Given the choice would you rather encourage another person to their best possible potential in life, or break them down for whatever reason?

If you notice someone is having a hard time of it whatever “it” means do you do your best to lift people up. or do you do your best to finish the job and make them feel worse than you know they already do?

If they don’t feel quite as badly as you believe they should for whatever predicament they are in, do you make sure you get them there by making it worse? Or do you take the situation in the other direction and say or do something to encourage them or cheer them on so they can get back on their feet?

The answers can be in relation to anything in general personal stories or experiences but I’m asking this because I was getting gas a while back and there was a couple sitting at the local gas station who were obviously homeless. Certain people ignored them, other people helped and gave them money, and a few people made nasty comments like “Get a damn job.” or “Yeah right.”

I gave them money because they had a little dog with them but it isn’t really within my scope of understanding as to how they ended up where they were so what good does it do to say things like that?

What do some people get out of that kind of behavior? All of the nasty people that made rude comments and there were a few in the short time I was pumping gas their answers were always kind in return and very respectful, not rude or snide back. I think about them sometimes, and wonder where they ended up.