Is it normal to feel stupid after what happened to me?
PLEASE READ
I'll try to make this as short as possible, but it'll be hard. It's not a boring story though, so hopefully you won't mind.
I was at a store the other day and there wasn't too many people there and this woman came up to me on the verge of tears. She looked really serious and upset about something, so I instantly went into sympathetic mode.
She told me that she got a serious phone call that her son was in the hospital and she needed to go there as soon as possible. She then told me that there was a taxi waiting outside for her and she even pointed to the taxi which was parked, waiting outside the building. She said "I wouldn't usually do this, but I'm $8.00 short for the taxi. I would greatly, greatly appreciate it if you'd lend it to me." I was hesitant in giving in to her request, but I decided to just go ahead and give her the money. She then asked me for my phone number so that she could call me and let me know when she would be nearby to meet me here and give me back the $8.00, so I went ahead and gave her my cell. She then proceeded out of the store, walked over to the taxi, stood very, very close to it and even spoke to the taxi driver for about 20 seconds, but then...she walked away quicker and quicker until she was a mere dot in the distance. This is when I realized she was most definitely a con artist. 5 minutes after she left, a couple got into the taxi, so it obviously wasn't for her.
Was it wrong of me to have given her the money? Would you have felt obligated to give it to her or would you have just walked away? The look in her eyes was just so very serious and upsetting to me that I honestly couldn't hold myself from giving her the money. I was thinking maybe I should just pretend I have no cash with me..but I was too caught up in the moment that I didn't say it. Plus, if she was serious, I didn't want to be mean to her.
What are your thoughts on this? Am I stupid? I definitely feel stupid about this entire incident, but then part of me keeps saying, "the story was so good and seemed legit with the taxi out there and everything."
---------------------------------
OTHER DETAILS:
I told a friend of mine and they think it's very possible that she walked over to the taxi station which was an 8 minute walk away, but then, why did she point to that taxi?
The hospital she was referring to was about an hour walk away maybe even more and there are no side walks half way to that hospital.
The woman also said she'd leave her license with me to prove that she would come back and she reached into her pocket almost like she was going to give it to me. I reached for money in my bag and she never mentioned the license after that, so I don't know what that was about? What if I had asked for it? What would she do? Give it to me? I doubt she even had one, so I didn't understand that.
Plus, how did she know the taxi would still be there while she was talking to me? She talked to me for a good 4-5 minutes!