When feeding a hungry man is wrong

[nadinbrzezinski]

well, today I had to go pick up some apple sauce and cream for the potato cakes for our family Hanukkah reunion. Yep, my sis forgot.

So I step out of the car and this gentleman is asking if anybody can help him, he is hungry and does not have money for food.

So I tell him, sure, there is a fast food place, will buy you lunch

As I said that a woman with her eight year old turns to me and says "What encouraging a vagrant?"

"What part of take care of the lesser among us did you miss in Bible School?"

She got beet red, and looked like I just hit her in the gut. So I took gentleman over, and bought him lunch. As I left, he said, that was mighty Christian of you.

So I told him, Happy Holidays I'm Jewish, but that part of the gospel applies and it is in both the old and the new testament. I wish I could do more. To say that he was shocked and surprised is to put it midly... and I hope that once he gets back on his feet he will remember....

Now this happened in a more or less well to do area of San Diego County, a pretty red area of the county in fact... Duncan Hunter Territory to be exact. Oh and the last detail, this gentleman was black... not that it mattered to me, but to the white woman who told me on a Sunday afternoon days from Christmas that I was encouraging vagrancy, it probably did. I was just waiting for her to quote Buddha to me, something about fish and teaching a man to do such.

Oh and I am seeing this more and more, people begging for food who ARE hungry.

[magellan]

1. That was a beautiful thing to do

I'm sure both that man and the woman will remember you for a long time. I kinda hope the woman remembers you better, and learns from it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. At least I am hoping the kid does

[magellan]

6. Absolutely

I still remember the day my mother cussed out and racially insulted a black woman helping us in a store. She had made some small mistake with the clothes, and my mother flew into one of her infamous rages. The look in that poor woman's eyes...I've never forgotten the pain I saw before my mother dragged me off.

That kid will remember your words and kindness and hopefully it will influence him/her for the better, in spite of the mother.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

27. Beautiful and smart -- bought the food instead of giving him money.

Over the years I became painfully aware of the existence of both types of beggars. "Let me buy you food" is the right answer. It separates the genuinely needy from the... erm, others. (who hemm and haw aimlessly before making themselves scarce when confronted with that reply).

Down here in Brazil, it's about 50/50.

[AbbyR]

63. My mother used to tell a story

of her father. During the Depression, when a beggar would ask for money for food, he would ask where the person lived, then take over a bag or two of groceries. He wanted to make sure the person ate. Maybe being a progressive liberal is hereditary.

[AlienAvatar]

49. I wanted to give my thoughts on this

and it probably would've been wordy.
Two sentences and you summed it up.

[jgraz]

3. How DARE you encourage that man to be hungry and miserable

Now EVERYBODY will want to try it.


Sometimes I think this country is too sick to survive its own depravity. Good on you for making things a little bit better.

[Homer Wells]

52. GOD BLESS AMERICA??

Why?:eyes:

[katsy]

4. No doubt he will remember...

and maybe even pass on the generousity to someone else if he gets back on his feet.

What a wonderful act of compassion. We's have fewer hungry and homeless if there were more people like you.

[silverojo]

7. And America would be paradise

If there was a president like you. :)

[katsy]

10. Hugs!

What a nice thing to say.

It happened to me you know.

I worked every day after school while in high school. Found myself at the bus stop one day with no money. A nice lady gave me the fare and I promised to give it back to her the next day at the bus stop.

She told me to forget it and pass on the kindness.

Been doing that ever since. I wish she were president.

[Fleshdancer]

5. Good for you!

I'm one of those people who never know what to say to rude strangers until 30 minutes later...I hate that about myself.

I always thought it was strange how so many people celebrate the birth of Jesus but forget how his extremely poor mother was treated when she had no place to go to give birth. I'm just a godless heathen but even I can appreciate the importance of that part of the story.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Well truth be told

we do have some professional bums locally... and I mean that as in professional...

One way you can tell the real deal from the pros is the real deal will accept a meal and will not turn you down. They wil take the burger instead of the money, or in this case the meal at El Pollo Loco.

We have fed hungry people over the years, and it never ceases to amaze me the reaction from usually (I hate the broad brush but this has been our experience) white middle aged women.

[Erika]

8. You reached out and helped

Good for you. You showed how we should care, regardless of religion.

[sweetheart]

11. cool thing to do

I don't know why the woman would 'quote buddha' to you. Gautama Siddhartha lived for the
awakening of all sentient beings, and it is a normal buddhist precept to treat all persons like
they were your mother, as over enough reincarnations, they all have been or will be... (its the idealism).

Why buddhism entered your post at the end in a hollow slam i din't get.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. the often used saying

by some folks

If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. It is a budhist saying, but often quoted by folks who don't know that

[sweetheart]

16. it comes off wooden

I don't quote buddha, i don't know any buddhist who quotes buddha.

I know the line you're commenting about, but i'm as well saying that you just represented buddhism
as a cheap religion who's participants spew pithy quotes rather than feeding people.

It comes off elitist for that.

[RC]

18. I didn't read it like that.

It was just a saying that fit in the context.

[sweetheart]

21. good news

thanks :-)

[TacticalPeek]

25. If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish

he'll sit in a boat in the middle of a lake drinking beer all day.



;)

[BlueEyedSon]

37. And if his fishing-luck is any thing like mine, he'll GO HUNGRY

BOW BOW BOW!

[everythingsxen]

54. Give a man a fish...

One of my favorite quotes is, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.” Today in order to teach a man to fish, you need two fishing licenses, a state boat sticker, OSHA approved life jackets, EPA approved weights and hooks, you pay a park fee, obtain a fire permit to cook the fish and an EPA permit to dispose of the waste. Thanks to the government, fish you catch costs 8 times as much as the fish you purchase in the supermarket, caught overseas. - C. Harrison

[Leftisalwaysright]

12. Very nice!

Yeah, I think when a person offers to feed a person on the street who says they're hungry and they turn the food down because all they want is money, it makes them hesitant to offer help to anyone else.

[alittlelark]

14. I've lived in Los Altos for 14 years. First beggar seen 5 years ago.

He still hangs out in front of Safeway w/ his 2 dogs in his wheelchair. About 3 years ago I saw them off and on. About a year ago they became commonplace on all of our major intersection corners.

I purposely get larger bills broken down so I can help a bit... I've only had 2 ppl tell me I am doing wrong.

It's just sooooo sad.;(

[RC]

20. TWO dogs, huh?

How's he affording to feed the dogs if he is begging?

[Zodiak]

26. Dogs are facultative scavengers

I suppose a man has to be naked to be taken seriously as poor and in need.

[tblue37]

29. Soemtimes when you have nothing, t he

companionship of a dog is the only thing that makes life worth living. I would not begrudge a homeless person or a beggar the company of a dog. Also, if he lives on the streets, dogs are protection.

Several of the homeless people in our town have dogs.

[wildeyed]

31. A homeless man saved the life an escaped Alzheimer's patient

recently in my community. He didn't know the guy had Alzheimer's, just thought he was homeless and going to freeze to death. He bought the guy a pair of shoes and rounded up some warm clothing for him. I guess you could ask, if he is homeless how did he afford to cloth another man he assumed was homeless, but in more need than himself? Fellowship, decency, and the urge to care for someone in need. He saved the guys life, actually.

Anyway, I guess the urge to care for animals is the same. Plus many people consider their pets as family and take care of them accordingly. If I was homeless and alone, there is no one I would want by my side more than my dog Sam. He is loyal, good company and a great guard dog.

[kineneb]

45. the homeless are not necessarly pennyless

but often have jobs that do not pay enough to provide housing... The nice man in question may have been among the working homeless. Just say'n...

As to a dog or two, they are companions that are probably helping their "owner" keep what little sanity he has left. And they are warm friends on cold nights.

Judge not...

[alittlelark]

50. He's been in front of the Safeway

at Miramonte and Cuesta for a few years now. He had one dog for a short while (I think). He has an elesctronic wheelchair w/ Am flags on both sides. Everyone in Los Altos knows who he is - he markets himself well.

PS, Los Altos is one of the wealthiest cities in the country (Silicon Valley), and also extremely liberal. I would wager that he is doing well.

The other, random beggars we see on El Camino are not faring nearly as well.

[Hippo_Tron]

51. My guess is that he doesn't spend money on expensive dog food

Probably just feeds the dogs whatever he has left.

[Behind the Aegis]

15. You did a good thing!

Don't let that woman's reaction taint the goodness that you did. Also, good for you for correcting the statement "that was mighty Christian of you."

Happy Channukah!

[EST]

17. Good for you!

You brought a smile. I wish there were more like you.

Quite a number of years ago, I was waiting for a train on one of my very few trips to New York City, when a man came up to me and gave me a story about losing his seaman's papers and being broke and jobless. He asked me for money for a cup of coffee.

It really broke my heart-he was pitiable.

Since I had some time before my train was due, I noted a coffee bar a ways down and offered to walk over there with him and buy us both a cup, or all the coffee he wanted.
He swore at me and stomped off.

[malaise]

19. Great story

Hope her eight year old heard. It's too late for her.

[wicket]

22. God bless you

:hug:

[elocs]

23. It's too bad that more Christians do not live the words of Jesus.

A very wise Jewish man and teacher.

[TlalocW]

24. As heart-warming as the story is

The part that makes me smile the most is your witty retorty and the reaction of the woman. :)

TlalocW

[Squatch]

28. $350,000,000,000

The amount of money spent on the Iraq war, to date, could have erradicated homelessness in our country.

[DarkTirade]

30. I used to work at a pizza place

and the one night a homeless guy happened to be right there when I was closing the store also happened to be a night when an order had been cancelled at the end of the night and there was an entire pizza just sitting there. I had been planning on bringing it home... but I figured I could either A) let my roommates, who have mommy and daddy paying for everything eat it(I dont' like olives so I wasn't gonna eat it.), or B) let said homeless guy have it... not much of a contest there. :)

[Strawman]

32. Ironic how fundies love SOCIAL Darwinism

Love Spencer and hate Darwin.

[Jo March]

33. Good for you! bless you for teaching that kid the lesson

of kindness and compassion. :yourock: and :thumbsup:

Yes, more and more people in this country are hungry. We have several DUers who are going through tough times right now. I've been PMing my fingers off, trying to help out a DUer in need of food right now.

After bills, who has money for luxury items like food? :sarcasm:

[BlueStorm]

53. Being a poor person myself

I thank you for doing that.

If it wasn't for my father willing to let me stay with him I would be on the streets. I know what it is like to be low on food. My SSI and RSDI aren't that much around $700 dollars a month, that is a month. I only am able to get $50 worth of food, for a month. Not much there and it hardly lasts. I have my rent which is $100 a to live with my dad. Then there is car insurance, car gas, etc etc.

It's hard to be poor. Especially right now. This season gets me so depressed because I can't even afford to get my nieces and nephew any presents. No one in my family does, so they are going without this year.

Blue

[Jo March]

59. I am so sorry, Blue

It seems that things are getting tighter and tighter for many here on DU and around the country.

I love that DU is helping raise money for 2nd Harvest. I hope that the grassroots help that some DUers have been organizing for needy DUers won't stop, though. Sometimes all we need is an extra $50 to get us out of the hole.

:hug: to you, Blue. Know that you are not alone.'

Carmen

[OnionPatch]

34. Good for you!

I always give to people who ask. I don't give a rat's a** if I'm "encouraging vagrants." If someone is in need and hungry, I give first and ask questions later. I am firm in my belief that there is no sane person on the face of the Earth who takes advantage of other people's generosity so that they can live on the streets. There are reasons these people don't have jobs and it's not usually related to laziness. Why is it that the so-called "Christians" among us are often the most cold-hearted of us all?

[byronius]

35. You're damned right, there. n/t

[Morgana LaFey]

36. Of COURSE they're hungry

What an odd thing to say.

You think they're all just alcoholics? And maybe don't deserve to be fed for that reason or something? I don't understand your comment.

on another note, thanks for your kind actions, and good words to the woman and her child. And thanks for sharing it with us.

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. Actually having worked in the field of EMS

where many of these people are called frequent fliers, I can tell you that some, about fifty fifty, are pros and are alcoholic and are on the streets because they either want to be, or that is all they've known

A good test is actually offering food. The ones who want only money will regale you, on a good day, with quite the vocabulary.

I will give you a concrete example of somebody we picked up

He was a man who lost both legs... so he begged down in Mexico, by the border, San Isidro was his favorite hunt.

He suffered a heart attack, according to the coroner's one of those that we were lucky he was still breathing when we got him to the ER. Oh and the autopsy also revealed quite the cirrhoses of the liver.

After he died, family shows up, about a week after the fact, demanding to get his stuff back, odd right, he's a beggar right? They even charged us with robbery. So one of us goes back into the property room and brings out the cart he sat on. Odd, it was somewhat heavy, things you don't notice in the heat of the moment. We asked the cops to witness's us breaking the lock. To make a long story short, by the time we were done counting, he had accumulated over 100,000 US Dollars... this is what the family was after by the way. They knew this, but they also knew their uncle would not stay put. They took him under a roof several times, and several times he ahem, ran away and started begging.

So don't tell me that all homeless people are hungry and have not chosen to live that way. I can find examples... not that common but it happens.

[Zavulon]

38. The last time I offered to buy lunch for someone,

he just looked at me and said "fuck you, smartass, just give me the cash." The time before that, I bought lunch for one guy who has since viewed me as an ATM and has become almost a stalker. The time before that, the guy grabbed my wallet out of my hand and bolted for the door until another customer tackled him.

I know there are good people who need help, but I'm not doing this anymore. My wallet is closed. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that one guy I can't shake has made my life hell. I meant well, and now it's gotten so bad that I actually wish I had just told him to go to hell the first time. That's how a few bad apples spoil a whole barrel, I guess, but I only run into the bad apples.

[maxsolomon]

39. chronic alcoholics don't want food. they want a bottle.

"i'll buy you lunch" sends 95% of the homeless away from me.

homeless orgs discourage cash donations to the homeless - give food or give to a shelter.

[EnviroBat]

40. You didn't take him to Taco Bell did you?

:puke:

But that was nice of you. As for the judgmental ass-creature, apparently she thinks that guy could just snap his fingers and suddenly his homelessness is cured. What a sack of crap, you were nice to her too in my opinion. Let's hope she never finds herself without...

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. No the place at that mall is of slightly better quality

than taco bell

[Rex]

41. How are you 'encouraging' him by feeding him?

That lady symbolizes what is wrong with America. You should just obey and consume. Anything outside of those two are deviant behavior and will be punished!

Good for you! I wish we were all as generous.

[Cleita]

43. I think many of the programs that provide funds to charities

to help feed the poor have gone down to budget cuts. The bigger a mess the federal government becomes, the more I believe we are going to have to organize at a local level.

In my county, San Luis Obispo, a homeless man with cancer died in a field. He had been in the hospital but kicked out because they couldn't do anything for him. A couple of his homeless friends walked to the Goodwill and bought a mattress and carried it back on foot several miles so that he would have a more comfortable place to die than the hard wet ground.

I believe we can try to raise funds on property taxes countywide, because the state, who used to run these various programs won't raise them from the 1% the state takes now. I agree that single family homes should be exempt, but most of the homes in my area are vacation homes and second homes. They go empty most of the year or are rented out to tourists for profit. I think it's time to make them pay and use the funds to house and feed the homeless. The beach front is lined with hotels. I think we can squeeze a room tax out of them too.

I'm thinking of haunting County supervisor meetings from now on to figure out a way to light a fire under them to do the right thing. Of course I won't be very popular with even Democrats here. Most of them are well off and property owners. I mentioned this once before at a meeting of Democrats and from the looks of horror I was given I really expected them to start throwing strands of garlic around me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. Good luick

it will happen but only after the crisis is of such a size you cannot deny it


seeing a homeless and hungry man in an area with poor access to public tranmsportation is a sign that we are reaching critical mass.

The other problem, many city Aldermen and Councilmembers beleive this is an eye sore problem, not a social problem, and will do all they can to drive their local puulation over county lines.

[Cleita]

47. I know. Ninety percent of the time I feel that I am tilting at

windmills, but one must try.

[nadinbrzezinski]

48. I know

but at this moment... things are getting so bad that yuo may no lomger be tilting at windmills

Two assumptions I am going to make here

1.- Most peoople are a pay check away from the streets

2.- The economy will greatly suffer once all the contitions we have created come togehter

Just like after the depresion, people will want a real solution since poverty became a crazy reality for most.

We are quickly moving that way.

[tinfoil tiaras]

55. K/R

Awesome story. Good for you for feeding the homeless man. You have more Christian in you than that lady has in her nose. And you're Jewish. :yourock:

[everythingsxen]

56. You are a real mensch!

:yourock:

[AZBlue]

57. Thank you for your generosity and kindness.

Happy Hanukkah to you and your family!!

[Catherine Vincent]

58. Good deed!

And shame on that woman for making that comment. Years ago, a co-worker of mine was approached by someone begging for money. She was on her way to bible study and she said I can't give you money but if you go with me down the street here to bible study, I can purchase you a bbq meal at the bible study. She said the guy just turned and kept walking. She had good intentions but she should have just given the guy the money to buy food instead of bribing him to sit through bible study. What do you all think?

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. hate to say it

but food is what relief organizations recomend. I'd would have bought him a burger, not at the bible study class, but food is the way I deal with this...

partly due to expeerience in EMS as well

[judaspriestess]

61. that was a great answer and a wonderful thing you did

If someone says they are hungry then I feed them. One particular time, I was at the drive thru of kfc. There was a guy holding up two fingers like the peace sign to all the cars in the drive thru. Everyone ignored him, he looked at me and turned away. I think because he thought he would scare me. I rolled my window down and asked him what he needed. He said, "ma'm I just want a two piece chicken meal". I said of course. drove around gave it to him, he was so apologetic asking me for it. He said he was a vet on disability and spent all his money on rent and would not get his next check till the beginning of the month. It turned out I had found $10 bucks in my pocket earlier that evening and gave it to him. His face lit up and he rattled off all the things he would buy from the grocery store to eat. I cried after I left.

Acts of kindess are not a choice they are mandatory.

[Left Is Write]

62. I'd have done the same as you.

And have.

I hope the woman who saw you do this learns something from your kindness.

I also hope that her child learns something from your kindness! My own daughter just about brought me to tears weekend before last. We saw on the corner a man with a sign, "Homeless, jobless, hungry." My husband said he wanted to give him some money. My daughter, almost 7, was in the back seat with a cup of hot cocoa from Starbucks. She told my husband that she wanted to give the man her cocoa, because he didn't have enough money to buy his own.