Beggar vs Fool

I was playing with my cell phone while waiting for my train. A black guy came up, sitting down before me. With a sincere expression and in a polite voice, he asked, “Can you do me a favor?”
“Yes?”
“I am going to take the R3 at 9 to Trenton, then I am going to New York. But I fall short of 2 dollars”.

My gut feeling told me that this guy was a professional beggar, since I came across a whole bunch of such beggars in Chinatown where train and bus stations are. They all came up with such reason like “I am going to New York, but I am 1 dollar short.”

I gave this guy a second look. He didn’t look like a bad guy though. I mean, I usually will not relate such a man to a criminal or something like that. He looked young, dressed neat and carried a backpack.

Meanwhile, another idea worked in my mind. IceCube and I used to walk around the city where our college was on weekend. We came across many beggars. IceCube always took out some small bills and told me to give them—it was sort of funny that he always made me hand the money to them. He never told me why he didn’t do it himself. In one occasion, his explanation was that he hoped to put some good-deeds-deposit for my after-life, in case there was an after-life.

At first, I refused to do so. I insisted that they were simply unwilling to work and they were cheating people and they didn’t deserve our sympathy.

IceCube finally managed to change my mind. “What if some of them really need help? One or two Yuans mean nothing to you, but you might have helped some of them.’

His reasoning was persuasive to me. Since then, I have been acting under this principle.

So this time, after one or two seconds’ hesitation, I gave this guy two dollars.

He said thanks and went away. Two minutes later, I was convinced that he WAS a professional beggar. He told me his train was at 9, but I didn’t see him catching the train.

Then I started to feel like a fool. On the train back home, I was thinking if I should continue to stick to IceCube’s doesn’t-hurt-giving-principle to which I have been keeping for years. It may be socially irresponsible to do this in many an occasions—it is like I am encouraging cheaters to cheat more.

Later I told IceCube the story. He said that his principle probably only worked in China. “In China, people may have to make a living by begging, but in the United States, if you are not lazy, you don’t have to beg.”

Ok, another IceCube principle. Equally sound. I feel more like a dumb fool now.

Besides, it seems that borrowed principles don't work well with me. I probably have a flexibility issue here.