lame-o.

so when i'm driving back from work, there's always this "homeless vet" by this one light begging for money. (why is he homeless anyway? people pay a lot of money for their animals to be taken care of. ba dum ching!) he pauses every few feet to rub his knee, because it hurts.

yesterday there was this other guy, with some sort of twitch. a physical ailment. his whole right arm and right left were stiff, but both twitched when they felt like it.

i thought to myself, "is that the same guy pretending to be someone different today?"

today they were both out there.

my skepticism failed me again.

i walk this fine line between compassion and skepticism most of the time. i see beggars asking for money, and i wonder if they are faking whatever their sign says. are they really homeless? are they really injured? are they really broke?

but then i remember...even if they are playing us, something happened to land them where they are. on the side of the road, begging for money. perhaps it's laziness. that's probably true for some of them. but i also think it's got to be really hard to stand on the side of the road in various weather conditions, begging for money. i'm not just talking about emotionally or mentally. i mean it has to be physically hard to do that, especially when it's really hot or really cold. it's not like they do it while laying on a couch.

so when i think like that, i wonder...so now, what do i do about it? if i hand out cash to every person on the side of the road, i won't be able to pay MY bills. generosity is cool. but wisdom is too. it's perplexing.

**update** today on my drive back, beggar number one took a break. to pee on the side of the road. yeah. that happened.

question? is the term "beggar" offensive? i feel weird saying it, but that's what they are. its exhausting trying to be PC.