Give a homeless guy money if he tells you he'll use it on drugs?

Here's a question for everyone, one that'll make ya think too.

Say a homeless guy comes up to you, and he clearly looks strung out. Instead of making up some lie to get your money, he is honest and straight up tells you he is probably going to use it...

for drugs or booze(unlike most, who will come up with some pitiful story to try and get their drug money). Would you give him any change because of his honesty?

I would in that case, if I had some change to spare, just because he was so honest.

I would not give him change but I would offer to buy lunch.

Probley if I had change, its not like not giving him change is going to stop him from buying it.

Yeah, I would give him money if he was honest. Although, I might make him dance first or something, just to get a laugh out of it.

I have actually been in that situation, from the giving standpoint that is, I refused to give money for alcohol and drugs, I however did offer to buy him some food- which he declined. I will help directly feed someones stomach- but I will refuse to feed their self destructive addictions- regardless of their honesty. my morals will allow me to try and give someone a hand up, but they do not allow me to aid in someones fall.

no
im not paying for someones trip to unconsciousness!
and im certainly not helping them buy alchole or drugs, weather ther honest or not
but I have no problem with shouting them a meal at a resturaunt if I have money
they could come into maccas and choose a meal or something
but I wont help buy them crap thats not gdoing there body and good!!

I would go get him some food with the money I wanted to give him. That to me would be a better act of kindness then the money itself.

I dont know, but probably yes...

I would not give him the money to further destroy his body. He is just like the rest of us and is able to get out there and possibly get a job and supply his own money for his habits instead of bumming off of others to support his habits. It erks me to know that some of the people that say they are homeless may not be and they are just out there to make money and make people feel bad for them and some may be more wealthy than the ones they are asking money from.

I'm with some of the others about providing food.. I would offer to get them something to eat but not giving them the $$$ to do it themselves.

Saph, the second sentence you typed there makes you sound very ignorant. This topic was meant to be more fun than serious, but you're making me go there.

A vast majority of the people that are homeless either have a severe mental defect, or lost their job and couldn't get a new one. There isn't an employer on this EARTH that will hire someone that smells like feces and looks horribly unkempt. In order for a homeless person to get, AND maintain a job, they would need easy access to 1) A shower, 2) Razors/haircuts, 3)Toothbrush/paste 4) Clean clothes and 5) A few sets of clothes.

This is the reason being homeless in the first place is like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Once a person is homeless for a few weeks/months, it is near impossible for them to get 1 of the above mentioned things, let alone all of them.

There aren't homeless shelters easi;y available everywhere around here. A lot of times they are only in certain areas, which may be too far for a homeless person to travel to.

Saying they can just go out and get a job like the rest of us makes it seem as though you are incredibly ignorant. It just isn't that easy.

On top of that, here in Michigan right now, our economy is so shot, that it is actually difficult to get a job in fast food now. There are too many unemployed people compared to available jobs. A homeless person here literally has 0% chance of getting a job.

And yes, there are sometimes people that are well off that dress like homeless people, and beg for change. Those are very sad individuals, and they are the ones that should be locked up for panhandling, not an actual homeless person.

Thankfully here in Michigan, carbonated beverages all come with a 10 cent deposit on the container(glass,metal, or plastic). So a lot of times homeless people will collect up bottles and cans before they'll result to begging.

To everyone else, I understand what you're saying about food, but in my hypothetical situation here, food isn't in the equation. I appreciate your kindness, but you kind of missed what I was saying.

There are 2 homeless dudes, so if you were talking about the one that was lying when asking you for change when refering to taking them to get food, it would have made a bit more sense. The honest homeless guy in my situation...well let's imagine he's just ate something, and isn't at all interested in food,lol.

And there's something else you all didn't take into the equation. Some drugs (Alcohol, crystal meth mainly) can actually kill you from the withdrawals. So if he was seriously physically addicted to alcohol, albeit self destructive, by not giving him a couple bucks to get some whiskey, and trying to take him to get food, you could in effect be causing his death.

I have a good friend, who wasn't homeless at all, but was addicted to alcohol to that point, and one night he didn't have any alcohol(it may have been a few nights in a row, not sure of the exact amount), and his girlfriend found him the next morning dead. From withdrawals.

I was unfortunately in Iraq at the time, and had to find out about it via myspace. I was pretty sad that day.

I agree with rnealw, offer to buy the guy a meal and eat with him. A professor of mine did that when we were visiting Chicago once.

TIZUBYTHEFIZO -
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTELLIGENCE!! I AM HAPPY TO SEE THAT THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ACTUALLY LOOK AT THESE SITUATIONS, AND THINK FOR A MINUTE HOW IT WOULD FEEL TO BE IN THAT PERSON'S SHOES INSTEAD OF IMMEDIATLEY PASSING JUDGEMENT LIKE MOST IGNORANT IDIOTS DOOO. GET OVER YOURSELVES PEOPLE... YOUR NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK YOUS ARE... ANYWAY, POINT IS... THAT YES, I WOULD GIVE THE GUY A $5.00 BILL IF I HAD IT ON ME, DUE TO THE FACT THAT IF I WAS SLEEPING UNDER A BRIDGE, DIDN'T HAVE ANY FAMILY THAT GAVE A CRAP ABOUT ME, AND DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE IN HELL OF GETTING OUT OF THIS DEVISTATING SITUATION; I TOO WOULD PROBABLY WANT TO DRINK AND DRUG MYSELF AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO REMOVE MYSELF MENTALLY FROM MY DEPRESSING EXISTANCE. CHEW ON THAT THOUGHT; YOU ARROGANT, CLOSE-MINDED, PEOPLE...

I would give him food. Not money.

Neh, I'll give him some of my drugs though,

no, I would never give money to anyone so they can waste their life away! I would buy him/her food and a beverage!