What that New York City police officer did, giving a strange man a pair of boots just because he thought it was the right thing to do, should not be forgotten, no matter the details about the background of the homeless man continue to leak out.
The latest headlines about him really illustrate just how difficult it is to solve problems such as these.
They shouldn't be used to make the case against helping people, just because. That man is a veteran with obviously severe problems caused by only God knows. There is no magic elixir. Such cases are seldom wrapped up neatly in a bow with a positive ending the way they are in the movies.
This kind of work is hard - and it would be harder still if people stopped giving simply because there's no guarantee of a storybook end. I'd rather we risk helping too many people than too few.
I agree with this writer:
