What's your first reaction when a stranger approaches you on the street? Do you avoid making eye-contact, or do you talk to them?

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That's where I found myself tonight as I was walking home from work in Waikiki. I got about a block away from the store, still on the main strip- hotels, restaurants, luxury stores, and tourists bustling in every direction when I got to the corner waiting for the walk signal. An older dark-skinned guy who looked to be in his 50's was also waiting for the same light.

"You look exhausted, must've been working hard today;" he said glancing in my direction. -And without missing a beat I responded with a smile-

"Hardly working," we both laughed. I gave my normal reply, and where I thought the exchange would end, I was instead greeted by an interesting situation. The stranger continued on by asking me...

"Are you from here?" The light changed, but I wasn't walking.

"I sure am, what's up?" Still wearing my aloha shirt, khaki's, and apron I find myself being asked all kinds of questions by tourists heading to and from work all the time. Is there something about my face, that makes me look like I somehow know an answer?

"I'm kinda lost..." He said as he pulled out a pamphlet glossed map, the kind of map that is a staple to have if you are on vacation. As he unfolded it, I made a quick observation of an address, and it's corresponding bus number to get there written nicely on a post-it note on its inside. "I'm on vacation, and I'm trying to get to where I'm staying. I've just been on a plane for 12 hours from Ohio, and I'm trying to walk here." Where this man was going was 25 miles from where we were standing. I let out a chuckle, and let him know in case he wasn't already aware, he wasn't going to be able to walk there.

He Told Me A Story/ Or Maybe a Con Game

This is where things went to the next level. His story was that he was on his second vacation here, and landed earlier today, but when he was leaving the airport to catch a bus he was told that he couldn't take his two suitcases on with him. So instead of paying the outrageous cab fees (from the airport specifically), someone he met at the airport offered him a ride into town. He decided to take his carry-on, but all of his important docs (and money were in his checked luggage).

Because he isn't from here, he thought that the place he was staying would be in this area, but then he found out from asking other people, that he was actually driven in the opposite direction. So now he is stuck in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but his phone, and he's completely screwed.

Waikiki Is Con-Artist City

This is rather close to a typical story that would happen any night of the week in Waikiki, Hawaii. Someone's car broke down and they need gas. A person lost their passport and can't get home. A guy needs a couple of bucks to catch a bus. This happens so frequently, that all locals are basically immune to anyone who asks for anything out here. At most, a tourist might help...or get scammed. Stip clubs, bars, scalpers, panhandlers, entertainers, promoters- You name it, we have a homeless person on every block asking for a dollar.

I Sketched Out A Complete Stranger

I looked in my wallet, and only had two dollars, the bus prices have been raising a lot since last year. I could have given him that and wished him luck on getting the rest. I'm not too sure what compelled me, whether it is that I actually recognized the area, with the correct bus route knowing that it would cost him over $5 to get there. Maybe it was because nobody else would just give him the rest thinking it was a con... Or, because I've actually been in this situation before. I decided to take him on a short adventure to get him $20 from an ATM. He didn't eat since before his flight, maybe he could grab something small after he got there.

He started to freak out that someone he's never met, was so willing to help him out of a bad situation. Like he couldn't wrap his mind around it. Maybe, I'm a bigger sucker than I thought. He continued to tell me random things while we walked there. He had won a $5k shopping spree, and if we could exchange numbers, he would pay me back- and more for being such a kind girl. I've thought I've heard it all before, but nothing this ridiculous. I assured him, that he didn't have to pay me back at all and that I just wanted his day to go better than it has been.

I've Been That Stranger Before

For every so many people out there scamming others, there are honest people out there that sometimes have bad luck. I've been there personally. Lost in different states on the mainland, at times having to hitchhike, or just completely stranded with no money because I got off the wrong stop from the train. These things can and do happen, and they are easily scary experiences. Every time, someone has helped me- So maybe today, I get to be the one that helps someone else.

The whole time he was telling me about his last trip here, and how today he was shocked to not have to figure it all out by himself. Making jokes that he wouldn't be surprised to see anyone he talked to clenching their purse if he spoke to them. He talked about his family, and his two daughters, how he helped build the Nordstrom building that faces Ala Moana Shopping center. He wanted to point out that he was wearing a designer watch, gator shoes... And when I actually looked at him, he had a hat, and aloha shirt on. Very clean, but that didn't matter.

When we got the proper change and got outside, his bus came rolling up, and he ran after it. He turned around and shouted at me;

"What's your name?!"

"Sheryl!"

"My name is James!..."

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"-Take down my number!"

He proceeded to repeat it twice with the area code, said to text it so that he could get a hold of me. He got on the bus, and as quickly as this all started, he was gone. I spent the rest of my walk home, wondering what exactly happened. Even if it was a scam, he told me a really good story, making it all worth it.

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A part of me believes that it wasn't though.

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