Excuse me, can I have a ride, and your car and wallet?
Would you give a lift to a total stranger?
I thought that I was the type that would, until today. It was after lunch. My colleague left his car for me to use for 2 weeks, since he went home to India for a holiday. I was getting into the car, about to leave for KL on an errant for the company when suddenly.
A middle aged man approached me, asking me where I was going. He was wearing regular office wear, with a headset stuck to his ear, and a working bag sling around his shoulders. My first instincts were that he was asking for directions.
Instead he asked me where I was going. I was dumbstruck for a moment. “Pardon me?” I asked. He said his car was in the workshop until Monday, and wanted to thumb a lift. I asked him where he was headed to, and instead, he asked me where I was headed to again. He said he would go wherever I was going. Upon hearing that, an alarm went of in my head. There was a red light flashing in my head and in a split second I replied “Perhaps you should take a taxi. I don’t give rides to strangers.” At that he said, “Its ok then” and turned away and murmured, “I am not going to con you.” It happen so fast I didn’t really have time to think until it was over.
Getting into the car I wondered to myself; Did I just do the right thing by turning away a potential danger, whom despite appearances, could well be keeping a knife in his bag, waiting to point it at me once we are on the road… Or… did I just turn away an honest old man just trying to get a lift?
It troubled me for quite some time. It felt going against my nature to be cold and unkind to someone else. I thought it through. There were 2 things that put me off. First was the fact the he refused to tell me where he was going. Usually, when you want to ask someone for a favour, you come clean and stay honest, and hope that this person will help you in your plight. Instead, he demanded to know where I was going, without first revealing where he wanted to go. ‘I will go wherever your direction is.” That didn’t sound like someone with a proper destination. Secondly, he looked like a working person, with office attire, bag etc, why would he need to hitch a ride from someone? Why can’t he just take any one of the taxies around? It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford one. This was no holiday hitch hiker, and we weren’t in the middle of the desert in Nevada. This was right at the town centre, with an abundance of taxies around. I cannot imagine a normal person preferring to ask for a ride from a stranger than to just catch a cab.
I guess the combination of those things set off an alarm in my head and though I did not put these pieces together yet, my instincts told me something smelt fishy, and it was coming from this man. Better to turn this man down and be labeled a selfish jerk, and be safe, then to stay naïve and overly kind, bring this man into my car and risk robbery or whatever. So I have either been a really bad Samaritan, or have I wisely averted from a potential dangerous situation.
I’m still not sure which one was it.
