No, this is not some cruel satire in The Onion. This is real folks.
A homeless man in his 60s found $2,400. Instead of keeping the much needed money, the man turned it in to local police. He wanted the police to find the rightful owner because this homeless man in his 60s said that he thought it was the right thing to do.1
A GoFundMe account was created for the homeless man and raised over $5,000 for him.2 The homeless man repeatedly refused that money too, asking for it to instead be donated to charities, and stating that all he wanted for himself was a job. He even finalized the request by making it in writing to police.3
What do you think? What you have done if you were this man?
Despite false stereotypes, most homeless people are not single men, but rather homeless families with children, which themselves are usually headed by single mothers who actually are often employed while still homeless. What would you do if you were a homeless single parent who found $2,400 or who was offered $5,000 in charity? That could be the security deposit for an apartment. That could be travel money to get somewhere important. That could be hotel money for some nights off the streets. Even if all you really wanted was a a better job to work your way out of homelessness, that money could be the money for interview clothes, transportation to work, daycare while you wait for your first pay checks, and so on. Would you turn it down like this man? Please answer in the comments below.
Sources
1 http://westshore.bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=2127&languageId=1&contentId=42314
2 https://www.gofundme.com/x2y2ajk
3 http://ktla.com/2015/07/02/homeless-man-finds-2400-on-street-gives-it-to-police-turns-down-donations-says-he-just-wants-a-job/
Personally, I probably would have kept the money and used it as a means to get a job. Like getting clothes (you know, that whole saying: dress for the job you want) and a place to live. At least making myself look like a trustworthy person that someone would want to employ, you know (yes, you do, because you even said so in the post, derp). But then again, I’ve never been in this guy’s position, and usually the ones who have the least are the ones willing to give the most… and there is a lot of pride at stake when accepting charity; wanting a job but wanting to get it on your own terms and not because of someone else’s handouts.
All right. That’s all I have to say about that. Bye bye
Banana, that’s a good point about pride. I can imagine if I had so little that then all I would have is my pride. Thanks for your comment! 😀
Returning the money is the right thing to do. Thus, I hope regardless of how destitute I was I would return it. (Though if I had hungry children, the decision would be more complicated).
As for the charity given to him, when I was younger, I would have turned such charity down, too. But now, wisdom, often learned the hard way, has taught me that there IS a time for everything – giving and receiving.
It comes down to the old proverb “give a man a fish and feed him for a day but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime”. Giving someone money, although a kind gesture will only get the person so far before they are back in the same situation they were attempting to get themselves out of. I know a woman who use to be homeless and she pays her rent months in advance in an attempt to never be homeless again. She foregoes all other things that are technically luxuries, a car, a phone to every week put something towards her rent because it terrifies her to be homeless again. So I can understand why the man wants a job instead of a vacation from homelessness for a short period of time. A job means that you have a steady income which is a a step closer to never being homeless again. That is their endgame, to have place to lay their head every night and not have to worry that will change in a few days or a few weeks.
There’s definitely a misconception that homeless people are all lazy. It’s frequently used to justify them not having a home. Fact is, you can’t even get a job without an address and a phone number for a call back. Things get a little more complicated when we’re forced to acknowledge that a homeless person may have the same work ethic as us, just not the same opportunities.