Sorry dude, I'm in no position to help.

Yesterday I had to make one last trip to Shippensburg, Pa, about a 30 minute drive, for a job I'd been working on.  I only needed a few minutes so I opted to bring the kids with me.  As I was getting off the highway I noticed an older man across the road.  He motioned for me to stop.  So I waited, with hesitancy.  This wasn't your ordinary older man.  He had on his pj's, a robe and a colonoscopy bag.  Or it was some type of tube coming from under his shirt that was slightly poo colored.  

He moved really well as he crossed the street.  The only reason I stopped was that I knew there was a nursing home about half mile down the street.  Maybe he escaped.  It only took a sentence for him to reveal he hadn't.  He said he lived at the hotel and had no fridge or microwave.  Said he had a friend coming to help him but he was hungry.  HA!  Easy fix. I told him about ketosis and that he wouldn't need to eat as much.  That he could go days without food and it wouldn't be an issue.  

Just kidding.  I didn't say that.  But ketosis is pretty awesome.  I simply told him he should go to where his friend was meeting him and wait for help.  I was met with a whiny..."But she won't give me no money."

So the truth comes out.  That's what he was after.  Money.  Well, I had a lunch box with three cheesesticks and blueberries for my kids that I thought for a moment I would relinquish.  But I didn't have any money, I had forgotten my wallet (didn't realize this till I was running on E).  

I told the man I was in no position to help him and I was sorry.  And drove away.  

Typically I would second guess my decision to do so.  But today...oh well.  I can't help.  Nothing I could have done would have helped that man.  Maybe carried him through another couple hours, but no real help.  

As an aside, I looked up "Beggars" on google for an image.  I was dismayed when I stumbled across hundreds of images of children from impoverished nations.  These kids are anything but "beggars".  

Why do I share this story?  I have no grand thought, no grand lesson.  Just a story.  What are your thoughts?   Anybody have an experience of stopping to help someone that went well?  Anything you learned?