Every winter, we go to Chicago during our last week in the states. When we go there, we walk around almost all day, going to different places and stores. It isn’t exactly cold in Chicago, but the winds make it seem 20 times colder, making it kind of miserable to walk in. While walking in the freezing cold, I come across about 15 people sleeping on the streets. They lay on worn-out mattresses and cover themselves with three thick blankets, they have matted hair and rags as clothes. The number of people sleeping on the streets was way too much. Most of them were begging for money, some were even playing an instrument to get any amount of money. 
      This brings light to the idea that poverty is a common problem these days and is a bad one. Currently, about 12.8% of Americas population is living in poverty or on the streets (Benson). People have been trying to fix it by raising awareness and supporting the people in the streets by paying them. But there isn’t much more we can do, a lot of them have also been caught trying to steal, and gaining criminal records from that, making it very hard to get a job.  
     Another example of this happening was when we went to Greece over the summer, we were walking in the streets of Thessaloniki. And this time it was hot so there wasn’t anyone freezing, but it would’ve still been miserable to be sleeping in the streets. We were right at the center, on our way to Starbucks until we ran into some lady selling homemade necklaces. She saw my mom and came up to us, with all the necklaces in her hand. She stood in front of my mom and started talking in Greek, my mom told her we didn’t know Greek. She paused and spoke in broken English, “I’m sorry I’m sorry.” She was telling us about how her necklaces were made and her family history. Once she was done telling us she showed us the necklaces and handed them to my mom. My mom handed them back to her and told her we didn’t have euros and didn’t need them. The lady wouldn’t stop and eventually started repeating “Its free its free.” My mom had enough, smiled, and walked away with the necklace in hand. As soon as she did, the lady screamed and ran after her. “You steal you steal.” My mom just looked at her in surprise and gave them to her and walked away.  
      This is another way people deal with being in poverty, while it is very wrong, it is also very common. This example is almost like a form of manipulation, since she convinced us that this was free, and tried to guilt trip us into buying it. And although other forms of begging are okay, this is taking it a bit too far. This also shows how desperate people are for money, no normal person wants to guilt trip or manipulate people, but sometimes that’s what they must do to earn a living.  
      In conclusion, poverty is a big problem everywhere in the world, and different people have different approaches toward it. And although nobody should have to go through it, there are definitely ways people can get money without having to use manipulation, or even tricking people. There are a few ways we can help people who are begging in the streets, one of the ways of helping is starting a fundraiser, or a charity event, for people on the streets of a specific neighborhood. Another simple but helpful way is just to give them money.