1813 Bum Investment

We get in the habit of thinking certain ways about things, so it's kind of nice sometimes when a new observation forces you to question yourself.
Like the other day I was walking downtown and I was approached by a panhandler. I turned him down because he looked less homeless than hobo, and I was pretty sure if I gave him money he'd waste it on booze. Sure enough, he tapped the next guy and headed into one of the little convenience markets they have downtown. Markets who struggle along trying to eek a living out of Doritos and HoHos but whose major income depends on the sale of cigarettes, Mad Dog, and forties.
Not long after, I was walking back the other way and the guy was coming out of the store with a giant 40-ounce can of malt liquor in his fist, happily chugging away.
And for the first time it hit me. Those panhandling dollars didn't stop with him. Just like when a new factory opens up, or government money gets used to build a professional sports complex, those dollars expand tenfold as they work their way through the community.
And so it is on a smaller scale, for every dime you spare for a bum. The panhandler multiplier.
Those dimes and dollars aren't lost. They get spent at your mom and pop convenience store, and go right back into the community. 'Cause if there's one thing you can be sure of with kings of the road, they ain't locking away their money unused in banks. Or the Cayman Islands for that matter. Their money goes right back to work. And right into circulation.
As quickly as blood alcohol goes into circulation in their body.
America, ya gotta love it.