A Dog, A Cigarette, and Twenty Bucks

I read something in a book today. It was about giving money to homeless people. In the story, a woman slipped a homeless guy $20, even though she had been told so many times not to give money, but instead to direct the person to a shelter, because who knows how that money would be spent? But her friend says how hard it must be for someone to even have to ask, and do we really need to tell them what to do with their lives when we don’t even know anything about them?

That was in the book I was reading. But a few days ago someone else said to me that they would never give money to a person who’s begging but has a dog with them or is smoking a cigarette, because cigarettes cost so much that if a homeless person can afford them and can afford to feed a dog, they don’t need money. I thought about that, in light of what I had read. First, I don’t hold anything against anyone who has a dog with them. A homeless person needs love and companionship, too, probably more than we know. And so does that dog. That pup would be wandering around, just as hungry or hungrier, if it hadn’t found its person. And they have each other when neither one of them might ever have anyone or anything else to love. More power to them. That fills my heart a bit. As for the cigarettes, I used to agree with that comment. I don’t like cigarettes at all. They cause cancer and they smell horrible and they do cost a fortune. But maybe someone gave them a cigarette. Maybe it’s a cigarette butt they found on the ground. Or maybe they did spend the money someone gave them on a pack. And just like the passage from the book I read, if a person has no home, if a person has nothing, and if a cigarette can make them feel better in some way in their life, who are we to judge?

I know this post came out of left field, but it just felt important to me to say. I also know bunches of you won’t agree with me. That’s ok, because it’s how I feel, and you can feel how you feel. And although I’ve donated lots of change and dollar bills to people on street corners over the years, and I’ve even helped feed many of them, I don’t think I’ve ever slipped a homeless person $20. I might someday. Especially if they have a dog.