I am pretty sure most people know this but I feel the need to say it so that maybe the few that don't can figure it out... When you give money to a homeless guy on the street he takes that money and buys the biggest cheapest vodka he can get. Liquer stores do not care about how intoxicated the person is or how much they need to buy food, they look at getting money from the poor guy.
If you really feel bad for the guy sitting on the corner near the plaza then give him the sandwich form your lunchbox or maybe a duffle bag to carry all his stuff around in or give him a coat to stay warm with. I really think we need to step up and do something about these guys. As an emt, I scrape these men off the streets at ten in the morning, yes that early in the morning and they are already so trashed they cannot walk straight. The regulars usually end up burning bridges at most hospitals and with most people that must deal with them. These men are human, they are GOD's children too. We should not have to see them this way.
There are so many mission centers and places for people to stay, many places have drop off sites so you can leave clothes and whatever else. I feel like the more money we give to these people the more harm they are doing to themselves. The more harm they do to themselves the more tax money we pay to take care of them.
Think about it, someone gives them just enough money to buy a pint and a six pack of beer. They might get some more money and score another pint or more and well that much alcohol in a day can harm your liver. They become so slobbering drunk that they fall down and pass out thus creating the need for an ambulance ride to the hospital. A day and maybe even a night in a hospital and then they can go to start all over again. Not only are we as a country paying for this guy to buy the alcohol we are also paying for him to ride to the hospital and spend the night. And maybe months down the road or even years we get to pay for him to be hospitalized for liver failure.
I am not saying shoo the homeless away, just be catious of what you are giving them. These guys need coats and blankets for the winter, maybe long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts. They need backpacks or duffle bags to carry their stuff in. They need actual food, not money to buy food, but food to eat. Make them a small brown bag lunch and drop it off on the usual corner you see them at. Give them a bottle of water, dehydration is not so good either. Point them in the direction of free meals and places to stay maybe even small time jobs (althought most are homeless by choice and refuse to work).
After you look at all the wrong reasons to give a homeless guy money there are so many more reasons. Some are on numerous meds for various reasons and alcohol makes it worse, even if they don't take the meds. Just having a certain disorder can be seriously life threatening when you add booze.
So the next time you see someone standing on a corner begging for whatever, really think about what you are going to give him to help him out. Find out where they stay and bring them a sack full of food, or maybe a nice dinner a month instead of throwing money at them.
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