In the airport, printing out my ticket a man approaches me and asks me if I speak Spanish. I answer yes. He seems relieved and expresses his gratitude for finally meeting someone who is kind. I look at him puzzled. He appeared very nervous, which made me very uncomfortable but for some reason I decide to listen to him. He explains that he needs money for him and his sister, because they have run out of fuel on their way to I don’t know where (I don’t remember). In tears he explains to me that they needed help, gives me his full name, nationality, and the name of his small town and address. Continuously reassures me that he is a good person and that he is not lying. Initially, I was sure this man was playing me, hello its an airport the perfect place to take advantage of people. But I looked at him and he was so panicked, nervous, and with tears in his eyes. I said to him that i'm very sorry but that I am about to leave and I have no idea how to help him. He said that he would just need some money for the fuel. I told him, while reaching for my wallet in my bag that I only had 10 Euros. I gave it to him, and he asked me how I could return it to him. I told him not to worry to just keep it.
Of course as I walked away I found the whole thing very amusing. Why did I give him the money so easily. I mean, at the beginning I was certain that I was being hassled but some how by the end I wanted to help him out. As I walked away I was puzzled between what I wanted to do then, and what I should have done. I felt sorry for the guy, there was no way I could have reassured that he was telling the truth, and I suppose I could have interrogated him a bit more. But he was so nervous so panicked, but then simultaneously it could have all been an act. But what if it wasn’t, what if he was in that situation and everyone is ignoring him because society believes in the corrupt nature of people. I think I gave him the money because even though I had no way of assuring that his story was true, I knew that if I was in a similar situation I would want someone to help me out. Someone to believe in the goodness of humanity. Is believing in that goodness naïve? Of course taking account the limitations. But I am not a rich person, however I had the impulse to help this guy out, and heck if it was all an act, now that I think about it it was quite good and deserves the 10 euros. But thats not the point, the point is even if right now I feel slightly humiliated because of the high possibility that I was hassled , I don’t know how I would have felt if I would have just ignored him and told him to leave me alone. What if he was stranded in the cold with no money and his sister was waiting for him. All of this links to something I learned in my first year at university. Some realists believe that the act of war is encrypted in human nature. However my professor highlighted that if we believe this, it will shape the way we will dictate our policies and our overall politics. Which in essence would be political behaviour that has renounced to the belief of the goodness of humanity. And that has stuck with me and perhaps has influenced my behaviour in many ways. I am aware that not everyone is good, nor that everyone has good intentions but I do believe that a large majority of people are good, and I will live by that belief.
