I take the 6 train almost every weekday, so I tend to see a lot of homeless people. They don’t usually bother me if they are just sitting, taking the train. Sometimes though, they ask for money, often quite loudly. This bothers me for two reasons. First, while I’m on the train I usually try to do something productive like read from a digital textbook on my phone. This becomes much harder when someone, homeless or not, is talking loudly. But second, and maybe more importantly, hearing homeless people talk on the train about how hard their life is and how much they need just a little money will sometimes make me feel bad.

I know I won’t give them money, I never have. I’m very stingy with money. I barely even buy things for myself. And so sometimes I wonder, when I hear a homeless person asking for money, “am I a terrible person?” I guess I never really conclude that I am, because I never do change my behavior. I find reasons to justify myself, like “I don’t have that much money to begin with” or “would giving one dollar to a homeless person really make a big difference?” or “what if they’re just a crook making up this whole sob story to get some extra cash?” It’s kind of funny, because I strongly support laws that make the rich pay more taxes that will go to help the poor and homeless. And I’m not poor, I could give a homeless person a few bucks, and it would probably cost less than paying extra taxes. But on a day to day basis, I never help the homeless with my own money. I tell myself it’s because the city could run an organized operation with our tax money: they could open shelters, feed the homeless, and maybe even help them find jobs. Maybe though, I just want to keep my precious dollars to myself. And maybe that’s why it’s especially important for the government to get involved with these issues. Because individual people, now matter how moral and fair they think they are, just don’t care enough to willingly part with their money.