you're a good egg

I ran farther than I have in a while today. While I was running, some kid followed me on a bike for a little while repeating the phrase, "It's faster to ride a bike!" Except it was really "biiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiike!"

I stopped at the grocery store today. Some old man on a mobilty scooter flagged me down while I was in the frozen food section. He needed help getting some frozen dinners off the shelf because he couldn't stand up. I picked up what he asked for for a minute or two and started to walk away. He called out for me again and asked if I'd get some more for him.

I immediately recalled a psychology book I read in college called Influence. It was all about methods people use to get people to do things that they wouldn't ordinarily do. It was an entertaining read and I'll be damned if it hasn't come up once a month since I read it. Anyway, one of the sections in the book was about entrapment: mentally submitting by reason of only taking one more step. And then another. And another. So I got this guy some more frozen dinners ("No, not those. Over. Next shelf. Up. Yeah. Two of those. And two more of the next ones over.") and when I tried to walk away again he wanted more. I declined this time. I would have felt bad if I weren't sure he would have had me do all his shopping for him if he could.

Does that make me an asshole because I only volunteer so much? It started to feel like I was being taken advantage of after a few minutes. Maybe he didn't have anyone else to help him in his life. But I know for a fact that there are services that can help the elderly with that sort of thing. I felt conflicted -- he wasn't a jerk about it, he just kept wanting more. It would have been easier were he rude. I hope he got his shopping done.