Today I was standing at the bus stop when a car stopped in front of me. I thought the driver needed directions and wanted to help him out, but instead he asked me whether he should take me with him as he was going in the same direction of the bus.
I politely declined and waited for the bus. Is anybody else suspicious about people offering their help, when they aren’t previously asked for assistance? What a weird encounter…
There’s some sort of weird carpool thing in DC. People line up at bus stops and cars come and take them to specified places, like the Pentagon, so they can ride in the “more than one person in the car” lane.
But if you’re not in DC, I’d be very leery. I wouldn’t have gotten in his car.
No, I am not in DC. The thing is, the way the guy looked, I probably could have beaten him up, even though I never was in a fight so far. So I don’t think he was much of a threat.
Probably he was just being nice, but still, I don’t really see the advantage of shaving off a few minutes of my ride (there’s a bus every 15 minutes and I was at the stop about 5 minutes before the next bus was due) by accepting something I never even asked for.
That happened to me once, when I had just moved to Iowa. I was walking home from the grocery store with a heavy shopping bag in either hand, and a woman pulled over and asked me if I’d like a ride. Being a suspicious urban type, I said no, but I think it was just that midwestern friendliness thing.
A man offering a ride, esp. to a woman – nope, not a good idea. (I look back now on how much I hitchhiked when I was in my early 20s and thank Og that nothing untoward ever happened to me.)
When I was in Oak Ridge, TN, I was walking home from the grocery store [with bags] and was offered a ride by a woman. I was, however, about 2 minutes from my apartment, and so thanked her and went on my way.
The only other time this has happened to me, it was a friend’s mom while I was walking to work. She is the sort who doesn’t take no for an answer… so I got a ride. But she’s not a stranger, so it doesn’t really count.