Foiling Attempts at Service

[Carborendum]

I was teaching my son to drive in an empty parking lot.  A lady came up to us and asked for help.  The holiday weekend made for a perfect chance to spend a lot of time trying to help people and I thought it would be great to help someone in need.

She told us that her truck had run out of gas.  She had a gas can, but she couldn't walk all the way to the gas station.

My reaction was: "Great, we'll go to your truck and we can take you and the can to the nearest station."

Her: "No, I wasn't asking for a ride.  I just need help with paying for the gas."
Me: Sure, no problem, I can certainly fill up the can for you.
Her: Thank you so much. Just a couple of dollars will probably do it.
Me: Ok, get in and we'll go to the truck to pick up the can.
Her: No I don't need a ride.  I just need some help.

At this point any other person would have gotten the fact that she just made up the story to get some quick cash off of an easy mark.  But I was still thinking that she didn't understand that I was willing to drive to the station with the can and fill up the can on my credit card.  So I tried several times to explain that to her.  She didn't really understand that.  But she understood that I was going to give her a ride... somehow.

She eventually got in and she had trouble telling me where her truck was.  She said it was south.  Then she said it was west.  Then she said it was north.  She had a call on her cell phone from her "uncle".  She had a "conversation" where she learned that her uncle already had a full can of gas.  He was on his way to the truck to fill it up.

Then her story changed since I was driving her to the truck.  Now I needed to drive her to her uncle's house to pick up the can.  When we got there, she asked for cash again to pay the uncle for the gas.

I told her that I didn't have any cash.  I was going to take her to the station and fill it up on my credit card. 

Then she added to the story: Two gallons of gas (the size of the can) wouldn't be enough to get her where she is going.  I said that I could fill the entire truck the help her getting where she needed to go.

She went in to "talk to her uncle".  He refused to give her the can without money. So, she first heard that he was already on the way to her truck with it.  Now he can't let her have the can without cash.

I told her that I could still take her to the truck and get it filled up.  She decided it wasn't worth it.  Instead, she asked if I could take her to some people selling food on the roadside.  She was going to beg some food from them.

All this time, she "had a little daughter waiting alone at the truck."  I guess she forgot about her.

The thing that really disappointed me was not just that she was trying to pull one over on me.  It was that I was really excited to help someone in need.  And she just wasted my time.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Carborendum

[Backroads]

While part of me always enjoys a good scam story, it is disappointing when you really are all geared up to help someone.

I've been trying to get rid of baby gear as my daughter grows. I'm in a local needs group, where people post what they need/offer. A gal said she could use quite a few items. She reported she was staying in a motel that had been set aside for the homeless with her boyfriend, young infant, service dog. She was also pregnant again, wouldn't you know. She clearly was in need, especially as she said she couldn't even sign up for WIC due to not having kids after someone suggested that. The place was a ways a way, so it was taking me a couple of days to scrape out the time to drive down there. But before I could head down, she asked in the group for diapers. All the diaper sizes, just in case. Yes, but what size did her baby currently need? She had no idea. Another woman, who apparently had tried to help her, just called her out for just wanting to resell stuff and the gal was booted from the group.

But not all is lost. I've been in minor need a couple of times where someone has whipped out their card on my behalf, and I've always appreciated it. And it's a lot of fun to pay it forward.