Watch what this homeless man did with $100 in alcohol shop

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Amy Willis for Metro.co.uk


http://i.imgur.com/M6MtwH6.jpg

This is Thomas, he has fallen on hard times and is now homeless.

As part of an experiment, a social media buff called Josh gave him $100 (£60) and followed him to see how he spent it.

Thomas, who was completely choked at receiving the money, packed up all his stuff where he was begging near the entrance to Freeway 91 in California and went straight into the nearest liquor store.

Josh’s heart sank.

http://i.imgur.com/BZujXkh.gif

But all was not as it seemed.

When Thomas emerged from the store, Josh’s film crew continued to follow him.

http://i.imgur.com/ctbx8gX.gif

Thomas ended up in a nearby park.

At this point he opened his patterned plastic bag near a picnic table with two other people who appear to be homeless sitting there.

Josh was himself choked to see Thomas had bought food rather than liquor at the store to share with several other people who had fallen on hard times.

http://i.imgur.com/ROYzo9s.jpg

He then moved to another table where a family, who were also in difficulty, were sitting and shared with them some corn chips among other items.

http://i.imgur.com/V2MpgjT.jpg

At this point Josh came out of hiding, to admit what he had done.

He asked Thomas if he knew the people he had been sharing his food with. Thomas said he didn’t, but explained that he got a ‘happiness’ out of what he was doing.

‘There are things money can’t buy,’ he added.

At this point Josh gave Thomas another $100 because he was so overwhelmed at his kindness.

http://i.imgur.com/8O7wIHo.gif

Thomas then told Josh his story:


‘I was living with my parents and my step dad had cancer. They were getting hospice but it didn’t cover it – the insurance only pays so much. So I quit work because I had to be available. He passed away, then two weeks later my mother passed away from kidney failure. [The] building they’re in is being sold and all of a sudden I found myself homeless. That’s been like four months now.’

Thomas showed Josh an important lesson – never to judge a homeless person by their circumstance.


‘There’s a lot of people who are just victims of circumstance. They didn’t go homeless because they are late [or lazy or due to drug addiction] or divorce or one thing or another. There are a lot of good people who are homeless.’

Here is the video in full.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUBTAdI7zuY

[redred]

:tup:

[deebakes]

awesome :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Hudson Hongo - Gawker


http://i.imgur.com/YHT6z4i.jpg

Last week, a heart-warming social experiment video hit the web, showing a "secretly filmed" homeless man using an unexpected gift of $100 to buy food for others. Since then, the almost too-perfect clip has been featured everywhere from the L.A. Times to Upworthy and generated over $130,000 on a donation page managed by the video's uploader, YouTube personality Josh Paler Lin.

According to a new eyewitness account, however, homeless star Thomas "knew he was being followed" and the "whole thing is bullshit."

"Bro, [Lin] drove Thomas to the liquor store," 26-year-old Taugan Tan Kadalim told Vocativ, claiming he was on scene when the video's climax, now seen over 28 million times, was shot. "While I think the guy is homeless, it is clear that from what I saw every part of that scene was staged."

From Vocativ:


The 26-year-old says he stopped at the store to buy a lottery ticket before picking up his girlfriend, who lives in an apartment complex directly across the street. As he was walking out of the liquor store, Kadalim says he spotted Lin sitting in the driver's seat of a nearby vehicle and recognized him immediately from his previous prank videos. "I was like, 'Oh my God, it's him," says Kadalim, adding that he subscribed to Lin's YouTube channel. "I couldn't believe it."

A cameraman sat in the passenger seat of Lin's car, and behind him was the man who Kadalim would later recognize as Thomas, the homeless Samaritan Lin claims was secretly followed with a hidden camera. Thinking the three men were about shoot a prank video, Kadalim decided to stick around and watch.

Of course, given how many of this year's viral videos were hoaxes, staged or otherwise bullshit, it should hardly be surprising that this one might be too. Unlike those videos, however, this one has six figures (purportedly to help Thomas "get a fresh start") in questionably controlled donations attached.

When pressed, Lin denied any part of his video had been staged or scripted. "There is is no way we're making this up," Lin told Vocativ. "This is real."