Ex-Con or Con Artist?

I noticed something rather peculiar two days ago while I was out with Jihan in town. I met someone who actually begged us to listen to his cries for donation of $2 for several pens that he was trying to sell to people. He claimed that he was an ex-convict and he is having difficulties in getting a proper job. He said that this is one of his ways to get some money.

Ironically, I was shown only a picture profile of himself and a pathetic paragraph of an explanation of his sufferings. Now, Jihan looked at me. For an instance, I am caught up to decide on whether shall we just give him our money or ignore him totally. Then, my senses came about and I realized that he did not have the yellow ribbon project tied to it. So we declined.
How can I even trust that man? I know, $2 dollars is just a miserable amount but I did not want to encourage corn artists to abuse the system either. We felt bad about it but without the yellow ribbon project tied to it, I will forever be cautious with these people.

The Yellow Ribbon Project is currently one of the best methods of encouraging ex-convicts to improve their lives and most importantly provide them with skills to find jobs in the future. Whatever it is, i will say my Kudos to the people who help make this project a meaningful one for them.

Cheers.