Waiting for the Last Gasp – Adam Overland

I always struggle when a homeless person asks me for money. Do I give it to them? Will this enable their current endeavor, rather than assist them in moving beyond this lifestyle so that they, like me, can live a productive and fulfilling life, giving back to society every single day? Will they spend it on booze or drugs? If I keep it, will I spend it on booze and drugs? 

Truthfully, we’re not talking about much money. I might give a few dollars or even a fiver if I’m feeling really generous. So (if I’ve accidentally made eye contact with a homeless person while judging them and am therefore forced to acknowledge their existence as a human being), I tend to lean toward just giving them a few bucks and moving on.

Homeless people, like everyone else, know eye contact is key, too. This is told to you in life. Make eye contact. At job interviews, in dating, when doing business deals, when lawyering, when you’re a baby and you want stuff. Make eye contact. Say, I’m interested in you and in what you have to say and in what is in your pockets and in putting your boob in my mouth. 

Today I was at work finishing up a project and looking for a late breakfast when a guy sitting outside Tony’s Diner in Dinkytown MSP said Tony’s made a good burger and would I buy him a burger? He was seated with another homeless guy who said hello to me and grinned, maybe shaking his head at his friend’s courage. I kept moving, not sure if I wanted Tony’s Diner, but I couldn’t decide on anything so I went back and bought that guy his burger and fries. And because there were two of them, I couldn’t just ask them to split a burger and fries, so I got two orders of burgers and fries* and I had ham, eggs, and hash browns.

Once the burgers came, I was pretty bummed that I didn’t get a burger and thought about giving one of the guys my order, but what’s done is done and anyway they could see me through the window and would have known I was up to something. Why did that guy decide that one of us wanted ham and eggs? He didn’t, that’s why. He changed his mind once he saw the burger and then he handed me the eggs and took my burger!

I did steal a fry from one of the plates though, as if that was somehow payment for my generosity. And while I should have sat and ate with them, I didn’t. I went back inside because my good deed was done. But from my window seat I saw another homeless guy come along and the guy who asked me for a burger tore his in half and gave it to him. Then the grinning guy took all his fries around the corner and presumably gave them to some other homeless person (unless they tasted like shit and he threw them away out of my sight so as not to be rude). 

I don’t know how much food these guys usually eat, but they were all skinny like I was in high school and never have been since. The truth is, I spend more on booze on a weekend than I spent on those burgers and fries. It was good to be a witness to actual generosity. 

Why is there so much poverty in America?
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Matt Desmond has written a new book, Poverty, by America, arguing that everything from market returns to checking accounts are subsidized by those with the least. Check out this great interview with him. 

*I was too cheap to get any of us drinks.