So what does one do??

As my readers know, I am enjoying the luxury of a few days roaming the streets of Melbourne while my wife attends University.

Yesterday I had an experience that is really troubling me, and I still don't know if I did the right thing or not.
When I say the right thing, it has two ways of being taken - one being what I felt was right for me, and secondly, what was right for the other person involved. This is something that I didn't consider until after the event, which I'll try to describe now...

Firstly, let me put it in context. In an earlier post I described a situation we experienced in Berlin a few months ago where I had the opportunity to help someone who was down and out, but left it too late and was then unable to do anything at all. The message I took from that was to address a need as soon as you see it.

So, yesterday morning as I was walking through the city I passed a homeless bloke who was sitting on a bench shaking severely from the cold.
My first thoughts were "Poor bugger", and then I remembered the bloke from Berlin.
There was a Macka's just ahead so I went in and bought a meal and a coffee and took it back to this bloke. Imagine my dismay when I saw that he was now joined by another bloke. Only later when I talked to Jen about it did she suggest I should have gone and bought another meal for him too. Agreed.
As I gave it to him, and apologised to the other guy for having nothing for him (and to his credit he was ever so gracious as he said he expected nothing) he was so thankful.
But it was his parting comment that stirred so many emotions within me, and I still don't know which way to think.
After his very gracious "Thank you",  he then said "Next time could you ask me what I want, because people give me food all day". I was taken aback by this comment and my first thought was "Bloody hell, what more do you want". Immediately I felt guilty for thinking this way and tried to put myself in his shoes.
I was determined not to give money after hearing a recent interview with Brendan Nottle from the Salvation Army. They explicitly ask not to give money to beggars and street people (I hate those terms). I did what he advised to do, short of giving the money straight to the Salvos.
And if I did ask beforehand what he would like, perhaps I might have found that he may have wanted fruit, or something sweet, or toothpaste or whatever.
I now wish that I had done that, but what stopped me was that I was concerned about insulting his dignity by asking in the first place.
So now I am in a difficult place because I didn't want to do nothing, and by doing something I feel that perhaps I did the wrong thing? Does that make sense?
I can sort of understand where he comes from, but I will never understand fully as I have never been in the situation that he is in.

But what it does mean to me is that we should not give up on helping others, it just means that we need to have a better understanding of each situation.

I know that it sounds like I was offended by his remark, maybe I was slightly, but I have brushed it away completely as I was embarrassed to find myself thinking that way.
To his credit, he was dignified, thankful and respectful throughout our brief encounter, so it now appears that I gained the most benefit out of this situation.

We can always learn so much from others...