Riding the subway everyday, at any hour, there are scores of people begging for money or help of some kind - the moms who tote small children around to tug at your heart strings, din own-on-their-luck men who claim they just got laid off and are waiting to be "processed" to start receiving benefits, people with varying levels of disability or afflictions, missing or maimed limbs, the mute who preaches with clucks and grunts instead of words, the couple who's been pleading for help for their "recently hospitalized child" for the past 6 years. We see them, we hear their pleas even when we pretend that we don't care and they are right there in front of us even if we don't want to listen. Sometimes we help - we reach into our pocket and offer some change, a dollar even. And we wonder if it's going to pay for food or shelter or into some drug dealer's hands for the next hit.
Does it really matter? I mean, we didn't really need that money anyway, right? If there IS a chance that we could really help someone who is in need, shouldn't we?
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