Early last week a viral video about what a homeless man does with $100 began making the rounds. It’s premise is simple: give a homeless guy $100, follow him around, then wait for him to buy some heroin and justify all our preconceived notions about how all homeless people are cracked-out drug addicts who deserve to live in cardboard boxes next to a dumpster behind Wendy’s.
Except…he didn’t do that. Homeless man, “Thomas,” instead went out and bought food for others. How thoughtful! My only issue here is who the fuck would accept random loaves of bread from a scruffy lookin’ hobo man, but I guess I’m more discerning than most when it comes to who’s giving me random edible handouts. Since being uploaded, the video has been watched nearly 30 million times and a donation page created by the video’s creator, Josh Paler Lin, has raised over $130,000 to help Thomas “get a fresh start.”
It’d all be a very touching story, except for the fact that it’s all a big fat steaming load of bullshit. “Wait, what? Really? I’m shocked!” said no one ever.
According to KCBS-TV, Kevin Nickel is the brother to supposed homeless man Thomas, except in this case “homeless” means “rich as balls and not actually homeless and Thomas what the fuck are you doing.”
Thomas’ brother, Kevin Nickel, reached out to CBS2.
“This isn’t right,” he said.
“In a surprising twist,” Butler reported, “he says his brother’s real name is Kenny Nickel. He said his brother is an alcoholic and lived with their parents until both died last summer…”
His brother also says Kenny is actually not broke. He is due $150,000 from his parents’ estate.
“He’s sitting on money,” Kevin said, not sure if his brother is even aware of the Indiegogo money being collected on his behalf. “But this is a scam. This money needs to go to people who really need it.”
Kevin fears his brother is being manipulated and that if he does get the money he uses it to get help.
Not only that, but an eyewitness who was present while the video was being filmed stated that instead of following “Thomas” around, they drove him to the liquor store and that he “definitely saw Thomas in Lin’s vehicle during set-ups.”
So in case you hadn’t realized it at this point in your life, here’s a hot tip: Everything on the Internet is a load of lies. Your life is a lie. Youtube is a lie. Facebook is an elaborate facade to make everyone’s lives look interesting where in fact everyone’s lives are just as boring as yours. The Matrix is everywhere, all around us, and everyone is perfectly happy bee-boppin’ around in their little world of lies.