Subway Begging

Living in NYC exposed one to poverty. I really don't like seeing people poor and ecky.

Yar, tv has all kinds of poor starving people... But at least they are FAR away and I can turn off the tv.

I hardly see such poverty in Toronto. Yes, I see the occasional homeless guy on the sidewalk but they are usually lying there motionless. So I can just walk around them.

Here, I see the SAME homeless poor people on the streets every day. My professor says that one homeless man even gives out Christmas cards to people who helped him.

Okay, anyway, I can avoid and walk around the homeless street people. So that is fine.

But on the subway, it is a different story. Poor disorientated people frequently start begging for money and I have to look away and pretend not to notice. (I have no heart, but I really don't like the idea that I might be paying for some junkie's drugs/alcohol.) They frequently stink of pee and dirt and other ecky stuff. And I get so grossed out because I sit on the same subway chairs as them. They also hold those very handle bars I hold. Ew. =(

Now, when I get home, I wash my hands with soap. I don't like the idea that my overpriced DKNY trench coat is touching the ecky subway but I so have no choice.