After a long day of touring Sarajevo and going to museums, Nate Mariam and I thought we’d head towards our hotel and get food on the way. We ended up walking almost the whole way back to the hotel before we stopped in the beautiful Turkish old town to look for whatever it was we wanted to eat. Us Americans were tired after the long day and long walk and decided to just get some hamburgers to go and eat in our hotel rooms. When we arrived, we walked in, ordered our hamburgers and then began to wait outside for them to be finished as there was very little space inside the place and other customers were arriving as well. As we waited outside, a homeless man approached us. He asked us if we could go into the store again to buy him a hamburger, signaling to his stomach, and telling us he was very hungry. I asked him if he’d rather receive some cash. I said this in part because I wanted to help and I thought it’d give him more of an opportunity to have a choice in what he ate that day and also in part because I was feeling lazy, didn’t want to go in, to wait in line, or to order again. He said yes and I passed him 10 marks (the currency in Bosnia-Herzegovina equivalent to about $6 USD). After that we probably all expected him to be on his way but he continued to ask us all for more money. I was the only one who had any more cash. We said no but he continued to implore. He began telling us that he was a father and needed more money so that he could provide his infant child with food and milk. Upon hearing this my sympathies were struck and I was persuaded to give him more cash. I checked my wallet to only find a 50 mark bill(equal to about $25), more than I had planned on wanting to give him. He saw it in my hand and looked intently at me. I said if he gave me back the 10 mark bill I’d give him the 50 marks. We made the trade and he left quickly without saying much at all. After leaving so abruptly and quickly, Nate Mariam and I began to reflect on what had just happened. We noted his appearance: he was scrawny guy who looked quite anxious. Despite looking like he was in his 20s, he was missing multiple teeth. All of the teeth that remained were darkened and rotting. We made the assumption that his teeth were so destroyed because he must have been a drug addict. We assumed he dashed off quickly to go get another fix. All of our moods began to grow quite somber. We felt as though he had lied to us about having a child that needed milk. I felt as though my willingness to empathize was taken advantage of. I wondered if I was helping or hurting the world by giving him the money. I began to wish I hadn’t felt lazy and just went in to buy him a burger instead so I knew where the money was going. After about 5 more of minutes of talking about this in melancholy, our burgers were prepared and we began to walk back to our hotel. As we walked slowly and quietly, Mariam said “GUYS! LOOK!” and pointed towards the old town. We saw the homeless man exiting a traditional Bosnian food restaurant with a bag full of food. He immediately passed the bag to a fellow homeless women to share all the food he was able to buy. All of our moods were immediately brightened. We all waved and smiled to the man and women. They both returned the gesture as they smiled, waved, and blew a gracious kiss our way. Our original assumptions had led us into a deep sadness and mistrust of humans. As soon we saw the truth, that he had in fact spent the money on food and went on to share all that he had, our perspectives were immediately forced to shift. We realized the extent of the assumptions we were making and were forced to reflect on what had happened. His appearance should not have been something we drew conclusions from. He may have just dashed off quickly because of excitement. Whether he in fact has a child or not is still unknown, but we realized it wasn’t so important anyways. He shared all that he was given. We all continued to walk away in awe of humanity. I think I’ll remember this experience for a long time and continue to reflect on it. I think it’s important to help those in need not on the basis of whether they are virtuous or unvirtuous, not whether they tell the truth or lie, not whether their situation is of their own fault or not, not whether they deserve it or not, but only for the simple reason that they are in need.