The Saitama Story

Sorry for repeating this again, but I have been in the process of moving houses for the past few weeks. Yes, I moved into the house but it takes time getting stuff for the house. Especially when you are trying to save up and buy cheap.
Today was one of those days again. I found a big sofa for the house. So I decided to sell the one that I had gotten before. That sofa was nice but not too big. I had gotten it because I needed something at that time. But now that I had gotten a better one, I decided to get rid of this. I posted it on Facebook and immediately this lady wanted to buy it. We negotiated the price and she decided she would come and pick it up.
After sunset, I am waiting for this person to come and get the sofa when she texts me that she can’t take it by herself. She needs delivery. I told her it will cost her more and she agreed. So I had to change all my plans and just go and deliver this sofa. It was an hour's drive but she was paying a lot more than I expected, so I went out to deliver.
I was driving to Saitama. A city I had never driven to. Luckily it was night time and the road was clear. It took more than an hour to reach. I text the person that I am close by and she tells me where to wait. As soon as I reach the spot, I see her smoking a cigarette. She dumps the cigarette and approaches the car. I expect her to guide me to the front of her house. But to my surprise, she comes and opens the front door, and jumps in. What is going on? I was bamboozled and I couldn’t react at that particular moment. She gets in and tells me that the house is actually a few minutes from here. She is taking the sofa for her sister and we need to drive there.
As soon as she says this, I get suspicious. It’s late at night, I had driven all the way out to Saitama. I know Japan is a safe country, but I need to be careful. So I stay on alert. I notice that she hadn’t even put on her seat belt. I was too zoned out for her to put the belt on.
She guides me to the house but she realizes that she doesn’t remember. She keeps on telling me that she just moved to Saitama three days ago. So we stop and she sends me her sister’s address on my phone. I put it on maps and navigate to the spot. It is in a dark narrow alley and at this point, I am on full alert. I stop the car. I get out. I help her take the sofa upstairs. They had no elevators and we had to walk it in.
As we approach the front door, I decide to not go in. I tell them to take it inside while I wait by the door. They take it in and then the lady comes out. She tells me if I can drop her off to the spot where I picked her from. I didn’t want to do it, but as I said earlier, the logical part of my brain zoned out. I just decided to go with the flow.
She gets into the car again. No seat belt again. She has this container full of hot food with her. I put the previous address on maps and start navigating. I am following the maps but she is trying to give her own instructions. I then tell her that I know the way. She stops saying anything. Then she tells me the food in the container is actually for me.
At that moment I remember what I was taught as a kid. Never take food from strangers. I ask her what it is, she says that it’s a Phillipino food made with chicken. My logical part of the brain starts working again and I say that I am vegetarian and I don’t eat chicken. Thank God she believed me and she took the food with her. I dropped her by the road and drove away.
Here’s the bottom line, she had no ill intentions. It was late at night, and I was suspicious. She also wasn’t polite enough to ask me about getting in my car. That was a red flag. So I got suspicious. I also don’t know why she offered me the food. That also might have been a gesture of gratitude. Who knows. If you are reading this lady, just be polite next time.