Being kind and eager to help others are important features that help us remain people. My family has always told me to be sympathetic and care about the people who are less lucky in this world. However, I heard people saying that sometimes it is not the best idea to be kind. Thus, I remember a personal story that made me realize what it means that sometimes it is cruel to be kind.
Once I was walking down the street enjoying a lovely, sunny day. It seemed that there was nothing that could ruin my perfect mood. However, I was disturbed by a tramp sitting on the side of the road. The tramp looked very unhappy and poor. Judging from his filthy clothes and his appearance, it was easy to understand that he did not have any money, even for food. The man’s eyes were filled with tears when he asked me to help him with a couple of dollars so he could buy something to eat. My heart dropped and I could not refuse. I felt like my help would bring about significant change to man’s life. Therefore, I immediately took two dollars from my pocket and gave to the man.
I carried on walking feeling that I have done the right thing. The only regret I had was that I did not have more money to share with the man. I could not get the situation that happened to me earlier out of my head during the whole day. Feeling very unhappy with the cruelty of our society, I kept blaming it for leading some people to such life. I remembered all the people I saw being out on the streets not having any food or a place to live. The other thing that also made me angry was ignorance of many people who see this every day and just walk past.
However, something that I saw afterward changed my attitude. Later that day, I met the same tramp in the shop buying alcohol for the money I and some other people gave him. It is hard to describe how surprised I was. First of all, I thought he would spend them on food. I could not understand why a poor hungry man would buy alcohol instead of something to eat. Secondly, I had a feeling that I have done a bad thing by giving him money because I supported him in drinking and leading a bad life. Thus, the money that I shared with the tramp did not in any way help him. Consequently, it had a negative influence on the tramp supporting his way of living. Maybe if I did not sympathize and just walked away, the man would change his life by trying to find a job and earn money himself. It would probably make him rethink what he does and why he is not trying to change anything. Perhaps if at some point in his life he did not rely on other peopTo conclude, that day gave me a lot to think about. I am still doubtful about what I should have done in that situation because it seems to be very controversial. I wonder what would have been better: to give the man a couple of dollars or ignore him and walk away. Not giving him money sounds cruel and heartless, although I understood from this situation that being kind can be very cruel sometimes as well. Moreover, now I see that the money I gave him did not change his life for better, but I keep wondering if the other option would.