One very cold and windy day while unloading my groceries from the grocery cart to my car, I noticed this person approaching me carrying a small gas can.  She started to talk as she approached me – keeping a little bit of a distance which helped me to feel safe – and asked if I had any little amount of money to spare for her to purchase some gas to get home.  I was skeptical, especially when she continued to list a gazillion disasters that were happening in her life at that moment, but still felt that a couple of dollars would not hurt me and could benefit her cause a little bit.  I don’t know if she actually did purchase gas with the money I gave to her (though she did start walking in the direction of the nearest gas station), but if not, she will have to live with her own guilty conscience.  Afterward, I thought of other possibilities of how I could have handled this situation better (like going to the gas station and paying to fill up her gas can directly instead of giving her the cash).  Oh well, maybe I’ll be thinking more clearly next time.  Until then, I pray that she was blessed and can look for a way to pass that on to someone in the future.