I will never forget that sad look in your eyes.

     Let me tell you a story about my friend.

    In Shanghai, there's a place she passes by every weekend where there's an old woman, probably very old and frail. This old woman pushes a tricycle every day, selling very small, inexpensive household items like needles and thread, elastic bands, and buttons. The old woman makes a living from morning till night, though she doesn't know exactly how early or late. Sometimes, when my friend sees the old woman selling something she needs, she'll buy a little something.

    One Sunday, she passed by the stall and happened to need some thread to sew something. She stopped briefly at the old woman's stall to choose what she needed, spending 50 cents on a roll of cotton thread. Just then, a beggar, dirty and begging from passersby, came up to her and waved a paper cup in his hand. Because she thought the beggar was dirty and wanted to get rid of him quickly, my friend casually took out the one yuan she had just received as change and tossed it to the beggar.

    Then she told me she would never forget the sad look in the old woman's eyes. My friend didn't describe it specifically, and she couldn't quite capture the look in her eyes, but I think I can imagine how wronged, helpless, disappointed, and sad she must have felt. She toils so hard at her stall just to make a living, struggling all day for a pittance, only to see such a young man doing nothing, so easily reaching out to ask for money.

    I don't give money to beggars, regardless of whether they truly need help, simply to avoid upsetting those who struggle even more but still persevere and refuse to give up on life.