I gave him a small amount of money. But today I wonder if I should have given him useful advice instead, to help him get ahead in the world. For example, becoming more politically active. What do you think?
2007-10-11 23:52:56 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Blimey! All I did was give a stranger five pounds. How come I'm a bad guy?
2007-10-12 00:31:56 · update #1
poor people have no shortage of " 'good' advice." Everyone is always an expert on what everyone else (esp. the poor) "should" be doing.
2007-10-12 00:06:11 · answer #1 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ahh, here we see the condescending christian based psyche at work. Ok that might sound a bit rough but for the original poster stop and think about what you actually did.
You patronised the poor person, by wanting to lecture him you rub his face in his poverty even more. Giving him a small amount of money is fine, but what the guy wants is to be treated with dignity. Next time don't offer the guy a few cents, ask him if he'd like a slap up meal and g spend 20 bucks and get him a decent feed. or perhaps ask him if there's anything he requires and try to get him what he needs. Just remember this, 99% of the worlds population are poor by US standards and over 1/2 of the world live on less than $2 USD a day.
2007-10-12 07:23:23 · answer #2 · answered by Ian W 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What good is advice that can be difficult or impossible to follow if people won't give you a chance? A person can't 'get' a job or one with better pay if no one will hire them. A person can't 'get' an education if they are too busy trying to survive on pitiful wages. What poor people need is real opportunities, not advice from someone that hasn't walked in their shoes and has no idea of the difficulties they face. And becoming politically active? LOL! No one gives a fig about what people with no money think or say! And when would they have the time?
I don't think you're a bad guy. You cared enough to give him some money. But poor people aren't necessarily ignorant and in need of advice. They need opportunities to help themselves.
2007-10-12 07:10:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
That would probably come off as more than a little condescending and patronizing. I don't know if he was homeless or just poor but telling a person who goes to work everyday to make a living and still can't make ends that political advocacy is what is going to get him ahead when he need money right now will most likely earn you nothing but scorn.
You're also assuming that this person isn't involved politically and doesn't understand how the world works when he could be an educated man who fell on hard times. You just can't be presumptuous.
2007-10-12 07:05:43 · answer #4 · answered by I'm back...and this still sucks. 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The homeless in Kingston were better dressed than me last I looked. Perhaps we should on the spot introduce a training programme, food vouchers and a sing song. Or better still a 'swap roles for the day' game
2007-10-12 09:09:43 · answer #5 · answered by bunter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man, you felt like giving him money, and he was happy to accept it. At that moment, the cash that you gave him helped more than anything that you could have said. Don't ever regret an act of kindness.
2007-10-12 07:54:07 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You shoud have done both, and also gave him a ride to an employment office if you had the time!
2007-10-12 07:59:29 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe the $ was more beneficial, many poor & homeless people are not uneducated therefore there is no reason to believe that poverty was their 'career' choice, ya feel me?
2007-10-12 07:05:09 · answer #8 · answered by MJR 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
to him it could sound like finding better way to gets money from the state welfare for the unemployed
is better to teaching him to fish then to try to get him to understand politic
2007-10-12 07:04:54 · answer #9 · answered by kimht 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that person doesn't want your 2 cents he wants your quarters! any way most people don't like to get advise unless they ask for it...
2007-10-12 07:02:00 · answer #10 · answered by Ginger 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋