I thought it was interesting and uplifting to see people come together to support this guy in a fairly simple way. He just told people about his mug if they asked and didn’t belabor it from there. Even shared candy when he got it.
I worked at a restaurant, where there’s a lot of food waste, so I was happy to help someone out while he found his footing. He didn’t come back on his own, I told him to see me when I’m working.
It’s weird to spin that into a “parasitic” relationship.
For the couple months I knew him the mug was either in his hand or clipped to his bag.
I didn’t see his dates and I didn’t ask, but he came by for dinner once and ate his portion from the mug.
As far as I saw, it was a great conversation starter, he made a lot of friends and ate reasonably well.
My groceries aren’t interesting, but I had a friend who only ate what went into a mug.
He carried around a ceramic mug, either collecting free stuff or telling people about his mug to see if they’d put food in it. Free samples, a few grapes, and occasional hand outs all went into the mug. I filled it with soup when he came by.
Fair enough, I can see how that would taint your view of the world. Admittedly, that was a time when a lot of us were poor, in a place where a lot of young people go to get away from their lives. We were all just trying to get by, so we shared what we could.
I probably wouldn’t have met mug guy, if not for the mug, and he was a delight. I say that as someone who grew up in a pretty insular, toxic, pay-your-own-way sort of family. Mug guy showed me it’s okay to ask for what you need and some people genuinely want to help you.