That's tough. I think Alexa should have asked if she could give the coat to the man before she did it, but he definitely deserved it. If Alexa's family has enough money to have a car and a house, I'm sure Alexa had a coat previous to the shopping trip, even if it was a lower quality one, and she would definitely have it with her on the way to the store if winter is approaching, so she could have given the homeless man that?

Well, the homeless man really needed it so it was the right thing. It was probably the best thing that happened to him in a long time. But, her mom worked really hard to get her that coat. If she had maybe given away her old coat the man would have still gotten the same result.

My immediate thought was, of course she did the right thing! But as I thought about it more, I realized that her mom's feelings were valid. Alexa ought to have explained herself to her mother and thanked her for the coat first instead of merely tossing it away. However, even if after this her mother would still be angry, she still did the right thing. She was being selfless to someone who had less than she did.

Yes. 

P.S. Mei-xue, is it okay if I post another philosophical question in a similar style to this? I can give you credit for the inspiration, of course.

*in only, not I never (I was doing it on a different iPad)

Hmm.. My first thought is that she shouldn't have done it. Her mother could have spent money on something for herself, but instead, her mother gave Alexa a jacket. 

However, the man needed it more than them. And even if her mother at the moment is upset, perhaps later she will understand the kindness that went into the act.

I suppose my reasoning at the moment is that Alexa already did it, and there isn't anything she can do to change it. It's in the past, and if she lingers in that too much she will think about everything too much and just feel sad about the smallest of things. 

Alexa totally should have given the coat to the homeless man. If it goes under the catagory of 'treat' for her and under the category of 'neccessity' for the man, then he needs it more. I'm pretty sure her mother would eventually realize it was the right thing to do, at least I hope so.

Here's a philosophical dillema that happened to me last year in a science class-

You share a table with three other peers. There names are...let's see...Taylor, Shauna, and Kurt. Taylor and Shauna have started bullying Kurt, exchanging snyde comments and poking fun at him. In response, Kurt has been yelling a variety of insults in various languages back at them. Now, none of these people have anything against you: you sometimes help Taylor or Shauna with homework, and are often lab partners with Kurt. But Kurt is not an incredibly nice person in general; he is sarcastic to teachers and often quick to insult people he doesn't like. He seems to regard you as a friend, however, and you don't want to hurt his or anybody's feelings by choosing a side. In fact, all you want to do is vanish into the wall while they are arguing. Kurt asks you, "Aren't they annoying?" or "Don't you hate them?", while the others sometimes ask you similar things about Kurt. What do you do??

I think she did. I understand that her mom worked hard and spent a lot of money on her daughter, so she was obviously taken aback when her daughter, seemingly careless, threw away the expensive coat to a complete stranger. But, on the other hand, the man needed it more than they did. He had nothing, and they had something. Jesus says to take care of the poor, and if that means giving something, even something special, away, I think it's important. However, Alexa should explain this to her mom, and make her mom see the man's side, and understand why her daughter gave him something that her mom spent good time and money giving to her.  Another alternative is that Alexa could talk to her mom first, if the man wasn't going anywhere.