I don’t mind giving what is asked of me. Ten percent is almost nothing, or at least it is closer to nothing than something. I give it willingly if it feeds someone, shelters someone, or lifts someone I will never meet. Take it and use it. I don’t need a thank you. What bothers me is when I give the ten percent asked, and in return I get trash. I don’t want a 100% polyester tie for Father’s Day. I don’t want a cheap trinket dropped at my door as a half-hearted “thinking of you.” I would rather have something real, like a conversation that means something more than ten cents of polyester so cheap it doesn’t have a brand associated with it. Talk to me like a human, not a checkbox. And if you can’t do that, give me nothing. Take my ten percent and push it to someone who truly needs it. Use every cent and let it mean something real. Handing me back .0001% in trinkets is worse than giving me nothing at all.

Keep the tie. Don’t stop to knock. Keep the empty gesture. Give my ten percent to the hungry, the cold, the unseen.