Vigo, I spent many years, nearly 2 decades, where I had to work side jobs to support my hobbies because I couldn't spare a single penny from my paycheck, and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Once my bills were paid, making a few extra dollars for a new game, a new tool, or just for materials to use in my hobbies was perfectly justified. Would my money have been better spent investing in an IRA or saving for my kid's college educations? Maybe, but I was supporting myself, and that means that NOBODY had the right to judge or condemn me for what I spent my money on. But some people, myself included, take offense at people who can't even put food on the table for their kids yet find the money for luxuries. It is one thing to scrape by and still have things you enjoy, it is another to be relying on others for the staples in life while using what you make to buy crap you don't need. I draw my line at the point where a person has no other choice than to take welfare to survive. Anything below that line and I believe I have a right to an opinion on the matter, given that it is my tax dollars they are living on. But anything above that line and you can spend all your money on magic beans for all I care.
"Poor" is a state of mind and relative to everyone around you. You manage to pay your bills and put a roof over your head and food on the table, and still somehow find a way to pursue a hobby that costs money. A homeless guy might look at you and say you are rich. Certain labels can mean very different things to different people.
Certain labels can mean very different things to different people. To me, when someone says that a person is "poor" and "fallen on bad times", I think of a person who is two months behind on rent and about to be evicted, who has to get food stamps to put food on the table for his kids, and who has not been able to afford a single luxury in a long time. People like that don't need an arcade cabinet, and if given the choice of what kind of charity to receive, would probably opt for healthy dinner or help getting caught up on rent.
I think the OP's friends are far from being in the "welfare" situation, and while I think giving them something without consulting with them first is a bad idea, if they are receptive to the idea of having an arcade cabinet, then it would be a nice gesture. Honestly though the way I first read the initial post was that he knew some people who were pretty much on their last leg and he wanted to give them an arcade. That is like giving a starving man a really nice 10 seat dining set.
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Topic: trying to help a family out... (Read 5504 times)
