The Video
The harsh wind blows the child's sign and the lone girl leans forward to straighten it. It reads, "Homeless and Hungry, Please Help." The cardboard from her makeshift sign is the only protector she has from the hard and cold sidewalk. If one could guess, the girl would be no older than ten, eleven would be pushing the envelope.
Many people simply walk by her, ignoring her cry for help. However, someone finally sat down to chat with her, and then we are able to find out something extraordinary.
A video posted in December 2016, a girl's long hair is poking out through her hat while she looks up at those passing by. A mom with a stroller rushes by, seemingly in a rush to be somewhere.
Loose Change
The mother doesn't seem to notice the girl, and the girl simply watches the mother and her child hurry down the street.
Between her two feet adorned by snow boots is a styrofoam cup, perhaps hoping to get enough money to get herself a hot drink. There are a few people who lend her a glance as they walk by, and there are others who completely pass her by without a glance.
A Friendly Face
As one woman glances over her shoulder, she takes a few steps back, unsure of what to do. There are a few people here and there who lean down to her level and put some loose change into her cup.
As a women creeps up to where the little girl is planted on the sidewalk, she slows her stroll until she reaches her. She crouches down and says, "Hey, why are you homeless?" In response, the girl simply shrugs her shoulders.
Still No Answers
Worried, the women asks another question. "Are you okay?" Once again, the girl does not give a verbal response, she simply nods.
The women was undeterred, and again tried asking the girl one more time in a kind voice. "Why don't you have anywhere to go?" But once more, the girl gives no verbal response, and simply shrugs her shoulders.
Alone Again
The women decides that there is nothing more she can do for the young girl, and drops some coins into her cup. "Here," she says, while reluctantly distancing herself, "I hope you're okay."
Once more, the girl realized she was on her own. She looks with a hopeful expression up and down the street, wondering if anybody else would come her way.
Another Kind Stranger?
More people walk along the busy sidewalk, wrapped up from the cold and no doubt wrapped up in their own thoughts as well. The child simply stares blankly ahead, unsure of what was to come.
Another women dressed in plaid approaches the girl. She slows down to look at the girl and read her sign, and it seems as though she might just stop walking to speak to the girl.
Return
Unfortunately, she carries on, and you can see the hope leaving the girls face as the woman in plaid keeps walking by her.
The video then cuts to a few minutes later. Amazingly enough, the lady in plaid is walking back towards the girl, this time, carrying two packages.
Kindness Of A Stranger
The women's clothes also seemed to be mismatched and worn in. She lowers herself down to talk to the girl and with a kind voice says, "Hi, how are you?"
The kind women then brings out a package of food and lowers a $20 dollar bill into her styrofoam cup. She tells the girl, "I don't have much.
Unlikely Situation
But this is for you. Some money and some food." The audience then understands that the only person to stop, sit down, and offer the girl some food is actually living on the streets herself.
The women then asks the girl, "Are you homeless?" After the girl seemed like she didn't want to answer, she then asked a different question. "Where are your parents?
The Reveal
Are you okay?" Like before, the girl simply shrugs. The woman then says in a reassuring voice, "I'm here to help you if you need something." While the girl remained silent, the women begins to see someone else approaching them.
The man that approached the kind woman and the child was in fact the man behind RobbyTV, a filmmaker creating the video to post to social media platform, Youtube.
Explanation
The girl wasn't in fact homeless, she was a child actress called Laila who was pretending to be destitute as part of a social experiment to see if anyone would stop to help.
Robby stepped towards the two of them, and it was very clear that the woman had given what little she had to help the young girl. While crouching down to shake the hand of the kind and selfless woman he explained, "I just wanted to say thank you very much.
Here To Help
We've got a camera over there; we're shooting a video."
Obviously wanting to help the woman, Robby asks her, "I just wanted to ask; looking from your pants, are you homeless?" The lady confirms by nodding sadly. Overcome with her selflessness and generosity, the YouTuber says, "Honestly, we saw you give $20, and you bought food.
Return The Favor
You were trying to feed her, and you felt so bad for her."
While standing up, Robby says to the woman, "All that we can really do for you is give you 50 bucks." As he hands the woman the money, her face shows that she is clearly shocked by the gift.Selflessness
The YouTuber then bends down once more, this time to give the woman a hug.
Despite the woman's impoverished circumstances and situation, she refused to accept back the food that she had donated, or the girl's earnings.Donation
A caption in the video reads, "We tried to give the woman the food back and the little money we made, but she didn't want it."
The video then cuts to the child actress, Laila, donating the money and food to another homeless woman. "Here, I've got this for you," she says as she hands it to her.A Glimpse
"Thank you, sweetheart," the grateful recipient tells her, clearly very taken aback by the act of kindness. "Thank you so much."
And having a glimpse of what it was like to live life on the streets, the little girl then gave her a hug, too.The Viewers
It could be that she recalled that the only person to stop and offer her real help was homeless herself.
The viewers of the video were amazed at the lack of aid and empathy that was offered to Laila while she was acting as a beggar, and they were also touched by the generosity of her new friend. One poster, who went by the name of palmerplantagenet, said, Goodness sakes!
More Comments
I so hope that homeless lady-the only one who really offered help-gets some true help herself."
Another person who watched the video, had a very strong opinion, and wasn't really convinced by the scenario. A viewers by the name of judithdl wrote, "This is a staged experiment to see if anyone cares.
THIS is why no one stops 'cares', since they expect situations like this to be fake."