A little respect

To the Editor:

In Ben Smith's column, "Peddling lies" [9/18/98, YH], he lists several reasons why the homeless might lie when they ask for money on the street. But though Smith considers such lying an attempt at distancing themselves from the degradation of their position or as outsmarting people just for the fun of it, he leaves out the simplest possibility: perhaps some homeless people lie because it is a surer way of getting money than telling the truth.

Those who cannot get jobs (and, now, cannot get welfare) have little recourse other than the street--and the generosity of those who have some change to give. They soon find that saying "I need money so I can sleep in the shelter tonight" provokes a better response than saying "Give me money."

If you give money to someone on the street, you never know for sure what you are paying for--a drink, a pack of cigarettes, or a hot meal. But you do know that someone needed it enough to resort to the indignity of having people pretend not to see you, even when you speak directly to them. In this age, when we too often forget our responsibility as tiny pieces in the human community, a simple act of giving is worth more than the exchange of money it entails.

--Darcy Miller, DC '99

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