I donate to homeless shelters and food banks annually. People begging at intersections scare me. I am afraid that if I reach out to give someone some money, the person might grab my arm and try to open my car door, pull me out, and drive away! Yes, I know I have a lurid imagination: I read mysteries. In a shopping center parking lot one day, a woman approached me as I walked to my car. She said her car was almost out of gas and she needed to get to somewhere in a short amount of time, she had no credit cards and was almost out of cash. She asked me to "loan" her some money so she could buy gas. I hesitated, then said, "If you follow me to the gas station and put a couple of gallons of gas in your car, I will pay for it." She turned and walked away.

Does it bother me that I am not helping some people who may need it? Yes, but I can't tell who does and who doesn't.

At separate times I briefly took in two young women for a month while they got back on their feet after bad experiences. Both were acquaintances of my sons, but he was not romantically involved with either, though I think one had a crush on him. I bought one of them monthly bus passes so she could seek employment and shared my food with her. She had no money so I gave her a minimal allowance so that If she needed to use a restroom while looking for jobs she could buy a cup of coffee at a fast food place instead of using the rest room and walking out. The other still had a little money in a bank account and didn't need these things: she just couldn't afford a place to live. having he here cost me little--just paying for higher energy bills. Would I do it again? Probably not. My financial picture has changed since then.