol, or even food. He doesn’t owe you an explanation for anything. He’s not asking for $1,000 check. He’s asking for a dollar, or a quarter or a penny. Whatever you can pain yourself to spare. And pain you it must.
I’ve always felt that making someone who is begging on the street explain the essence of their money needs just to get a paltry dollar is akin to making a dog do tricks for the pleasure of a single treat.
Since I, unlike you, don’t see beggars as somehow less human than myself, I put the hoops away. Though you may believe you REALLY know how someone begging for money will spend their new dollar, don’t flatter yourself. You don’t know. You’re not homeless.
What disappoints me the most is that for someone who, at times, thumps the Bible so hard I can hear it all the way down here, you are not very Jesus-like in your assessment of the less fortunate.
To write a letter, using a poor man as a segue into how you are so brave in your own hardships, is quite frankly disturbing. But it usually seems to be the case that your loudest, proudest Christians seem to be the most out of touch with the human spirit. Such is the country we live in, I guess.
So if we are ever in the same parking lot, and there is a homeless man begging for money, please just walk on past. He doesn’t need money stained with your cynicism. He just wants help. I’ll give him money for the both of us. You’re welcome.
Adam Robinette
Herndon, Va.
Formerly of LaVale
Opinion
Just what is an ‘eccentricity,’ anyway?
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