A few blocks from my house there is a homeless encampment, and I made friends with one guy let’s call him Jake. Jake has been very nice to me and I’ve talked to him a lot bc their tents are across from a cafe I always go to. Last month I bought Jake a McDonald’s meal and he was super appreciative.
Since then I talked to Jake and apparently the encampment has been struggling because of police activity in the area so they have a harder time asking people for food. I have a good high school friend who works in the McDonald’s and we’ve decided to bring them a bunch of meals every Thursday to Jake and he gives it to the rest of the encampment. It’s not enough for the whole encampment but Jake is very grateful.
Last Thursday, I was giving food to Jake and posted some skateboard trick he did on instagram. My mother in law replied and thought it was “odd” that I was hanging out with a homeless guy. I told her I just give them McDonald’s every week.
Later I saw her over the weekend for a family dinner and she said something about how I give homeless people unhealthy food. She thinks that with the money I have I should at least get them more healthy food (which I thought was crazy considering she earlier seemed disgusted that I was even interacting with them)
After dinner she told me that she didn’t mean to cause a scene but that I’m only contributing to their unhealthy lifestyle. I told her she’s being overdramatic and it escalated into her crying, saying that processed food can cause serious health problems especially to people without access to doctors. I left the dinner at this point and felt like the family has been cold to me since then and have been really taking her side.
I like to believe that I am helping them but starting to consider if it’s worth giving such unhealthy food to people, considering her reaction? She was making a huge scene about it.
As with the breast vs bottle debate in infant care, fed is best.
NTA.