Your story reminded me of an incident I experienced a few years ago. I did grubhub in the evenings and would often hit a 7/11 on my way home for smokes. For context, this place was constantly busy with homeless people and bar-hoppers milling about outside, but they had never bothered me.

One night, a young man in mechanics coveralls approached as I was leaving and bummed a cigarette. As he was lighting it, he asked if I could give him a ride to the Walmart about a mile up the road because he was worn out from his long day. I declined, but he kept pushing. I finally told him I wouldn’t give rides to strangers without my husband along, and he backed off.

As I got into my car to leave, I noticed that this dude walked over to a car parked at the next business over, immediately hopped into the passenger seat and turned to talk to someone in the back. I couldn’t clearly see through their tinted windows to count heads, but I think there were at least 2 other people in the car. I high-tailed it out of there and took the long way home. I suspect it was a setup for a carjacking at best.

Always listen to your gut instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

Edit: redundancy