A few days ago Josh emailed me to tell me about some goofy signs that have been posted around his hometown, Grand Junction, Colorado since his last return. This morning, I got a photo:
In case you can't get a good look at the list of sponsors at the bottom, they are the City of Grand Junction, United Way, Grand Valley Coalition for the Homeless, Grand Valley Catholic Outreach, Downtown Grand Junction, Mesa County, the City of Fruita, and the Town of Palisade.
I mean, I understand that giving someone a dollar is not likely to make a significant change in her or his life, but is that image a little harsh? I think yes. What exactly are the intentions of this campaign? Seems pretty jerk-ish to me.
3 comments:
People are cracking down on panhandling! They just made a no-panhandling law in Atlanta, too.
Also, my blog name was way too long for a text, but it's http://amaterasu-no-ki.livejournal.com if you're interested (i'm not that interesting in paper, lol)
They've got those signs in Toronto, Canada aswell. The idea is to get you to give your "charity dollars" to an organization instead of to panhandlers because their theory is that everybody has a set amount of money they give to charity every year- and if you give it to the panhandlers you have no idea where they'll spend it. Whereas if you take that dollar, put it in a jar, and at the end of the month/year/etc. give it to the United Way for example- you know that your money is being spent towards helping the homeless get off the street, rather than their next hit of cocaine.
hmm.. that's interesting. thanks for the comment!
but i still can't help thinking that the intensity of the image they're using doesn't exactly engender the kind of compassion that would make the average passerby want to jot down the names of a couple of the charities below. you know? i mean, maybe a picture of a sad, hungry kid or something would be more effective if that's the intention. the image of the dirty, drunken homeless man looking for that "next hit of cocaine"? not exactly your typical heart-strings-puller.
also, i have a little bit of a problem with the decision to not give money to a homeless person asking for it just because s/he is "probably" -- how can one know? -- going to use it for drinks, smokes, drugs, or whatever other "vice" they prefer. do not homeless adults have the right to choose how to spend what money they can manage to pull together in whatever way? how can you know if dropping a dollar in the cup is feeding an addiction or just getting someone who's trying to get their life together a much needed beer.
how can we distinguish between tough love and self-righteous judgment?
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