I disagree. When I give money to a homeless person I am trying to help them. if they then spend that money on alcohol or drugs I won't have improved their quality of life. If I were to give aid to a third world country expecting it to be spent on water or medicine but instead the government decided to spend it on guns I wouldn't think "I gave them the money it's theirs to do with as they will, I shouldn't dictate how they spend it" I would think "Why on earth is the money I sent to help being used to make the situation worse".

Perhaps he is a vegetarian? Eh. The only comment I was going to make was on the reference to not wanting him to go buy booze with the money they would have given them. Why do we feel that with the homeless we can decide what they spend money on. If you GIVE them money, they can choose to do whatever they want with it. Even if it is to buy a pint of whiskey. Nine times out of ten your couple of bucks isn't going to change their situation much anyway. Let them get hammered if they like. They're adults. If you feel the need to dictate what they should do with your money after you 'give' it to them, then just keep it to yourself.

Ok, everyone really needs to calm down. Giving him fast food wasn't the most horrible thing he could have done. For god's sake, he could have kicked the shit out of the guy and then he would really have nothing to live for. And sure, maybe some of you are right, maybe he wasn't a vegetarian and just wanted the money, or maybe he really was a vegetarian. Regardless, he tried doing something nice for the guy. If the homeless person really was trying to get back on his feet eventually, it was nice of the guy to take it one step at a time by offering him food. Once he got back to his feet again, then hey, the **** with it, go ahead and get wasted if that's what you choose. But, I guess in the longrun, who cares if it was cheap of him? At least he didn't go buy him a thousand dollar meal and THEN have the guy deny it, that would have really sucked. But next time, if you see a homeless guy, go pick up a job application from McDonalds instead, since they don't care for resumes. That way he can earn his own money, so even if he does spend it on booze, it won't be YOUR money he's wasting.

A) Handing a homeless guy a McDonalds application is pure douchebaggery. B) Sure, the homeless guy has a right to choose not to eat what's given to him, but the least he could do is take it and throw or give it away when the person walks away. C) I would say that it's patronizing to assume cash would go to waste, but unfortunately my experiences have taught me otherwise. My dad used to offer any beggars, especially the "will work for food" guys, anything they wanted to order from our restaurant (including a huge buffet and/or steak dinner). All he asked in exchange was a little easy help, usually tidying up the exterior-- raking or picking up trash, stuff I was doing literally by the time I was 4-- for an hour or so. Nearly everyone turned him down in favor of standing in an intersection with a hand held out. It was sad, really.

I'm with most the people posting here, he really can't afford to turn down food, no matter what it is or where it's from. It's the flat out truth, wether or not he wants to be a veggitarian, if he's got nowhere to live, no job he should take it and like said before just give it to another homeless person. Now for a question, why do homeless people think they have the right to another person's hard earned money? all the money they get is given to them from either bleeding hearts or people who can't stand to listen to them bitch about how they're too lazy to work

This happens so often it makes me mad. One of my friend's mom used to keep a lot of like $10 McD's giftcards and give them to homeless people that would ask for food and my friend said that 1/2 the time they would give them back and claim they didn't like fast food or something stupid like that

Thats so kind of you, its the thought that counts. Bravo!

That was a nice gesture, next time just ask the person if they would like something to eat before you get it for them. They might have a food allergy, a specific preference or a disease that prevents them from eating a certain type of food. Fast food is cheap but it's horrible for you and most fast food companies have no principles besides exploiting people to produce cheap crap. And homeless people don't feel entitled or think they have a right to others' money- when did people stop caring about the less fortunate? I hope none of you are ever in such a position where you have to beg to stay alive. With the economy the way it is it's a reality for a lot more people.

for an english class we had to read a story written by a man who had been homeless a long time and food is not actually a huge concern so long as you can dumpster dive. people and restaurants throw out huge amounts of food, as we all probably know from personal experience. however it's easier to eat foods that aren't fresh because they don't go bad as quickly... so maybe next time buy him some fresh fruit if you're so concerned about him buying beer? I'm sure he already had enough fatty foods to last him. It's also kind of a stereotype to think all homeless people are alcoholics... it's easier to get to being homeless than you think.

they don't think they have a RIGHT to the money... they're HOMELESS. there's not always much they can do other than beg. obviously.

to quote someone famous: beggars can't be choosers

haha that's crazy