Summary: A few weeks ago, I received a video link from a friend. In the video, a young man performed a small-scale experiment, a "social experiment" if you will, on the streets of New York. As he sat on the sidewalk by himself, leaning up against a storefront window, the young man held a sign that read, "Homeless: need money for weed, drugs, and alcohol." As people walk by in the video, numerous people stopped to give him money. Some of the people who toss money into his cup say things like, "Stay high man, stay high," and "make sure you get a big bottle." After collecting a meaningful amount of money, his cup filled with cash, the screen goes dark. The video returns to the same young man dressed the same way, but this time he has a small girl next to him. The young girl is lying on the sidewalk with her head in his lap. The sign he is holding now has changed and it reads, "Homeless: single father, need money for family." This time, the response is a deafening silence. As people walk by, his cup sits empty next to him. As the little girl coughs, people step around them, trying not to look at them. Finally, and after an hour of being completely ignored, a woman stops. The woman bends down with a small amount of cash; and as she puts the money in the cup she says, "This is all I made today, but you need it so much more than I do." Then the woman, who we learn is homeless herself, asks if she can say a prayer for them. She offers a beautiful prayer, asking God to look out for them and keep them safe. As she walks away, the young man jumps up and reveals that he was conducting an experiment and that her kindness was the most beautiful thing he had seen all day. As he thanks the woman for her amazing gift, handing her a whole lot more money than she offered him, he is genuinely touched by her generosity, calling her a "hero." The video ends with a quote on the screen that reads, "Sometimes those who have less are the ones who give more." [“Homeless Drug Addict VS Homeless Father (Social Experiment),” accessed August 5, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilxjo5RlzFc.]
