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Give Them What They Want

Of course there is still nothing new to report about my relative. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers however. Monday is likely the day we will learn the results of the tests. I so hope and pray for a good outcome.

As I am not in much of a mood to write, I thought I would post below a modified version of a comment I posted on Unconventional Ideas, the grand blog by "Grumpy Old Man". In his blog he comments on the idea posted by Kevin the "Homeless Guy" about giving homeless people care packages... of things that basically are what we feel would be good for them. The Grumpy Old Man correctly postulates that what we should give instead is something of what the homeless INDIVIDUALS would enjoy. Here is my response (slightly modified for readability here:

Hello Sir!

I believe you are right on the money with your comments about Kevin's "gift bags" and what homeless people may really want. A case in point can be seen at any good sized college campus as there are often people who mill around campus asking for loose change. Some of these people may be homeless, and some have a home but cannot or do not work in the traditional sense ( do not get me wrong.... begging for change is work, however).

Over the years, I had formed a casual friendship with several of these individuals. In my experience, all of the individuals have been male, so do not feel I have been biased with the following, I simply have not had opportunity to meet change seeking females in my region:

Many, many years ago while I was in graduate school, the handful of people seeking loose change were all indulgers in tobacco, and I would often bring extra cigars with me and give them cigars to brighten their day (pipe tobacco, which of course was and still is my prefered method 90%+ of the time was not easily used by them, so my cigar stash was far easier to share). Being a poor graduate student at the time, it was not too often, but when finances would permit, I would buy these fellows a pint of somthing they liked to drink (all of them enjoyed alcohol too).

Today, there aren't nearly as many folks looking for change at the campus where I am employed as a professor, but over the years there have been typically 2-3 a year that I become acquainted with. The friendship I have with them is similar to those friendships I formed at the university I completed my graduate training. Most of these fellows enjoy the cigars I bring, and I have gradually learned what type of liquor each person prefers. Since professorial finances allow me more financial freedom than finances were when in graduate school, the fellows I know receive a fifth instead of a pint, and receive the gifts more frequently as well.

The one individual "change seeker" on our campus who deoes not share the joys of tobacco or alcohol is a different case. Instead of cigars and a fifth of something, he likes to receive books and food, which I am also happy to help out in. This indivudal is very interesting as he is perhaps 3-4 years older than I am, and I suspect he was a venerate "hippie" back in the day, for even in his difficult circumstances, he will only eat vegetarian food, and has told me several times when I originally offered him a cigar, that he did not smoke tobacco, but would enjoy "grass" [an old 60s term for marijuana] (which unfortunately I could not provide for him).

The take home message is simply this... if you want to help those who are homeless or indigent or whatever label you may wish to use, unless you are a social worker, or a community health director, the best way you can help them to be happier is to meet an immediate want or need of theirs. They are individuals and each will have his or her own need, be it food, or help finding shelter, or alcohol, or tobacco, or whatever it is. Do not put your philosohpical/moral beliefs above the needs of the individual. If the individual would most like a drink, even if you are an prohibitionist type, it would do you well to consider providing him with a drink, etc.

PipeTobacco