Americans seem so self-assured + insular that we seem to be taught that if we dare go over the edge of the Earth and travel abroad that we should guard everything with life and limb except crime is far lower in most other countries in America. And in fact, the person offering to give you directions is not trying to hassle you, quite the opposite. The universe perceives your unspoken need for help and as in mutual benefit Confucian societies it is their obligation now to help even a stranger, and you thought she was trying to pick your pocket, for shame.