If you spend enough time on the road, eventually someone will approach you at a gas station looking for money. They're out of gas, see, and out of money, and they just need to make it to Omaha, or Albuquerque, or wherever, and they're really embarrassed to have to ask, but.
As with any situation like this, you feel bad, but you're not quite sure how to assess it. Is he being honest? Is he just looking for drug money? You can't know for sure. My preference is to assume people are generally honest. When you're far from home, where you don't know anyone, and you need help, that can be very unpleasant. And frankly there is something to be said for the possibility that you'll encourage more of the same.
Earlier, I was at a truckstop in Las Vegas, doing laundry, when a man approached me with the money-for-gas story. He seemed okay, so I gave him five dollars, along with my usual speech, used on all of the half dozen or so occasions this has come up: “I have just one thing to ask in return. When you're out on the road, if you run into someone else who needs it, pass it on.” I think the kids call this “paying it forward.” The speech usually has a visible effect, and they promise to do just that.
Perhaps half an hour later I was at an Albertson's grocery store picking up supplies. They don't have Albertson's where I'm from, so I don't have one of those “loyalty” discount cards. You're in so many strange grocery stores when traveling that it never seems worth the hassle just to save a few cents here and there. Apparently Albertson's has much better discounts than the usual, though.
When I told the cashier I didn't have a card, the woman behind me in line offered up hers. The savings: five dollars. Funny how that works out.
Recent Comments