Had an odd encounter today. Picked up a few things at Home Depot. I was parked in the outer regions. Loading up the truck and I hear this lady on the other side talking to me. A heavyset, black lady...decently dressed and well spoken. I can't hear a thing she says. So I approach her car...carefully (I don't trust anyone). She sees I'm being careful and says, "I'm not a weirdo". I get to her window and she's crying. She's holding a credit card and said her ex (who lives nearby) punched her and she has her 8-month old baby in the back seat and needs to get back to Texas but doesn't have any money for gas and asked if I could give her some money and help her out because she was afraid. She said her credit card wasn't any good. I had lots of practice casing out people back in my undergrad days in Chicago where I encountered a lot of street bums. So I cased her using similar techniques (ask lots of questions, repeat them at different times, etc.). Where are you from, where are you going, why are you here, why can't your parents help you, has he hit you before (yes, he hits her frequently when she sees him), is the child his, blah, blah, blah. She answered all my questions crisply (between her tears) and never contradicted herself. I saw the welt on her arm where she said she got hit. I looked at her fuel gauge and it was barely above empty. I stared in her eyes and made sure she wasn't drunk or stoned. Her baby was crying in the back seat. It seemed legit but one never knows. If it was a con job then she did a good job. Basically, it boiled down to what I could live with. I couldn't live with myself knowing this desperate woman really needed help and I didn't do it...ESPECIALLY with a baby involved. I could live with myself if I found out she conned me (though I would be angry). So I gave her what cash I had in my wallet. Around $20 in 5's and 1's. And I almost NEVER have cash in my wallet. It was her lucky day. But before I gave it to her I was gonna get my two cents in. So I gave her a terse lecture about how that man was never gonna stop hitting her and she's being stupid for coming here. I was honest and told her I cared most about the security of her baby (which was true). I told her at least four times with stern voice, "GO HOME, AND NEVER COME BACK HERE"! I gave her the cash, held her hand and said good luck, godspeed...go home! She thanked me while still crying. I left but hung around a shopping center across the street to see what she would do. Sure enough, she went to the gas station and was putting gas in her car. $20 wont get her back to Texas but it will get her started. She said her parents were working to get her money for gas on her way home.
I know being hard on her isn't very nice but with a baby the last place anyone needs to be is with an abuser. Anywhere else has to be a better place. I know my terse lecture wont mean a hill of beans to her, but if by small chance it put any fear into her then it would have been worth it. At least for the baby's sake. I hope she is OK.
