Alice, G10, RDF International School

It was a Sunday morning. I got off the bus and rushed to my tutoring school. A man with a tired expression, came up to me with a bag, and whispered: “Could you please give me a hand? I just came to the city and I have lost my wallet with all my money. I need 20 yuan to buy a ticket to find my friend and he will help me out of this bad situation.”

This scene reminded me of recent news: Some bad guy disguised himself as a person in trouble to take advantage of others’ sympathy to make money. After a few seconds of hesitation, I decided to refuse him. He left with disappointment. I continued to walk towards the book store and kept wondering if I had misjudged him. But soon I went to the store and bought a cup of milk tea. The fragrant smell of the milk tea drove away all my worries.

The retribution came sooner than expected. That afternoon, when I reached the Metro station and checked in with my cell phone, I found it had run out of battery. As this was the first time I faced this situation, I was totally at a loss. Perhaps my helpless and worried look caught the attention of a woman nearby. She came to me and asked if I needed help. At that time, I regarded her as my savior, and told her my difficulties. Without any hesitation, she comforted me gently: “Don’t worry, let me buy you a ticket.” “Really?” “Yes, it is natural for us to help each other, and I believe you would help me if I were in your situation.” “Yes, of course, I would,” I said. But for some reason, there was a note of uncertainty in my tone.

These two incidents inspired me to think about this question: Shall we keep a malicious attitude towards people in need? Today, many people are reluctant to assist those in need because of the impact of various negative news. When faced with such a predicament, rather than refusing to help others, we should learn to dialectically judge and carefully handle these situations, and help others while securing our safety.