My sister gave me a $50 gift for christmas, and it brought tears to my eyes because she's a single mother making the federal minimum wage of $7.15/hr. That comes out to $290/wk, before taxes, if she's lucky and gets a full week's worth of hours. To earn that pittance, she is physically laboring and might have to work 7 days a week to get enough hours in the schedule.
It makes me feel like a douche every time I think about it. Me sitting there in my Aeron chair, eating free snacks while reading code. And making ~10x what she does. When I really think about it, from similar beginnings, only a relatively small number of key decisions separate our two economic outcomes.
I try to give generously to assuage my guilt. But I've found that there are limits to what can be given without stirring resentment, or provoking attempts at reciprocity. That's how this $50 gift came about... I bought some nice stuff for her kid, and she wanted to show her gratitude.