I saw somebody hitting a beggar coz he was asking for money. I am not sure if begging is the only option that guy had but no one has the right to hit a person just because he cannot retaliate. The question is should we help these beggars.
Well, I give money when I feel compelled to do so, so I am very familiar with the feeling. I've also ignored crackheads on the train and people that clearly capable of doing something constructive but would rather beg on the subway and streets. There are people that have been panhandling for years already, with the same story. The same person saying her house burned down for 10 years now and how she needs money to stay somewhere the night. the guy that needs "something to eat" that lingers outside of bars @ night, etc. if it feels good to do it, then do it. I've had people reject the food I offer them.. I had a guy that I offered my barely touched left over BBQ dinner to tell me he was a vegetarian. really? you are a bum, you eat from the garbage, but you are too good to eat a delicious piece of cow ass? alrighty then.
Point being, don't do it expecting gratification because you won't find it that way. If at the moment someone asks for money, it warms your heart or puts a smile on your face to cough up a 10 rupee note or a coin or loose change and lint, then do it. Once they walk away, you will either never see them again and always wonder if what you did or didn't do made a difference, or you will see them again with the same story, and wonder if you were conned out of that one currency note (that will not make you richer, btw)...
Having said that, if I were to play devil's advocate- even those that are asking for money and saying no to food and the ones that you know are just constantly on the same routine of begging and wasting the money, they are as sad as they lead you to believe, really and truly. At some point, they threw their hands in the air, decided they couldn't pull themselves out of the ten foot hole they dug themselves into, and chose to rely on their addictions to help them forget how poor their homeless loveless quality of life is and forget, if only temporarily that all they have left is the cheap thrill of whatever their drug of choice is. it is extremely sad, enough to pity. We don't know where they really came from, how they wound up in the streets... but they are someone's kid, someone's brother, someone's sister, someones uncle. can you imagine? some horrible chain of events led them through the motions to end up begging for the loose change you lose in your couch, or left over lunch money...
I'm not encouraging supporting a habit, if anything, maybe this proves that the key to this is prevention, a solution before it becomes a problem (on a much grander scale, not something you have control over as an individual) I'm just saying, do what feels right at the time. If it tickles you to grab a handful of change out of the bottom of your purse, do it. If you wanna give away a piece of fruit or a bottle of water or your left over lunch, that's great. you never know when one person might genuinely appreciate it, so you have to have some sort of faith in humanity so that you can trust your instincts and share when you can.
Everyone has their vices, in some form, and it's not our jobs to judge or punish strangers for it.
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