Originally Posted by
delux68
let me revise my statement. i would only feel comfortable eating at a soup kitchen if i could also help out and volunteer for the night.
i would like to also say that if a person is riding across, and all around the country, it will take months and that person is basically homeless and jobless. i think soup kitchens are set up for feeding homeless/jobless people regardless of whether they are riding through on a bike or not.
I have to agree with those who feel that eating in soup kitchens while on tour is ethically wrong. Bicycle touring is always a voluntary action, by definition, thus rendering the state of being "unemployed and homeless" intentional. Whether you could help out or not, the fact that you are fed may mean that there is nothing for someone who has not intentionally rendered him/herself in need of food/shelter.
Short and sweet:
taking advantage of something "because it's there" isn't the ethically correct thing.