04 November 2006

Moral Dilemma for the Homeless

I've been toying with this idea in my head for a while now. It's about being charitable to a homeless person. You see, everyday when I go to work, I see a bunch of homeless people begging for money. So I start to wonder what they would do if they were presented with the following situations:

Scenario 1.
Imagine a mother and a child begging for money. (it has to be a female and a child cuz that's who i saw when i thought about this situation) What do you think they would do if I offer them one night accommodation in a hotel where they can eat anything they want, and do whatever they want regarding the hotel facilities and services?

Scenario 2.
Imagine a homeless dude. He's not handicapped, he's just homeless. What do you think he would do if I gave him my wallet? Not an empty wallet of course. Would he
  • take all the money and hand me back the wallet?
  • take some of the money and hand me back the wallet?
  • take everything and run?
  • return the wallet without taking anything?
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For scenario 1, I predict that they wouldn't accept my offer cuz... well... you never know right? I mean they could think that I'm gonna hurt them by luring them into the hotel first, right?

For scenario 2, I guess it depends on the person. Some people might take everything and run. Or some people might be overwhelm with the generosity and only take some money or none at all.

But even so, when someone offered something to you so blatantly, is there still some doubt that it was a trick? That it's a scam to harm you afterwards? hmmm...

3 comments:

  1. For the 1st scenario, i agree that they wouldn't accept the offer coz it's just an overnight of joy and what will they do after that. They might ask for something more rewarding in a long run... I think...

    2nd scenario, this is hard but let's hope that he won't run away with the whole wallet and the money, and that you'll be overwhelmed by his honesty and offered him a sum of money from your wallet. Let's hope, at the time, you won't just have only 20baht in you wallet naa... Huhuhuh

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  2. Anonymous4:56 PM

    if it was me, i'd take both the hotel offer and the whole wallet...hahahaha.

    anyway, even if it was only for a night, at least they'd get to eat until they were full and sleep on a nice comfy bed, yeah? why don't you try?

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  3. Scenario 1.
    Imagine a mother and a child begging for money. (it has to be a female and a child cuz that's who i saw when i thought about this situation) What do you think they would do if I offer them one night accommodation in a hotel where they can eat anything they want, and do whatever they want regarding the hotel facilities and services?

    I don't think they would take you up on that offer because 1) they are probably watched under a careful eye, and if they do anything out of the ordinary they probably won't get dinner that night, or for the next week. I once saw a 'song taew' drop off beggars down Rajdamri, drive down two sois, and then drop off another one. I think it's a multi-corporation. You have to earn enough money to earn your dinner.

    Scenario 2.
    Imagine a homeless dude. He's not handicapped, he's just homeless. What do you think he would do if I gave him my wallet? Not an empty wallet of course. Would he

    * take all the money and hand me back the wallet?
    * take some of the money and hand me back the wallet?
    * take everything and run?
    * return the wallet without taking anything?

    Due to lack of trust: 'why are you handing him a full wallet?' 'are you an undercover cop?' 'are you going to trick him?' He'd probably hesitate to take your wallet, to which you'd probably take out the money and hand it to him, to which he'd probably take your money and run for it.

    I'm so optimistic.

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