What do you do when people ask for gas money?

[toys]

Originally Posted by dmontngrey

you could simply ask the cashier to put $10 on pump #X for the guy. You'd find out quickly if he really did need gas!

That's what I always do. Nine times out of ten, the person gets p.o.'ed and storms off when I make the offer. I find I get these type of requests most often when I am at a gas station that is adjacent to a liquor store.

I do the same thing with food requests. They ask for a few bucks to buy some food and I offer to walk with them to the nearest fast food / convenience store / restaurant. And the ratio is the same, nine times out of ten, they rush away muttering something incoherently negative.

However, that one time out of ten, the one time they do really need it... it feels good to share, to know you're doing something useful. Even the hardest working people can simply be 'down on their luck' sometimes.