"Homeless" - To Give or Not to Give?

I like this picture, because I'm so not technical and also, because it leads to my topic.  When you get asked for change, do you give? I've heard things from friends that range from "Get a job!" to "I don't want to encourage the wrong behavior" to "Yes, I'll take some change" when asked. My view is somewhere in the middle of everything. My overall philosophy is this: if a person is having to ask strangers for money, for whatever reason, I truly believe that their plight is bigger than my need to question their motives. People in donut shops have tip jars, people in coffee shops do too, in restaurants I leave a generous tip for them just bringing my plate and asking me how my food was, and mostly people lie anyway right? So I give, yes I do. Maybe they're having drug or alcohol issues, maybe they have a mental illness, maybe it's difficult to get a job when you don't have an address, a steady place to shower, clothes, etc. I would encourage everyone to think about what we as a community have done to help them.  That, my friends, is a whole seperate subject. Give a dime, a quarter, whatever and if you get asked 10 more times, know that you helped a little bit. Or better yet, leave all of your change and cash at home or at the office when you go to lunch and then you don't have to lie and can answer honestly with "I don't have any, sorry."  

If there's an animal involved, I'll continue to give until I don't have anymore - I'm such a dummy like that!