A Good Deed Wasted?

Originally I wanted to blog about how I believed there was a reason for my missing my bus stop but after much thinking and discussion, I think I may have been cheated $10 by someone who has been making up stories in attempts to collect cash from (Asian?) people in a hurry to get somewhere.

While I was riding the bus to get to the nearest skytrain station, I got distracted (by texting =/) and missed my stop. Angry at myself for not paying attention, I quickly got off at the next stop and walked across the street. As I walked down the hill, a truck drove up and stopped a few metres ahead of me and the driver inside began waving his hands to catch my attention. Warily I walked by and looked inside the car when the man inside urgently asked if I could help him. In his long story short of a story, he explained that he had just gotten a phone call about his daughter who was in serious car accident in Chilliwack, that he had spent 40 minutes at the bank and that he didn't have enough gas to get there. I asked him how much he needed and he said $14 but he'd appreciate any amount I could give him. He then commented that his wife worked at Windermere Secondary and he could take down my phone number so she could pay me back. I gave him $10 and passed on his offer of returning the favor. After taking the cash he said he appreciated it and that anytime I needed help, I should ask for Kenny.

When I got on the train, the great feeling of helping someone in need began fading away. During the class break, I told Jen about this incident and she told me that something very similar happened to her a year ago also in the area. I then began wondering why he didn't have cash on him if he had just come from the bank, why he couldn't drive to Windermere to ask his wife for money (we were less than 5 minutes away), why didn't he have a credit card (?), and why he knew the exact amount of money he needed ($14) for gas. The man had told Jen that there was an accident in Chilliwack, that he needed to get his car, and included the part that his wife was working at Windermere. I don't know if I really got cheated and I'd like to think that I didn't but please be careful when targeted by people asking for money. If I hadn't been in a rush to get to school, perhaps I could've processed the information more thoroughly and would've suggested alternative solutions? Thank goodness I didn't have more than $10 in my wallet... I think I would've given him more =/ Sometimes I am still so naive that it makes me both sad and angry.