I live in Raleigh, and grew up in Charlotte. Nice to meet you, FRiend.
Yes, I try to be as compassionate as I can, but I don’t know if it’s a test of my faith, or a slap in the face when you try to help people and find them in situations that they (themselves) perpetuate.
I don’t understand the feeling of entitlement that some apparently have.
I stopped giving money to panhandlers years ago when I realized that all I was doing was allowing them to keep asking me.
Happy New Year, RangerM. Yeah, I used to assist panhandlers (when I was living in the NYC area)—give them a dollar and a gospel tract. I would tell them I couldn’t give them the one (knowing what they would likely do with it), without giving them the other (sensing that was the real need anyway).
Entitlement is all around us now—almost part of the human DNA it seems. Your evaluation of the process (you realized you were merely ensuring a future handout request) seems to be at the heart of the problem. Our nation has (un)wittingly inculcated many with the idea that if you wait long enough, if you scream loud enough, if you chide often enough, you will receive (sort of a twist on “Ask, and you shall receive...”)