Andrews 1

Emily Andrews

Professor Barnet

English 102

January 15, 2016

Why I Don’t Spare “Spare Change”

“Poor but honest.” “The deserving poor.” I don’t know the origin of these quotations, but they always come to mind when I think of “the poor.” But I also think of people who, perhaps through alcohol or drugs, have ruined not only their own lives but also the lives of others in order to indulge in their own pleasure. Perhaps alcoholism and drug addiction really are “diseases,” as many people say, but my own feeling — based, of course, not on any serious study — is that most alcoholics and drug addicts can be classified with the “undeserving poor.” And that is largely why I don’t distribute spare change to panhandlers.

But surely among the street people there are also some who can rightly be called “deserving.” Deserving of what? My spare change? Or simply the government’s assistance? It happens that I have been brought up to believe that it is appropriate to make contributions to charity — let’s say a shelter for battered women — but if I give some change to a panhandler, am I making a contribution to charity and thereby helping someone, or, on the contrary, am I perhaps simply encouraging someone not to get help? Or maybe even worse, am I supporting a con artist?

If one believes in the value of private charity, one can give either to needy individuals or to charitable organizations. In giving to a panhandler one may indeed be helping a person who badly needs help, but one cannot be certain that one is giving to a needy individual. In giving to an organization such as the United Way, in contrast, one can feel that one’s money is likely to be used wisely. True, confronted by a beggar one may feel that this particular unfortunate individual needs help at this moment — a cup of coffee or a sandwich — and the need will not be met unless I put my hand in my pocket right now. But I have come to think that the beggars whom I encounter can get along without my spare change, and indeed perhaps they are actually better off for not having money to buy liquor or drugs.

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Andrews 2

It happens that in my neighborhood I encounter few panhandlers. There is one fellow who is always by the bus stop where I catch the bus to the college, and I never give him anything precisely because he is always there. He is such a regular that, I think, he ought to be able to hold a regular job. Putting him aside, I probably don’t encounter more than three or four beggars in a week. (I’m not counting street musicians. These people seem quite able to work for a living. If they see their “work” as playing or singing, let persons who enjoy their performances pay them. I do not consider myself among their audience.) The truth of the matter is that since I meet so few beggars, I could give each one a dollar and hardly feel the loss. At most, I might go without seeing a movie some week. But I know nothing about these people, and it’s my impression — admittedly based on almost no evidence — that they simply prefer begging to working. I am not generalizing about street people, and certainly I am not talking about street people in the big urban centers. I am talking only about the people whom I actually encounter.

That’s why I usually do not give “spare change,” and I don’t think I will in the future. These people will get along without me. Someone else will come up with money for their coffee or their liquor, or, at worst, they will just have to do without. I will continue to contribute occasionally to a charitable organization, not simply (I hope) to salve my conscience but because I believe that these organizations actually do good work. But I will not attempt to be a mini-charitable organization, distributing (probably to the unworthy) spare change.

THE ESSAY ANALYZED

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Finally, here are a few comments about the essay.

The title is informative, alerting the reader to the topic and the author’s position. (By the way, the student told us that in her next-to-last draft, the title was “Is It Right to Spare ‘Spare Change’?” This title, unlike the revision, introduces the topic but not the author’s position.)

The opening paragraph holds a reader’s interest, partly by alluding to the familiar phrase “the deserving poor” and partly by introducing the unfamiliar phrase “the undeserving poor.” Notice, too, that this opening paragraph ends by clearly asserting the author’s thesis. Writers need not always announce their thesis early, but it is usually advisable to do so.

Paragraph 2 begins by voicing what probably is the reader’s somewhat uneasy — perhaps even negative — response to the first paragraph. That is, the writer has a sense of her audience; she knows how her reader feels, and she takes account of the feeling.

Paragraph 3 clearly sets forth the alternatives. A reader may disagree with the writer’s attitude, but the alternatives seem to be stated fairly.

Paragraphs 4 and 5 are more personal than the earlier paragraphs. The writer, more or less having stated what she takes to be the facts, now is entitled to offer a highly personal response to them.

The final paragraph nicely wraps things up by means of the words “spare change,” which go back to the title and to the end of the first paragraph. The reader thus experiences a sensation of completeness. The essayist, of course, hasn’t solved the problem for all of us for all time, but she presents a thoughtful argument and ends the essay effectively.

Exercise

In a brief essay, state a claim and support it with evidence. Choose an issue in which you are genuinely interested and about which you already know something. You may want to interview a few experts and do some reading, but don’t try to write a highly researched paper. Sample topics:

  1. Students in laboratory courses should not be required to participate in the dissection of animals.

  2. Washington, D.C., should be granted statehood.

  3. In wartime, women should be subject to the military draft.

  4. The annual Miss America contest is an insult to women.

  5. The government should not offer financial support to the arts.

  6. The chief fault of the curriculum in high school was . . .

  7. No specific courses should be required in colleges or universities.