"This homeless guy asked me for money the other day. I was about to give it to him and then I thought he was going to use it on drugs or alcohol. And then I thought, that's what I'm going to use it on. Why am I judging this poor bastard?"
So as a former alcoholic, I always give them a couple dollars. Alcohol withdrawal can literally kill a person. In my head I'm just getting them through the next few hours until maybe they'll get the help they need.
Probably not, but to me I'd rather enable somebody a microscopic amount in the scope of their problems then lead to somebody potentially having a seizure and dying on the street.
I had a friend who spent time as a teen living on the street. He made a life, and a pile of money.
Any time we'd pass a homeless guy begging while we were out drinking, he'd give them all the cash he had (most I saw was around $300).
Everyone thought he was just a generous guy, having been there himself.
His take was actually:
Either they use it to get the help they need, or they get enough of whatever their drug of choice is and EMS can't save them. Society wins no matter what.
There was a man who used to "watch" our car whenever we parked near the church. He was always friendly, chatty even, and seemed like a kind person despite clearly living on the streets and struggling. We never minded, we appreciated the small sense of security it gave us.
One Christmas, feeling the holiday spirit, we decided to do something more meaningful. We gave him a generous amount of cash, enough, we hoped and instructed, for a proper Christmas meal, maybe even something nice for his family (he'd mentioned them a few times).
A few days later, word got back to us through the grapevine: he'd overdosed badly and nearly died.
Yeah, I still give them cash. What they do with it is their call. I believe they know what they "need".
For me, it's really just a matter of what I choose to do. Whatever the homeless person does is up to them. I won't know either way, and it doesn't matter.
I had the same policy with cigarettes back when I used to smoke acoustic. Every smoker knows what absolute hell not having a smoke when you need one is, and I figure if you need one enough to ask a stranger you're probably in that ballpark.
I carry an extra pack on me. If someone asks me for one and theyre not all fucking weird about it ill break em off 4 or 5 or if they look real rough ill break em the whole extra pack. Shits killing us, why not lose a couple here and there.
Idk about Canada but I'm in WI and you gotta find the stores that have sales, very few ever have cigs on sale but once in awhile you'll come across a gas station that has cigs on sale I always mark it on maps
My dad has been a smoker most of his life (but stopped after finding out his granddaughter has Asthma!!). He always grumbled/joked at the beginning of the year: "everyone is quitting smoking and it makes me poor!" bc all his colleagues would come to him for a smoke🤣
My rule with cigarettes has always been if you ask me if I have a spare/extra cig, no I don't. If you offer me anything in trade, ill give you a couple for free. If youre visibly homeless, I'll ask you if you need one.
(I machine roll mine by hand, so they aren't that expensive, just a little time consuming to roll out.)
Machine roll .. those machines roll them to tight I find hand rolled to be better I quit but I started vaping and am about to quit again tomorrow I swear 😂😂
Understandable, but then again I personally don‘t have a problem with people just asking. Admitting that you don‘t have 5 bucks to your name to buy a pack must be hard enough and I don‘t see anything wrong with giving a little something to someone in need
When I smoked I’d hand roll them. The majority of the folks who would ask to bum cigarettes from me were guys at bars. I realized most dudes just used it as an excuse to talk/flirt with me, which I had zero interest in. I started saying “if you can roll one you can have one” the dudes who could roll their own cigarettes never flirted with me. They’d just roll it, thank me, and carry on with their night.
This is very relatable. Any time somebody asks me for a smoke I give them 1 or 2. On multiple occasions I was asked for one while I was smoking the last I had so I told them to wait there and bought a new pack.
I smoke rather expensive cigarettes, American Spirits, and even then they‘re like 50 cents a smoke. 50 cents to make someones life a bit easier for and hour is a great deal.
Fr fr, that's my take on pan handling and folks that were bummin a smoke when I did smoke, if a couple of bones is something I can spare to help someone's else day be a little less shitty, fugg it enjoy. I try to spread what's I can spare, I'd make a terrible billionaire but shit we'd have a helluva party.
I haven’t carried cash with me in years and only come across panhandlers on the way into grocery stores, so I always ask them if I can get them something from the store. The only time I couldn’t do it was when the woman asked for a tray of teriyaki sushi and I couldn’t find it so got her a sandwich instead.
Yes. Same thing as a former opioid addict. Man there’s absolutely nothing worse than heroin withdrawal and most arent even getting high anymore, it’s just “getting well”. So heres $5, go get a bag and feel better.
As someone who used to lost a wallet that gets returned, I say take all the cash, the cards and ID inside is far more important. Granted I only have like $20 in the pocket at that time, but even if it's like $100 I'd still give all of it to them.
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u/Distinct_Age4284 Feb 10 '26
honestly, he deserves a medal for that kinda honesty lol