I can somewhat relate to OP in this post. Not because I can't eat (because I'm not as ill-prepared for being broke as Theo) but I can relate in terms of not having any money come the end of the month, or at least having so little that in order to eat you'd have to have spent your last dime on stocking food you can prep and eat for the last days before payday. I've lived poor most my life, and so I've learnt how to eat without having any money in the bank. It's a hard thing to tackle, and often extremely depressing, but if you don't eat you die, and I don't want to die just yet, so I eat. Now in relation to your post; I've struggled a lot, been though periods I'm not happy about, but never once did it ever cross my mind to ask for free money because I'm not a nigger and I will always have some kind of income at some point, income earned through work. If you can't eat, asking for gibs isn't really an option because the gibs come a month, maybe even two months later, and that's after you've gone through all the self-pitying paperwork and through all the nigger-centralized channels to get them. Theo is probably just kind of depressed right now. He can't afford to buy his favorite burger and chips because it would seriously dent his account. But chances are if he has internet and half a brain (which I'm assuming he does) he can and will eventually eat, even if it requires him to steal, but at the end of the day a man's gotta eat.