$1 @ a time. Or $5.

My little holiday season project was to give at least $1 to everyone who asked me for money in San Francisco and the East Bay. I didn't keep track, but since i was mostly staying with A & R in the Tenderloin, it wasn't an inexpensive undertaking, and I'd estimate out of pocket around $45.
This was in part inspired by A, the first morning i was in SF, giving a guy selling Street Sense in the Civic Center BART station $10. We had just heard the overhead announcement "Attention BART Police, attention BART Police, panhandler on the platform, panhandler on the platform!" Except it was a little more shrill than text can capture. Then this guy shambled up, and could barely articulate the offer to buy Street Sense for $1. Without going in to too much detail, the guy had clearly had a very rough time of it.
A gave him $10 as i was going to my wallet, and said something like "What kind of a heartless motherfucker do you have to be to kick that guy out?" Indeed. So i decided i would give money to everyone who asked me on this trip.
Walking toward the BART station this morning to head to SFO, i found a folded $5 bill laying on the sidewalk in front of the Great American Music Hall, possibly from last night's Primus show.
The next guy who asked, half a block later, had a fairly big ask: "a couple bucks to get me something to eat?" He got the $5, and thanked me all the way down the block. It felt great, as did every other one of the 40+ gives.
Happy New Year! May all of yours be bountiful, gratifying, and unpredictable.