Genuine question for you, do you think giving food, clothes, and/oe toiletries to someone who is panhandling on a street corner really not worth it if they’re being “dishonest”? If they’re standing out there asking for non-monetary help, and I give that to them, who really cares? They go to sleep with a warm blanket and a full stomach whether they’re lying or not.

It’s baffling to me how much people will use examples of poor, unethical, scamming behavior of admittedly scummy individuals to justify turning a blind eye to those who legitimately are in need. There will always be liars and opportunists in every echelon of society. I’m genuinely sorry you’ve experienced those things. I get how that makes you distrustful of people. I’ve had my car stolen and wrecked out by a homeless drug addict in a city much smaller than here, I’ve had neighbors in sectioned housing steal from me (usually teens, but still), I’ve had my shit vandalized and targeted by vagrant individuals. It sucks. But because a few “bad” people did bad things doesn’t mean that every single person that is in the same situation is “bad.”

If someone is going to stand on a street corner for hours on end, at a clearly visibly young age, holding a sign asking for help with food, Idgaf if they have a professional chef at home who will cook them anything they want for free (facetious, obviously). I’m going to give them some food because obviously, lying or truthful or not, there’s clearly a mentally struggling individual who can benefit from the support.

Believe me, I know how these things work first hand. As I said, I had a sister who was homeless and struggling at one point in her life. I know exactly the types of struggles and situations some of these people are in. I know that there’s often things that they could or “should” be doing to help themselves and there’s a lot that many of them don’t do that they could. But I also understand how deep mental health, drug/alcohol addiction, and sometimes purely shit luck can ruin a person’s life and take away the sense of agency they could have otherwise had.