I think everyone gets caught up in routine of their own lives to the point where perspective is lost and we lose sight of the bigger picture.

It’s a struggle to stay humble.

Unless I see homeless people I’m not really thinking about them.

Out of sight, out of mind.

When I was stationed in El Paso, TX with the Army, I saw buckets of homeless people on the freeway and I always gave them military rations in bulk since I had that kind of access.

When I have the ability I help, but most of my time is occupied trying to survive myself and in this economy it’s hard enough to avoid being homeless.

I didn’t do any special good deeds today. I think I courteous as a lady should be for the 1 hour that I left my apartment to do laundry today. lol

I’ve oevrlooked someone less fortunate than me more times than I care to mention, but I’ve surely helped I great sum of people who appear to be in need.

I think I may have. I’ve just been so wrapped up in the fact that I’m stuggling so much that I forget get about the fact that there are others who aren’t doing as well as I am. My BF will give his last dollar to a homeless person if he think it’ll help. I love his heart. I hope that I can GENUINELY be that way someday.

I don’t always trust those sob stories. That’s probably why I don’t give to panhandlers so much. I just find it hard to take everyone at face value.

My skepticism of their true situation is what keeps me from giving sometimes. My man is the person that inspires to me give when that skepticism kicks in.

I dont know yet if that I believe in fate.

I don’t what good deed I’ll do yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know. Because this blog is def going to pop in my head when the opportunity arises now!

I haven’t done any good deeds today at all. I haven’t even been parting with any money for beggars this lost month since my money is very very short but when I have it and I feel like I’m not being given a line of BS I do. Usually if you start with a long drawn out story I won’t give up anything. But I gave a women 20 bucks who said she and her child got kicked out of her hotel a couple of months ago. Don’t know if she was honest but I just felt compelled to do it…I probably wouldn’t even have remembered her if you hadn’t of wrote this blog.

I haven’t done any good deeds lately. My city has people begging at almost every single traffic light (I am not exaggerating) so on any commute you are bound to see tons of people all in the same dire situation begging from Monday to Monday at a specific traffic light.

As selfish as it seems I think I just got immune to seeing it and just kinda accepted it as part of the landscape.

I sometimes do get affected by people asking for money and give what I can but I always end up feeling worse coz I feel like the spare change I give will not have much impact on their lives. I get to drive away from that traffic light but he/she is probably stuck there and I will see them again tomorrow.

There is always something more I could do but I guess coz I am so wrapped up in my own life and problems I have gotten to the point where I feel like other people’s problems are not my burden to carry. This is something I would like to change.

“I have no idea if this woman was lying or if she were being truthful, but of the former that’d be her cross to bear.”

This is such an important realization when making the decision whether or not to give of yourself. It’s one of those realizations that doesn’t renew itself, though…we have to remind ourselves sometimes. When prompted to give/serve/sacrifice, we have a job to do, and the sincerity of the recipient doesn’t always have bearing.
Not preaching, just reminding myself…

I dont think dropping change on a beggers count as a “random act of kindness”!

No good deeds from me today. At least none consciously.

Out here there is no need to be homeless. Our government takes care of everybody’s basic needs such as food, shelter, health care. The only people living on the street are the ones who failed filling out the paper work or appearing at the appointments on time and regularly.
Not much compassion to be expected from me. I know it’s harsh.

Whenever I’m in the US, I always give homeless people money. Your system is set up differently and it’s comparibly easy to end up on the street if everything goes wrong. I’ve chatted to my fair share of homeless men and women in the US and they have some crazy stories to tell. But I digress …

No good deeds today. I flicked a couple people off though …

I was on the bus going home from work today and the bus was packed and an elderly man came into the bus but no one at the front bothered to stand up and let him have their seat. I stood up and told him he can have my seat and he said thank you =)

I have overlooked someone less fortunate than me alot more times than i can remember.

I think we have lost the spirit of generosity/human kidness ( few exceptionals). Especially in the situation we are in today people are saving/budgeting their money to the last penny.
I just started college and before all of this I didn’t care where I spent my money. But with paying of my loan and helping my mom pay off some bills, i am starting to do the same.

No I don’t believe every sob story. One time I was on the subway with my friend and this guy asked me for $2/any amount I can give so he can get on the bus and i knew the bus fare was $3 so I gave him $3 and he had the nerve to ask me for more.

Yes, I believe in fate.

We will just have to wait and see until tomorrow (:

I live in India and it’s not uncommon to see people begging. However since there are articles in our newspapers every second day about the beggar unions (yes we those things around here) we have a tendency to draw a blind eye towards them and it’s unfortunate because you’ll probably never know if you were refusing someone who genuinely needed help.

The beggar unions are basically groups of people who migrate from villages to larger cities. They have a designated leader who sends out a specific number of people to do the begging each day, the money collected is then given to this leader who doubles up as an accountant. Some of those sent out to do the begging are forced to have one or more of their limbs amputated. As awful as this may sound the reality of it is that these people are quite content living like this.

I’m a bit heart broken and nervous right now. I just got home from the masjid, went to pray taraweeh. My kids were playing outside and I sat down at a table with a woman. She looked healthy and clean. She started a casual conversation, that she has 6 children.. and then told me that she is being evicted from her apartment in two days. My heart sank. I have nothing to give her.. but I told her about all of the governement help and local help I know of. She was asking too many personal questions about me though..and I started feeling like she was scoping me out…? I don’t know. I feel bad for even suspecting this of my sister, but “sigh” … It seems every single Ramadan there are con artists at the masjid. Last year my husband and I gave a woman $300 of our student financial aid because she said her daughter was sick and they were homeless. I wish I could give and let it go.. but I keep having this nagging feeling that I’m getting played like a violin. Well, this year we had no money to give, and I almost feel relieved at that. .. but because of her questions I feel like I might get stalked or robbed? Inchallah, I’m making dua’ for her and her family non-stop and for Allah to bring me peace. Thanks for listening.

@Soulfly Masquerade

is that anything like the scene from Slumdog Millionaire? Because I recall how they wanted to blind the kids so they could get more money if they could sing etc. It seemed way more gruesome and greed based then the way you kinda painted it. Didn’t seem like a union at all, but a child pimp taking all the profit and leaving the kids with nothing but scars and scraps.

or is this beggars union more of a community thing? Even though the dismemberment still sounds a bit harsh.

@Muslimah

Yeah it’s a shame there are so many scam artists, but at the end of the day all you can do is use your better judgment and rest assure that what ever decision you make is well intended in your heart. Like I said regarding the woman and her baby, if she was being false in her begging that’s her cross to bare.

In all honesty i haven’t watched the movie, though yes, in some slums it is as gruesome as you’ve seen it painted. However in others it isn’t as bad. Some of the slums as awful as they look on the outside when you actually visit their huts you notice they have pretty much all the amenities (surprising you’ll even notice a few with cell phones).
If you manage to get your hand on this book called ‘Shantaram’ you’ll get a better insight into the workings of slums in India. It’s written by an austrailian convict who escapes to India and begins living in a Bombay slum.

Greetings and Good Afternoon Anslem-Hope you’re well and thank you for the tag. I believe that the HIgher Powers brought the call from Maurice which lead to yoyr being in the front of that train to provide assistance to the woman and child. I often think of the homeless as I see them everyday. I try to give whatever I can, even though I don’t have as much as I used to, since I am also of the unempeloyed masses in NYC. Yes there are some who are not truly homeless or in need of assistance, and are pulling scams. But I don’t have the power to determine which person that is, so since I’ve been blessed to be someone who gives from the heart, I do, whether it’s money, food, a prayer, a kind word. And I also pray that those people also pay it forward at some point. I personally see more people being generous and kinder nowadays; that’s not to say that more kindness and positivity can’t be given on a daily basis, not just to strangers, but also to those in your circle of loved ones.
I don’t consider my actions to be ‘good deeds’ but ones of being of service to my Higher Powers, and paying forward blessings that have been bestowed upon me from God+the Ancestors through people that I come in contact with every day. I expressed LOVE on the 22nd Aug, to someone who I had not openly expressed it to before. A blessing indeed!~Respect