Naïve?

So here I am blowing off the dust and cobwebs off my blog.

Story time. And its the best kind of story because you get to be judgmental at the end. Was I naive?

Gather round, kids.

So one fine day some time ago, I was at an LRT station, leaving it to be precise when I was approached by a young gentleman. He introduced himself and proceeded to tell me his story. He had just been released from prison, penjara Kajang, and needed money to go back to his hometown in Kedah where his parents were.

You're probably thinking, "Like whoa now, come on man. That is the most fake story to have ever faked". Well perhaps you're right. But I'm a sucker for when Harry Hardluck and Sally Sobstory comes along. And I'm just generally sympathetic when people ask for help.

Of course, I didn't just hand him money. I asked questions first like any good detective would. Wait, when was I ever a detective? So it turns out he was in KL for work and he got into a fight and was arrested as a result. Can you get arrested for fighting? Perhaps the charged crime is assault or disorderly conduct or some such.



I inquired as to why his parents don't just come and fetch him and he answered that his parents are old and unable.

I also asked him about his clothing choices. And what he was wearing were the clothes he was supposedly arrested in. This then confirms a thing I've wondered, that prisons hold your personal belongings including your clothes and return them to you on release. The prison doesn't give you a nice new set of clothes to wear when they let you go into  the free world.

Satisfied and also needing to hurry along, I pulled out my wallet to give him some money. I only had large denominations. Thankfully, at the LRT there were places I could get smaller change. So I purchased something.

Psst. Hey, sponsor me for more promos. 😉

I then gave him a fair amount of money and he thanked me, a lot. I wished him well and that he would manage to go home. As I was walking away I told him to stay out of jail from now on and he said he will.

So that's it right? Whether he was a conman or not, is between him and his Maker. All that matters is that I try to help people if and when I can. This is where the story should end. I was a good 30 metres away and I heard someone calling my name. Its that gentleman again running after me.

He said he didn't thank me enough and started fishing for something in his backpack. While he was doing that, I insisted that this was not required. He pulled out a glasses case and said he wanted me to have it. He said good glasses need a good case. I was confused for a moment and thanked him. I didn't need another case for glasses but it was still a kind gesture. So I bid him farewell again and went on my way.

My regret is that I didn't ask for his phone number or give him mine so I'll probably never know if he made it back to his hometown. I'd like to think that he did.

So what do you think? Did I scam myself?