I give money to people on the street all the time, but it's rarely about the money. It's about stopping, asking how they're doing, showing them that someone car

I give money to people on the street all the time, but it's rarely about the money. It's about stopping, asking how they're doing, showing them that someone cares even for just a minute or two, and then, lastly, giving them money that might be good for a slice of pizza or coffee. There was a guy on my corner here in Brooklyn who I'd do this with a lot over the years. One night I was coming back from Manhattan and he clearly had just taken something -- he was in a totally joyful, high state. We say what's up, he's laughing, and then is like "can I have a hug?!?". And so we hug, he starts yelling "thank you!", and I ask him if he needed any money, to which he said "no money! just hugs!". He's clearly been through an amount of trauma I can't even begin to imagine. If throwing a few dollars his way while chatting for a moment makes him feel like people see him as a human, then I'm going to keep doing it.