This is a fine story - but I can show you a guy who, if you give him $100, he will buy crack with it.
And that's just as valid an example. Probably more so, because this is getting play because it is exceptional. Glad to see this guy is nice, though.

"Don't assume the worst"? Really? That's the safest thing to bet. Most, not just some people are homeless for a reason.

As Radwaste said, it's nice to see how, in this particular case, the guy spends the money.

If one did this on a more widespread basis, e.g. gave $100 to 1,000 homeless people and were able to watch how they spent the money, what percentage do you think would do what this guy did? I'd say it's reasonable to assume it would be very small*.

* even if it was 0%, I wouldn't see it as bad that they spent it all on themselves, as long as they didn't piss it away on alcohol and/or other drugs.

This trend of videos featuring one or two people being called 'social experiments' is such a crock.

I agree with your point, though, Amy, of not automatically assuming the worst.

Radwaste, I don't think Amy is advocating common sense in dealing with strangers, but rather more thought before a judgement is made.

Who's calling this a social experiment?

And Crella, you're right, about my thinking that more thinking is needed up front.

Also, regarding the notion of how homeless people are, where I live we have firsthand contact with many of them. Many are not drunks or substance abusers, but it's easy to snarl and assume that most are. Unless you have a sample group you interact with, best not to decide how degenerate they are.

According to "Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2003) estimates, 38% of homeless people were dependent on alcohol and 26% abused other drugs."

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/addiction.pdf

Who's calling this a social experiment?

The heading on the video says:

HOW DOES A HOMELESS MAN SPEND $100 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

" Most, not just some people are homeless for a reason."

Yes, it's called lack of social support. I'd be right along with them but I got lucky and got psychiatric treatment.

For anyone quick to judge the homeless as druggies.

TBI= Teaumaric Brain Injury

" A recent study found that nearly half of all homeless people have suffered from a TBI, 87% of which occurred before they lost their homes.

Considering that there are over 600,000 people sleeping on America’s streets on any given night, this is no minor issue. The research, led by Dr. Jane Topolovec-Vranic of St. Michael’s Hospital, showed that most TBIs were caused by assault (60%), sports and recreation (44%), or motor collisions/falls (42%), and that nearly three-quarters of these injuries happened before people reached the age of 18."

Amy, I didn't mean to sound harsh, I'm sorry. The catcall video, the drunk girl video (where guys were filmed tryng to take a fake drunk girl home) and this one, in the title, have been billed as such, and they are far from it, although this one makes a good point. With some that I've seen dubbing it an "experiment " seems to be merely a tactic to avoid people's anger.

Misuse of the word "experiment" has a long and storied history. For example, remarkably few of those who "experimented with drugs in their youth" wore lab coats and constructed falsifiable hypotheses while doing so.

TOR, the inventor of LSD did! ;->

"If you have lost your job or know someone who has, consider that it's never too late to learn to code, and lead them to "Hour of Code," written about here at Inc. by @RealEvilHRLady Suzanne Lucas."

And like every other useful, but not too hard to learn skill, as soon as enough people know how to do it, the pay will be pushed down to minimum wage levels.

The hard stuff is what earns people a decent living.