BEGGING THE QUESTION

That Shearer characterized a homeless person as a stereotypical drunk staggering out of a bar and passing out in the street (a “guy . . . acting out a drama of sloppy helplessness that most of us left behind in late toddlerhood”) was especially discouraging. If handing out nickels and dimes to L.A.’s street people has made Shearer and others of the middle class (those whose main worry, according to Shearer, is buying a second VCR) so mean-spirited, then perhaps passing the buck will heal not only the wounds in their wallets but also their antisocial ennui.

I’ve never thought for one second that the quarter I gave to a little old lady paid her chauffeured limousine bill nor that my last dollar I gave to a man whose rags covered up a bad case of psoriasis was all he needed to buy a bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse.

JOAN JOBE SMITH Long Beach