Hey Buddy, Can You Spare Some Change?

How do you respond when someone approaches you in the street and says: “Hey buddy, can you spare some change?”

Even after all these years, I’m still not sure. Let me share a story with you, along with 3 propositions and 3 possible responses.

A few days following my 19^th birthday, I boarded an airplane with a one-way ticket from Ottawa to Calgary. I had $100 in my pocket. Mine was a self-imposed experiment: Could I survive on my own?

Landing in Calgary, I immediately set about finding work. On the first day, I read 2 books at the library on oil drilling rigs. On the second day I presented myself at the office of every drilling company in Calgary. On the third day, I was on an airplane headed for a remote drilling rig about a hundred miles north of Fort St. John.

Working on the rigs paid well, so when I returned, I did so with several thousand dollars, which I immediately deposited into a bank account. I’d made it with $100. My next experiment was to try starting with nothing. My goal was to accumulate just $150 – the price of a flight back to Ottawa.

Well, I didn’t quite have nothing; before making my deposit I’d paid for 7 nights at the YMCA – a tiny room and a warm bed was welcome in February – twelve dollars a night.

The next morning I arose early and full of energy. I was about to prove that everyone who lives in poverty does so by choice and is simply lazy. I headed off to a temporary industrial employer. Sure enough, I waited around for about an hour, and then headed out on a bus to my first assignment. This was going to be even easier than I thought.

At the end of the day, I discovered something somewhat disturbing. I would receive my wages at the end of the pay period – 2 weeks from now! Two weeks! I only have a bed for one week. How am I going to eat?

A minor setback.

Back at the Y that evening I did some research. There was a street corner just a few blocks away where guys would line up first thing in the morning. Trucks drive by and pick up day labourers – and the best part was: they paid cash!

At $4 an hour I needed to work three hours to sleep inside. I dug ditches, I swept warehouses, I unloaded trucks, I cleaned construction sites, one time I even hosed out sulphuric acid sludge from a big white tank somewhere. I got a steak lunch for that one – and a rash!

If I had a choice between sleeping inside or eating, I always chose sleeping inside. Then one day I was carrying ceiling tiles from a stack to a work site. I noticed a workmate making about 1 and a half trips for every one of mine. He asked me when I last ate. “Three days ago”, I answered. My new friend told me where I could get a free meal.

The next morning I showed up at the Single Men’s Hostel. Before receiving a meal ticket, I had to meet with a counsellor. I remember he asked me how much money I had. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a handful of change, and answered: 67 cents.

That morning I discovered the gift of free food. I also learned that scary looking people aren’t so scary, up close. I learned that no one ever complained when the food was only lukewarm, and if the scruffy guy across the table was too hung-over to eat, he was never too hung-over to share.

After two and half months on the streets I learned something else too: It’s almost impossible to get ahead when you’re down. For the first time in my life, I truly felt despair.

My hypothesis failed. I eventually went back to the bank, collected my cash, bought a plane ticket, and flew home.

Here are my three observations:

1. We are all poor. Rev. 3:17 reads: “You say: ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” People are fragile. Mental illness or an unfortunate string of events can put almost anyone out on the streets.
2. We are all rich. Placed in global and historic perspective, almost anyone living in Canada is fabulously wealthy. We have access to social services providing food and shelter. Many parts of the planet don’t share this luxury.
3. We are all the same. Proverbs 22:2 reads: “Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is Maker of them all.

So what do you say when someone approaches and asks: “Hey Buddy, can you spare some change?” Here are three possible responses…

1. “Spare some change?! Get lost!”

2. My friend Jim, who lived on the streets for 3 years, says: “Don’t give it to them. Half will spend it on alcohol; the other half will spend it on drugs.” In Canada, homeless people have access to social services. But Jim would also ask you to treat all people with dignity. The only reason he no longer lives on the streets is because someone cared enough to love him when he was unlovable.

3. The third response is yours: What do you do when someone asks: “Hey buddy, can you spare some change?”