Poor kitty. No kitty should have to suffer as a Chandler pet. A dog maybe, but no kitties.
He has a point. He can spend his money however he wants. He doesn't seem to understand that people who are poor as shit shouldn't blow their tugboat in the first 10 days of the month and then expect internet strangers to cover the bills for him and his stupid mother.
Yeah. Prior to the begging saga, I was really on the "Chris can do what he wants with his money train." In general, I am against bitching about how government assistance recipients spend their money, because it is impossible to do and ends up being petty and paternalistic. And in general, I thought that if Chris had a little left over from the relatively modest benefits he receives for a genuine mental condition, it is ok if he spends it on toys or junk food if he enjoys it. What was he supposed to do, send it back? I felt the same way, even more so, when he was selling shit. The argument that you shouldn't buy a medallion from him because he might spend the money on useless stuff baffled me. Those were legitimate transactions, and he earned the money, it was his to do what he wants with.
But once he started begging, I think he opened the door wide open for discussions of his spending and finances. If someone is considering tossing him a few bucks, they have the right to ask what he will spend it on. I guess Chris has the right to say "that's none of your business", but if he does, he has to accept that a lot of people's legitimate reactions will be to tell him to fuck off with his begging.
And it is super dumb to claim that donations go to useful things and the tugboat goes to toys, even if that is true. Clearly that means he is using donations to cover necessities he would otherwise have to spend the tugboat on, so the donations are still being used to allow him to toys. I do get the sense he believes his shit though, so I guess points for honesty, no points for intelligence.
I was somewhat impressed with the rest of the message though. He seems to have gone to some time and effort to find the most affordable and responsible way of helping a busted up cat. And he did a better job than usual at expressing gratitude for help he has gotten. Admittedly, in both cases, this is basic human decency, but it is a type of decency he often falls short at, so credit where credit is due.
