A charitable act, rationally justified.

A man aggressively honked me down while I was walking home. I stopped, while he fumbled with the button to wind the window down on the passenger side. (It's always interesting how drivers know exactly where everything is except for stuff that affects the passengers' seats.)

I thought he wanted directions, but he surprised me by wanting to borrow ten dollars for petrol. Apparently, he hadn't any cash and he didn't have any cards, but he needed to go to Kranji and his tank is really busted. After a bit of interrogation (What is your number? What is your name? What is your company? How often do you come here? When can I get my money back?), I eventually lent him the moolah. Why I decided to do it was partly because I figured that it'd buy me some good karma. I'll treat it as a contribution to society, y'know, as redemption for all the bad things I've done. Also, he's one of those early thirties reformed bengs. He had crappy yellow-greyish overexposed teeth because of gum erosion - which I assume is from excessive smoking - a pockmarked complexion and a chunky metal chain bracelet around his small but sinewy wrist. His car was... a black one. God, I'm so bad with cars, please don't ask me to identify models. But the seats were black leather and the display panel had funky red backlights. If I were forced to make a guess, it might have been a Mitsubitshi Colt and the only reason why I know of the existence of this car is because I looked it up recently.

A digression: my mum has been talking about getting me a car, or more specifically, a Nissan March. She kept emphasising how it's a very "lady car" but she regrets that she doesn't fit the profile of a Nissan March driver, whereas I would. My own thoughts? As of now, I'm not very keen on driving. If I were to get a car, it'd be purely a status symbol and nothing much else. The Nissan March is so excruciatingly girly. I would prefer a car that is sleek, elegant, powerful, understatedly showy, and something that I can emerge out of wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and killer stilettos. Just out of curiosity, I did this quiz: Which Sports Car Are You?

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Hmmm. Sounds exactly like what I want. Okay, awesome. I took another test just to be sure.

You are a Ferrari Enzo. You are quick, slick and ever-so-cool. Your ostentatious showiness may put some people off, but your friends know you're the real deal. [quiz]

Okay good. Exactly the kind of thing I want to hear.

Going back, I somehow trust that he would have a strong enough sense of indebtitude to return the money. It's part of the beng spirit, isn't it? I'll have to take it on faith that he is one of those lao jiao bengs that has a stronger sense of integrity than most. If he doesn't, I'll console myself with the aforementioned reason of purchased karma. Then again, he just doesn't look like the sort that regularly scams innocent people. Gut feel, I guess. Plus the fact that he drives and is not one of those annoying aunties who prey on Shop & Save shoppers, asking them for the discount coupons. Then AGAIN, I would never know, would I?

He claimed that his car ran out of petrol because his mother went to JB and didn't top up the tank. I can fully empathise with negligent mothers, so that was one more point for him. I thought about whether the entire incident was fabricated as a seriously convoluted way of hitting on me, but I quickly dismissed the thought because while plausible, is too entirely ridiculous.

Or I could also perceive it as blogging material. Ten dollars for an interesting experience, why not?