She sighed and adjusted the heavy backpack in an attempt to alleviate her shoulder pain. After a few more steps, she stopped and dropped it onto the ground. She shifted her handbag to her other shoulder before stretching her sore muscles. She hated aging and the accompanying infirmities.
A young man approached and hesitantly asked, “Can I help you, ma’am?”
She studied him and decided for trust instead of suspicion. “That would be wonderful. If you could–“
He snatched the purse from her shoulder, almost knocking her down, and raced off shouting, “Thanks for the satchel.”
“That’s what I get. Young kids, no respect.” She rubbed her neck and shoulders as best she could before leaning down and unzipping the backpack. After ensuring the contents were intact, she pulled out another decoy handbag. She tossed it over her shoulder, pulled on the backpack, and continued on her way.
Perfect!
That would be the way to handle someone like that. I can even see her turning this more deviously, possibly by having some kind of time triggered device (or remote triggered), that creates a stink or a stain, that she could turn off/defuse if the helper truly helped…
That would have been a good twist!