One of the things I've noticed about living in the city is that it makes a person almost completely deaf to the solicitations of people on the street. Back when I was still in school, I interned at a company with offices downtown. Having lived in the suburbs most of my life, I was not accustomed to seeing homeless people, and certainly not used to having anyone ask me for change. Upon first encountering these people, I could not pass any of them without feeling guilty and giving up my milk money so they can get a bite to eat. It sure didn't take long for that compassion to go away.
I'm not completely heartless. The approaching cold weather will definitely spur my spirit of giving to those in need. However, I have to be careful not to let the few bad eggs ruin it for the other people who are in need.
Bad Egg #1
On a particularly winterey day some years ago I decided to get lunch from McDonalds. There was this guy who had staked out the entrance to this establishment who would ask patrons for their change. Sometimes I gave him change, but mostly not. But this day it was really cold and snowing and I felt a little bad for the guy. So I decided to take it up a notch. I got him a hamburger meal along with my lunch. I figured if this guy was collecting change to get something to eat then I'll just get him something to eat. So I feel all good about myself as I exit McD's and hand him the bag. The look on his face is thanks enough until he opens the bag and complains that it isn't what he wanted.
Bad Egg #2
Another sign that I needed to stop eating at McDonalds so much. This encounter also happened in the winter. I was sitting, eating my lunch and reading a book when I was approached by someone asking for change. I said I didn't have any change. However, I offered the guy my french fries that I had barely touched. He responded with "Man, I don't want your leftover fries!"
There have been several more bad eggs since I've lived and worked in the city of Chicago. I'm not going to list them all. I was reminded of them yesterday, however when I encounted one of the possible scams - the fundraiser. The fundraiser scam involves some kids who are trying to raise money for their baseball/football/soccer team by selling candy. Now people like helping kids do productive things. And people like candy even more so it seems like a good combo. However, you have to question whether or not these kids are actually selling candy for a sports organization. It's even more obvious when it's an adult selling candy. Most of the time if I feel like "donating" I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. And yesterday I was in a giving mood so I actually took off my earphones for a minute to ask how much this kid was selling boxes of M&M's for.
"Two for $10," said the young man."How much!?" said I, restraining profanity for the kids' sakes.
"Two for $10," said the juvenile delinquent.
"Sorry, not today," said I, followed my grumbling under my breath.
Who's gonna buy candy at mini-bar prices like that? I've never heard of any legit fundraising effort asking that much for a box of candy. And these kids better lower they're prices if they're just selling candy for the money. So it looks like I won't be buying any candy this fall or winter.