'AITA for walking out on a beggar woman after agreeing to buy her groceries?'
"AITA for agreeing to help a woman beggar at the grocery store and then bailing on her?"
Illustrious_Job1458 says:
I was going into my local grocery store to get a few things, and a woman outside stopped me and asked if I would get something for her kids. I prefer to buy something from a store rather than give out money because I know exactly what it is being used for (not drugs or alcohol), so I agreed. She insisted on coming into the store with me.
We go in, and she bee-lines it to the laundry aisle and picks out the most expensive detergent (around $30 to $40). She tells me she needs to wash her daughter’s clothes. I reluctantly agreed and started walking her towards the checkout.
Then she starts saying she hasn’t washed her hair and picks out a shampoo, soap, and conditioner. Not the grocery store brand either that is fairly cheap, but the name brand stuff. It seemed like she was intentionally picking out the most expensive items in the aisle.
I get in line, and she joins me with like 7 or 8 things now in her arms, probably adding up to $80 to $100. I froze for a minute, not knowing what to do. It was a long line that day, so I had a few minutes to process.
Finally, I just told her I was sorry and walked out with her standing in line holding the items. I walked a few streets over to a smaller grocery store and got everything I needed.
My gut tells me she was trying to rip me off, but I also felt awful thinking about the look on her face as I turned to leave and how embarrassing it must have been for her to be standing in line after that or putting the items back.
The money was not insignificant, but it would not have been missed from my account. I would have liked to have done something nice for someone, but the whole experience felt off, and now I am worried I did the exact opposite of a good deed and left someone hanging. AITA?
Here are the top rated comments
IamIrene says:
NTA. This is a common scam. She was going to return the items for cash after you left.
The_SugarPlum_Fairy says:
NTA, you were getting played from the start. She said it was for her kids, so you think she's got starving kids, then she buys the most expensive brands of stuff for herself.
organ1cwa5te says:
Your initial reaction was to try to help her, along the way you got a gut feeling that things were off, and usually your gut is right. NTA.
Beccag367 says:
I mean it sounds like she was taking advantage of your generosity, and if it’s not in the budget it’s not in the budget.