[I335]

I've done that twice at my local gas station over the past few years. One guy did look really needy but the other guy was well dressed and drove a nice car. He gave me some story about losing his wallet or having it stolen - I forget. He was pretty believable so I gave him $5 to get where he was going and he was very thankful & also told me he was very embarrassed. I, on the other hand, felt pretty good knowing that I helped someone out in a bind - who I never even met before.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

Sucker. Oldest scam in the books. She probably made $200 that day with that story.

They rely on your sympathy and humanity. And they steal from you. It's tough, because you always ask yourself "what if this one is telling the truth?". But they never are.

I often see the same thing walking to the office from the train in Chicago. I have offered to buy someone a sandwich before, only to be rebuffed and asked for money instead. I honestly feel badly for those who are hungry, but if you think I am gonna put money in your hand for booze, drugs, etc...no way.

Like the OP, I would have gone inside to the attendent and pre-paid for the mother's gas. At least then, you know that you are helping them out in the way that is acceptable to you--not furthering a drug addiction or something. And if someone is going to take advantage of good will in that way, well, karma can be a bitch.

Kudos to you my friend.

[Sam Da Man]

Yup its a scam,my dad has been hustled befor in my town by a man who stated he owned a mechanic shop and that his car broke down and he cannot perform any repairs and needs money to go back to his shop so he can get help and w.e...few days later my dad saw the same guy telling another person the same story 4 citys away. the dude does it for a living, hustle every day move to diff areas with the same story.....dont ever give money away if the person needs gas say ok wheres ur car ill fill it up for u, or hey you need food at this stop what do you want ill buy it...if you dont have time for that then done even try to help..

[STE92VE]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

Sucker. Oldest scam in the books. She probably made $200 that day with that story.

They rely on your sympathy and humanity. And they steal from you. It's tough, because you always ask yourself "what if this one is telling the truth?". But they never are.

After seeing the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" (which is a true story, btw), I am more sympathetic to those that are less fortunate. If I can help someone out by giving them a few $$$, it's not going to hurt me and might help them. All I ask for in return, is a receipt so I can deduct it as a charitable contribution.....

[e90fanatic]

Originally Posted by STE92VE

All I ask for in return, is a receipt so I can deduct it as a charitable contribution.....

watch out there...lol...last thing u want is an audit of your "donations"

[Potty_Pants]

Around 1am somewhere on Route 95 rest stop (from FL to NJ) raining & not too many lights, two kids in the back pregnant wife in the passenger seat and myself extremely tired....

A guy knocks on our kia suv window. I figured he was security asking us to move. He backed up from the window as to not intrude upon my space and make me feel unconfortable. He then stated he was just released from jail, trying to return home but he ran out of gas...

I gave him $10 and we left immediately. Normally I dont do this but under these circumstances, its not worth any problems over $10.

ppp

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by calvino

today I was on a Shell station pumping gas and a young mother (20-25 years old) with her baby ( 3 years old) was asking for money to put gas.

when she came to me she told me that she live on Halailah ( we were on Ft Lauderdale) and did not have any money left for gas.

I felt bad for the baby and since she was a young mother I help her with $10

the guy that was pumping gas next to me that refuse giving her money said "don't look at me like that you don't see me driving a BMW" I barely have enough money to fill up my tank ( he was driving an old pick up truck)


I told one of my friends and she told me "why did you give her money" is her fault for being irresponsible and not salving money for gas.

would you guys do the same, give gas money to a stranger ?

Happens frequently where I live, however what I do is actually go pump their gas. Many times these people (babies or not) have some sort of dependency issue and the $ is NOT going for gas.

[calvino]

Nice to know everyone point of view, thanks for the input, she did have her baby with her, she was carrying it, I also did not give her any cash I pump the $10. the car had hard time starting on so I guess she was really out of gas.

I don't really think is was a scam, if it was , well I belief in karma + $10 is not going to break my bank.

The fact that she was a young mother was the main reason why I did it. maybe is hard for her to have a kid, who knows.

[EDK99]

Originally Posted by calvino

Nice to know everyone point of view, thanks for the input, she did have her baby with her, she was carrying it, I also did not give her any cash I pump the $10. the car had hard time starting on so I guess she was really out of gas.

I don't really think is was a scam, if it was , well I belief in karma + $10 is not going to break my bank.

The fact that she was a young mother was the main reason why I did it. maybe is hard for her to have a kid, who knows.

In that case I agree if you actually put the gas in the car and probably would of done the same.

I too have seen this scam where you see a girl or even a guy saying they ran out of gas and my kids are in the car and need a few bucks for gas. I busted one girl as I saw her a week later asking me the same thing. I confronted her on it and she quickly walked away.

I 99.9% of the time don't give people a dime. Any money I do give away is through reputable charities.

[Gesler]

Originally Posted by calvino

today I was on a Shell station.....

would you guys do the same, give gas money to a stranger ?

I had something similar happen recently. I wasnt sure initially if i should give the money or not, but everyone else at the station was. the guy had a container and i filled up 2 gallons.

[nusevad]

Scam, she probably went to buy rocks with that 10 dollars.

But you have a good and warm heart.

[BlueLion]

i had this happen to me atleast three times twice in NJ once here in FL....when ever this happens I already know that is a good chance its a scam, but if I ever found myself in this situation I would hope to be helped out

[Raja Ventureshield]

Originally Posted by calvino

today I was on a Shell station pumping gas and a young mother (20-25 years old) with her baby ( 3 years old) was asking for money to put gas.

when she came to me she told me that she live on Halailah ( we were on Ft Lauderdale) and did not have any money left for gas.

I felt bad for the baby and since she was a young mother I help her with $10

the guy that was pumping gas next to me that refuse giving her money said "don't look at me like that you don't see me driving a BMW" I barely have enough money to fill up my tank ( he was driving an old pick up truck)


I told one of my friends and she told me "why did you give her money" is her fault for being irresponsible and not salving money for gas.

would you guys do the same, give gas money to a stranger ?

i would definately give money. I was in a similar situation when i was trying to help my brother-in-law sell his car. The guy interested in the car wanted to see the car in a location away from home. I met the guy and showed the car, then i was driving back home and the gas sign came on. i stopped and pumped 5$ worth of gas in the car only to realize that i had left my wallet at home. I went up to a person who was driving a Pathfinder and asked him if he could lend me 5$ and his address, so as soon as i got home i could get the money and comeback and repay him. He was kind and said no worries, it happens. I am always about helping someone. Maybe the person can decieve me but he/she can't decieve God. And he is watching us all.

Thanks for helping out. we need more people like u.

[E90SLAM]

That happened to me a few times at Shell....I ended up just gave him 5-10 bucks (usually I dun carry much cash as I just use my Shell Credit card...) to get him/her going.....
if they determined to use the money as other "purpose", let it be...that way they'll die faster.....

[E90SLAM]

And the thing is....what if he/she is really need your help???
What if something else horrible happened to that person because of being stranded in that place???
Are you be able to sleep well at night after saw the news about that person's tragic???
Its just that the world has changed to a very complicated place, where people in doubt in each other's intention. This is just sad...

[Couch]

It's a tough call in today's society. Really tough.

It's a 50/50 chance she was trying to scam you or actually needed help.

Probably 6 or 7 years ago my dad was backed into in a parking lot. The girl was a single mom, and she immediately hopped out and was crying and freaking out. My dad could tell she really didn't have much. She wanted to do what she could to pay, but didn't want to contact her insurance company because she couldn't afford an increase in her rate. And she really couldn't afford to pay to fix my dads vehicle.

My dad, being the very caring guy he is, took her insurance info down. He then wrote out a payment plan for her. He wanted her to pay, but he also wanted to help her out. So as long as she paid "x" amount per month he wouldn't call them.

She wound up paying it off after and received a thank you from her for working something out for her. Luckily for him though, she had a good heart and conscience and wanted to be held responsible for her action.

Not everyone is out there to scam you, but I've heard enough stories from friends that make me never trust anyone.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by Couch

It's a tough call in today's society. Really tough.

It's a 50/50 chance she was trying to scam you or actually needed help.

Probably 6 or 7 years ago my dad was backed into in a parking lot. The girl was a single mom, and she immediately hopped out and was crying and freaking out. My dad could tell she really didn't have much. She wanted to do what she could to pay, but didn't want to contact her insurance company because she couldn't afford an increase in her rate. And she really couldn't afford to pay to fix my dads vehicle.

My dad, being the very caring guy he is, took her insurance info down. He then wrote out a payment plan for her. He wanted her to pay, but he also wanted to help her out. So as long as she paid "x" amount per month he wouldn't call them.

She wound up paying it off after and received a thank you from her for working something out for her. Luckily for him though, she had a good heart and conscience and wanted to be held responsible for her action.

Not everyone is out there to scam you, but I've heard enough stories from friends that make me never trust anyone.

You making me cry...
I'm glad that there's still some people that are less fortune and still being responsible and just need a little help to stand up. I give them more respect than some spoiled kids...

[ubern00b]

The easy way to tell if they're scamming you or not is to just go in and pre-pay the pump they're on. if they throw a fit, they obviously wanted to scam you.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by ubern00b

The easy way to tell if they're scamming you or not is to just go in and pre-pay the pump they're on. if they throw a fit, they obviously wanted to scam you.

[purplewidow]

truthfully you gave her money that she is going to mismanage...i have a psych degree and we talked about situations like this all the time...NEVER GIVE MONEY TO BEGGARS!!!!! more than 9.9 times out of ten they are going to continue to mismanage there money and spend it on things they shouldn't be buying...what do you think got her in that place the first time...that being said she had a baby...i have seen bums with babies before esp in florida. there are plenty of churches and organizations that would have helped her and gotten her on the right track...since she has refused the correct way to go your left with the burden of helping her...sure it isn't the babies fault but your 10 bucks isn't going to save the baby...that babies life is already doomed by the environment her mother has provided for her....if i was you i wouldn't have done it...but i would have told her where to get help and report the plate to child services...since she probably doesn;t have a home for the child...she is ruining that babies life and your 10 bucks lets that go on a little longer until the baby dies or she gives it up...it is a sad situation...but true...if someone told me ""don't look at me i don't drive a bmw after i gave a lady 10 bucks...i would have smacked him in the face...then again why did you give him a look in the first place...b/c you were proud to help her..it made you feel good and clouded exactly what should not have happened...DON'T GIVE MONEY TO BUMS ESP ONES WITH CHILDREN...THERE ARE PLACES TO HELP THEM RUN BY THE STATE, CITY , COUNTY, FEDS, PRIVATE ORGANIZATION'S, CHURCHES!!!! THINK!!!!!
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[OneSick3]

What does it matter if she used it for gas or not, she lowered her self to ask someone for help, I wouldnt care if she was buying booze, Ive been blessed enough to be able to provide if asked. 10 bux would break any of on here.

[ubern00b]

Originally Posted by OneSick3

What does it matter if she used it for gas or not, she lowered her self to ask someone for help, I wouldnt care if she was buying booze, Ive been blessed enough to be able to provide if asked. 10 bux would break any of on here.

Good point. Honestly, it wouldn't matter to me as long as someone was up front about it. The only thing that bothers me is when people lie, or use their kid or something, to say they need money for gas or food, then use it on something else. Just tell me up front that you want to get boozed up, I'd at least respect them for having the balls to say it out loud.