i thought i was doing my good deed of the day

well, I THOUGHT WRONG

i was at the corner of asylum and prospect (the very same corner i found mambo sven wandering around at) at about 2:30 ish am this morning. stopped at the light, smoking a butt listening to npr. i hear something and turn to my leftt. it's a young woman, short hair, glasses with a backpack. she asked me for a ride. #1) there is NO room in my car for anyone but the driver. i'm not exaggerating not one little bit. there is NO room front OR back OR even in the trunk. and #2) there is NO way (even if there WAS room in my car) i would give a stranger a ride at 2:30 am. i told her, no, i couldn't give her a ride and of course i pointed out there was NO place for her to sit. she started crying and told me she had just walked from the base of avon mountain (which is quite the haul in the middle of the night). her brakes went out (in avon) and her car was towed. she added the avon police were the ones who gave her a ride to the bottom of the mountain. well, i told her i'd give her some money to call a cab. i handed her $10.00. she didn't have a phone (no surprise there at this point). sooooooooo, i called a cab for her on my cell phone. i gave the location as the corner of prospect and asylum. the dispatcher said they MUST have a street address. they couldn't pick someone up at a corner. ok i said, i'd call right back. i told the young woman to walk down prospect a bit to the first house and i'd meet her there. i drove over, got the address of grace church (870 prospect) and called the cab company again. i gave them that address and told them the woman was going to broad street (oh, that's where she told me she lived). i backed my car up a bit (she hadn't quite made it to 870) and told her a cab would be there in 5 to 20 minutes. then I GAVE HER ANOTHER $5.00. i drove off into the darkness. picked my coffees up at dunkin' and came into work. no sooner than i sat down but my cell rang. it was a man asking if i was at the church. noooooooo i said (and i felt a chill). well he then asked if i was the woman he picked up. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i said. turns out he was a couple of blocks from the address she gave him (on broad) and the meter was at $8.00. she told him she only had $5.00!!!! so she gave him the 5, started to cry and got out. i told the man no. she had MORE than 5 (i didn't tell him i gave her 15). now i felt bad for him. i even entertained the though (i got it AFTER i hung up with him) of calling the cab company back and asking him to stop by and i'd GIVE HIM the rest of her fare (i didn't though). i told him i found her wandering around prospect, her telling me her car got towed, me giving her money and me calling her a cab. that's it, i didn't know her, i just felt badly for her. he mentioned something about calling the police (not on me of course, on her).