Yesterday, as a friend and I were walking into a local fast-food place for lunch, we saw someone begging for spare change on the sidewalk. As we approached, he said to us, “Would you mind getting me something to eat? I haven't eaten in 3 or 4 days.” So I said, “Sure. What would you like?” “A small burger and a drink.” was the reply.

This is something I have always thought about doing. In the neighbourhood where I work, street begging is quite common (so much for the clean reputation of Canada, eh?). I sometimes think about picking up some food for someone instead of just handing out money. I am leery about freely handing out money to street beggars for a number of reasons, which I will get into some other time.

So, after being asked nicely for some food, I purchased an extra meal and brought it out to him. “Here you go, man.”

And what was the response? Was he overjoyed? Grateful? Content even? Well, in a word, no.

“Did you buy me the poutine?” was the first words out of his mouth. “Huh?”, I said, “No you just asked for the burger and drink.” “Can I get $2 for the streetcar?” “No.” “Can I get $1 for a coffee?” “No.”

And that's when I left.

So, that will teach me I guess. Maybe I expected too much? I certainly was not expecting this guy to worship me or anything. A simple “thanks” and nothing else would have been enough. Actually, if all he did was open the bag and start eating his food without even looking at me, I would understand. But though greed and outright ungratefulness, this one guy has put me off directly helping the homeless for a while. He acted like I just stole his lunch, instead of giving him one.

Am I acting unchartiable by expecting some acknowledgement? Maybe. But my sympathy towards people “less fortunate” has been eroded a bit more, and that is not a good feeling for me.