Don't you just simply hate it when...

Hello oasis.I admired you for doing that. It simply proves that there is still someone who is ready to help a complete total stranger. And I like what you said about putting yourself in someone else's shoe.
I have been in the same situation before. I was in the bank when a girl approach me and asked me to borrow because she wanted to drop a message. Well, since I run out of load that time, I told her that I have no prepaid balance anymore so sorry. But me personally, I do not trust strangers. I still have doubts whether to let her have my phone or not.But well it depends upon how the person approach me.

I see no problem is saying no, even if inside me I would have say yes ..

I like to help others, but I also like to help as I can, which often is not how they want/ask.
Let's take your example with the mobile. I always say no. No, mean I will not give you my phone, but if you want, I will write the sms and send it .. and not because the mobile value but because of principles.

You see, any stituation like this, when a complete stranger ask for a favour, there is a way to do it without jeoperdize your goods ..

And also sometimes is a better option to refuse or ignore the ask ..

Wow a stranger asking to borrow your phone, in my country cell phones is a private possession and you don't share it with anyone just like your underwear, and if someone ask to borrows it it's almost certain that he's/she's going to steal your phone. But in your case i'd say reject it, tell them to use the public phone what's the problem right.

Oh that is risky oasis_9. But I admire your kindness. I don't really talk to strangers especially now a day... There are syndicates who will pretend and ask for help and then will do something bad to you when you fall from their stories. That is scary... I prepare to say no and make excuses if that happens to me. Sorry...

But you are really good!!!

I don't hate it since I had been in those two situations. There was a time when I was seating in the front row of the bus and this girl just asked me if she could borrow my phone becuase her phone's battery is dead and she needed to text someone that she will meet. In our country there are a lot of thieves so I was thinking that maybe this is her ploy to get my phone out. So what I did was ask her to dictate her message and I will type it on my phone and send it to the number she needs to text. She did not want this set up and after that she just went down the bus. Perhaps she really is trying to steal my phone.

In another instance I was waiting for a friend at McDonald's unfortunaley my load balance ran out and there is no convenience store in sight where I can buy a load balance (since my phone uses prepaid loads). What I did was ask the girl beside me if she could type my message for my friend. She agreed to do so and my friend and I finally met. I offered to pay the girl for the text message but she refused.

I have also been in this situation where I was approached by a guy at a Walmart parking lot, asking to borrow my phone to call his girlfriend. I wanted to help, but looking at the guy I did not want to. He looked more like running off with my cellphone. So, I just said no, and walked away.
Normally I would have said yes. And I hate to say it but, I may have judged him by the way he looked.

yes of course i hate it....like if i put myself in your situation, a nice person, do something good to others, of being nice person i trust person that i dnt know especially if ask favor in me but all in my mind was just i can help....then they just take advantage my being nice.......i was been experiencing lots of nice things i do but they just take advantage in me, even used me...just cant help being nice maybe coz thats my way.....but it hurts much too so i learned to do limitations...like person can trust me but i will nah full my trust to the person especially if i feel something different...i should limit myself to the person especially i just meet..!

Hi oasis, it is a bit difficult since we can hardly trust anyone these days. So far, I have never encountered such a situation although I have given it a thought before. Just to be safe, I would tell the stranger to allow me to type the text message for him/her. If she or he is really "in need" or "desperate" he.she would agree to that arrangement. If not, then I just won't help. I have the right to protect my own property.

well sometimes, but it still depends on the favor that stranger is asking me, like for example, in your regarding a stranger borrowing your cellphone, I won't let hi/her touch my phone specially it's a well known modus operandi specially here in our place, he is likely to run a way my phone but I can still help him buy telling him/her that I'll just be the one who will send the message and just ask him/her the number and the message he wants to send. If he/she still insist that she'll just be the one to do it, then something is really fishy. In some cases, I was able to help lots of strangers like asking for directions, I even accompany them personally specially if those who asked me are older people, sometime those who ask assistance on things they carry etc.