Good Afternoon;
This is a link, (as is the title of this post..?), to a letter/comment to an article in the Washington Post about panhandling.....
This is a link, (as is the title of this post..?), to a letter/comment to an article in the Washington Post about panhandling.....
The story was titled "Panhandling: The Uncomfortable Truths And Lies" and appeared November 30, 2010. (There is a link to the story in the start of the letter).
They give some, and I repeat...some...insight into panhandling, from the view of outsiders, both positive and negative.
It also illustrates a theme that I have been touching on since I started writing this blog 2 years ago, the simple, basic acknowledgement of our existence and our humanity, and the boost to self esteem that it can deliver. One thing that they do not seem to comprehend is the difference between being given money, which allows for options and choices and the feeling that one has some modicum of control over one's life, however small......and the at times degrading sense of helplessness and despair that comes with some peoples gifts by their attitudes of 'take what I give you and be grateful, whether you want, need or can use what I give you or not'. I am not talking about the addicts and alcoholics, or scam artists, who are feeding their habits by any means possible or only out for a buck, and I am also not saying every charitable person has that attitude. I'm just saying that there are as many reasons to give money as not to, and generalizations do not reveal the whole picture.
Later..........Dave
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