Imagine living in a neighborhood where there are a lot of homeless people. Would you offer to help them or keep your distance?

In this story, one man is in this situation, and he is happy to help however he can. The problem is that his dad thinks this is a bad idea.

Let’s read the whole story.

Aio to my dad saying I should give food and water to the unhoused folks in my neighborhood?

I live in a neighborhood where there’s a lot of people who live outside.

There’s a guy comes by and gets water from our garden hose (he always asks first even though we’ve never said no), a lady who asks for cigarettes and offers us pizza when she gets a free one from the dominos around the corner, a lot of people go through our garbage and recycling and I dont say anything cause as long as they don’t leave a mess idc since I’m done using that stuff.

I usually offer them water bottles and food if I have any to spare.

Every one is very polite and sensible, and I’ve never had a bad experience, sometimes people even offer a few dollars and I always refuse because I feel like they need it more than I do.

OP’s dad overheard him helping someone.

Today, I was on the phone with my dad while smoking on the porch when someone came by digging thru our cans so I asked if he was thirsty and offered him some water, then I said I have bread to give too if he’s not allergic to nuts.

My dad over heard this and told me not to do that. He says word can spread and people will come and start using me for free stuff.

I told him that I don’t mind if I can help anyone I will.

They agreed to disagree.

He stood his ground and so did I.

We didn’t argue or anything and just agreed to disagree but now I’m wondering if I should stop.

I also feel like maybe he was underestimating my ability to navigate that sort of situation, and it made me feel like he thinks I’m being irresponsible. Am I overthinking this?

It sounds like OP knows what he’s doing. His dad is the one overreacting.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person has a question.

Another person feels conflicted.

A former homeless person weighs in.

One person shares a story about a helpful homeless person.

Compassion is better than fear.

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