What would Jesus do?

[Paddy]

Feel a tad bad about this...

Supermarket Petrol pumps @ 22:00 - no night cashier so pay at pump only
Was happily filling up when a people carrier pulled up on opposite side of pump full of black people
Driver approached me saying he didn't have a card that would work the pumps, so could he give me cash and use my card to dispense fuel to get him home

I replied it was a company card and they monitor fuel use (blatant lie) so therefore couldn't take the cash as it would cost me my job which he seemed a bit taken aback by but accepted and moved on to another

I started to feel bad about this as I have been caught in the past in a similar situation in France - without fuel late on a Sunday & in the days before our cards had chip n Pin which meant I couldn't dispense fuel, but was saved by a French man who took cash for sufficient fuel for us to reach the next 24hour services

Obviously the colour of the occupants was a factor (which it shouldn't be) and my thoughts were how could I check at that time that the cash offered was not counterfeit as part of a scam, but if a white family had asked the same question and they appeared chavvy I would have declined as well

What would others have done in this situation?

Jesus would have got a bucket of water and turned it into fuel

[kal]

I'd agree with this. You can generally tell if someone's distressed.

+1

I once had a lady (40ish, smartly dressed) approach me in a service station on the M6, seemed quite distressed and trying not to cry. Story was that she had left home to pick up her daughter and stopped off to get some fuel and use the services. It was then that she realised that she didn't have her purse or phone on her and wasn't able to carry on. She has asked a few people to loan her some money but been brushed off. She seemed genuine to me so I asked her how much fuel she needed to get home. About £20, so I gave her the money. She asked me for my address to post the cash back but I told her to just donate the £20 to a charity when she got back. The way I see it she was either genuine in which case I did the right thing or she was lying in which case I'm £20 down but would rather risk that happening than failing to help someone in genuine need

[VectraMan]

Jesus would have got a bucket of water and turned it into fuel

Ah, the lesser known fuelling of the 5000 miracle.

[Troll]

+1

I once had a lady (40ish, smartly dressed) approach me in a service station on the M6, seemed quite distressed and trying not to cry. Story was that she had left home to pick up her daughter and stopped off to get some fuel and use the services. It was then that she realised that she didn't have her purse or phone on her and wasn't able to carry on. She has asked a few people to loan her some money but been brushed off. She seemed genuine to me so I asked her how much fuel she needed to get home. About £20, so I gave her the money. She asked me for my address to post the cash back but I told her to just donate the £20 to a charity when she got back. The way I see it she was either genuine in which case I did the right thing or she was lying in which case I'm £20 down but would rather risk that happening than failing to help someone in genuine need

I had an absolute stunner approach me outside Bromley train station with a kid in tow...asked me for the price of a ticket home so her husband wouldn't beat her up for being late!
I suggested we go to the ticket booth where I would buy her and sprog a ticket which she declined wanting the cash instead...cheeky fooker was a pikey on the scrounge.. stunning looks though

[MarillionFan]

I would have asked how far they were trying to get, then put that amount of fuel in their tank and paid for it myself. As a random act of kindness.

I would have taken the cash & used my own credit card. Then later report it to the police and say I had been the victim of a mugging at the petrol station were I was forced to help them fill up the car under threat of violence. They would have been arrested and as a white man I would have been believed, thus forcing the car of black occupants to be arrested, beaten in the cells, jailed and then deported. I would have been up on the deal and the re-inforcement of racial stereotypes & police injustice would all still be intact. Win, win, win.

[Spacecadet]

I had an absolute stunner approach me outside Bromley train station with a kid in tow...asked me for the price of a ticket home so her husband wouldn't beat her up for being late!
I suggested we go to the ticket booth where I would buy her and sprog a ticket which she declined wanting the cash instead...cheeky fooker was a pikey on the scrounge.. stunning looks though

Should have offered her £50 for a quickie

[NotAllThere]

I would have taken the cash & used my own credit card. Then later report it to the police and say I had been the victim of a mugging at the petrol station were I was forced to help them fill up the car under threat of violence. They would have been arrested and as a white man I would have been believed, thus forcing the car of black occupants to be arrested, beaten in the cells, jailed and then deported. I would have been up on the deal and the re-inforcement of racial stereotypes & police injustice would all still be intact. Win, win, win.

Surely they'd just have fallen down the stairs, thereby not incurring the expense of an actual trial, deportation etc.

[d000hg]

In retrospect I wish I'd have let them have £20 worth - enough to get to a manned station (and a cash amount I could have lost)

£5 should be plenty!

[vetran]

I would have taken the cash & used my own credit card. Then later report it to the police and say I had been the victim of a mugging at the petrol station were I was forced to help them fill up the car under threat of violence. They would have been arrested and as a white man I would have been believed, thus forcing the car of black occupants to be arrested, beaten in the cells, jailed and then deported. I would have been up on the deal and the re-inforcement of racial stereotypes & police injustice would all still be intact. Win, win, win.

or they could just accuse you of calling them the N word and you would be pestered by the Police for the next 6 months.

[AtW]

Jesus would have been using fully electric car like Tesla and therefore never get into such situation.