Ok so here is the scenario-
I work at my local mall and I got out of work last night at about 9:30. I was walking to my car in the main parking lot in which a couple other co-workers were walking to there car too (the point is it wasn't deserted). I hear "Ma'am! Ma'am! Can you help me?" being shouted at me across the parking lot. There was a woman who looked extremely concerned and was clearly upset. My first instinct was to turn around and see what the problem was, as I did. As soon as I did this woman, who was not familiar with the mall could not find her car. She had gone out a different exit than she entered so she was all turned around. I wanted to give her a ride to her car but I opted for just giving her directions instead. I saw that she made it safely to her car, so all was good.
So here was my dilemma-
Was I right to not give this woman a ride? I say this because I think I watch too many crime dramas and I feel that they have definitely affected my decisions in life. I watched an episode of Criminal Minds where a man asked a woman to help him find his "lost" daughter; he deceived her and ended up murdering her. I am a very trusting person and am open to helping those in need but these shows have made me doubting my judgement. From watching these shows and knowing what is on the news, am I naive to trust people I don't know? Or is it sad that the world has come to the fact that we can't take anyone's word for truth? I think it is a little bit of both- I need to work on not trusting everyone that I come across and the media and the world has caused people not to trust ANYONE. These are just my thoughts, anyone else have an opinion ?
Its funny that you mention this. The same thing happened to my brother and his girlfriend about 20yrs ago. They were looking for their car outside of the mall and thought it was stollen. After the cops arrived they figured out that it was actually just on the other side of the mall and my brother had come out another door.
ReplyDeleteI find myself having the same dilema as you do. I am reluctant to help people unless it is in broad daylight and there are lots of people around. At night, I stay to myself and am always looking around and over my shoulder. I make it a habbit however to never help anyone I dont know if I am alone with my children. It is crazy how the media makes us thing about things. However to me the difference is that when watching something fictional, I know that it isnt real so that isnt what has the biggest impact on me. The issue I have is that I am more terrified from watching the news than anything else, and everything on there is real.