I am torn because there are posts and videos that are set-ups. Actors playing homeless people while another person plays the compassionate person, usually another homeless person. There is no purpose, except to elicit ad revenue and evoke a rush of emotion from the viewers. My 11 yr old watches those and gets mad at the people walking by until we discuss, 1. that kid couldn't have stood for three hours in 5 degree NYC weather without a coat without dying of hypothermia. It was a setup, and 2. bystander phenomenon.

That said, there are plenty of times the camera captures human nature helping one another and millions of times it doesn't. And when it does capture it, there can be a moment of introspection. What exactly am I doing to better my world? When I went to Istanbul last summer, I was intrigued by the beauty, and deeply saddened by the state of the Syrian refugees. I work with homeless people daily in the USA and never see this type of need. My heart couldn't be there in the city and do nothing, full well knowing what I could do was going to be so very, very little. I was a tagalong for a government trip and technically on vacation.

So I did my own investigation. I asked what a lira (about $0.50) would buy and the hotel worker said one piece of bread, I asked, what about 2 lira? 2 pieces of bread. A morsel. So I gave 2 lira to the dirty bare-foot children begging in the streets. (I did this discretely and quite often) It solved nothing but put food in the belly of hungry children for a day. I hope there were no cameras because I didn't do it for cameras, I did it because to not to it would kill me inside.

I didn't pay attention to who was watching but I caught my fiancé and then other members of our group doing the same thing. It amused me up because they were so opposed at the beginning. Touting safety and security. I agreed, but I am not there as one of them. I am not them. Nothing is unacceptable. At home, I carry granola bars to handle out to hungry clients, paid out by my dollars, because I feel it is part of how we contact as humans.

Again, my actions didn't solve world hunger. It certainly didn't solve anyone's problem for more than the moment of what am I going to eat right now. Later, I learned of a humanitarian organization that is helping with the Syrians. This IS how it should be.

But posts such as these? It can be anything. It can capture one man taking his time to take care of another human being. It can be a setup. It can be the impetus to get a teen to volunteer at a food bank. It can also reveal one's cynicism.