[J_is_my_initial]

Last week we were at Big Lots and dh was approached by a man saying there was a couple stranded who needed gas money and he was asking for donations to help them. Dh gave him a couple of bucks. I just shook my head at him.
Tonight we headed to walmart and stopped at an ice cream shop as a splurge. I got my sundae and went to the car while dh paid. A woman came up to me and said that she lost her debit card and needed money to get gas to get home to the next county over. She was driving a nice big suv. I told her sorry i had just lost my job (true) and could not help. Felt guilty saying this as there i was coming out of an ice cream parlor with sundae. She said no problem and drove off. I could not help to think there would have been someone she could have called for help.

Are people doing this more often than they used to? It has gotten to the point that there have been times when dh has told me to stay close to him in parking lots cause people come up to us for handouts. I feel guilty not helping if they really need help, but how do you know they do?