Homeless

Today I was at the train station and I saw an old man sitting on a bench with his head hanging down. His walker was in front of him and he looked very disheveled. He had slippers instead of shoes on his feet. While walking by him I noticed that his ankle seemed swollen as well. I was instantly worried that a man in his condition was sitting in a train station alone. I assumed he was homeless and that broke my heart a little bit. I wanted to help him but I wasn't sure what to do or if I should do anything at all. Perhaps he wasn't homeless at all and just liked to sit and watch people in the station and had fallen asleep by chance.

If he was homeless, was it his fault? Maybe he's an alcholic, or maybe it was the fault of an injury or some other unfortunate incident. I could never know. So if I gave him some money which I have little of, but much more than someone living in the streets, would that really help him? Would he buy alcohol with it and further his problem? Or would he buy a sandwich and be full for once in a week?

There were so many questions running through my mind as to what the right thing to do would be. Maybe I should have bought him a sandwich myself and given it to him. But that would only alleviate one problem for one moment. I wish there was a way that I could help the homeless out of their state. Giving them money for food may help them for a minute, but how can they be happy living a life that depends solely on the charity of others? Especially when you think about how few people actually give into their soft side and help.

I consider myself to be a fairly compassionate person and I just shake my head "sorry" when a person calls out to me for change. I guess my mindset has been that I can't give to every homeless person that begs so I just end up giving to none. Or maybe part of me is thinking that the money I have is money I worked for and they should work for money too. Easier said than done.

I don't know what to do about this situation and I guess no one else does either because people continue to ignore the problem and walk on by. Should I have helped that man today? Yes, I probably should of, but I was scared. I was trying to avoid thinking about the situation by not getting involved, but I guess it didn't work this time. I feel so sad when I think of how there are so many people laying in the cold, on the wet ground with empty stomachs and empty hearts. I want to find a way to help them.