One of the things that I have learned in the past twenty years is that people rarely help others to help them.

• They want to control them
• They want to feed their own ego
• They believe that it will turn their own lives into some kind of Cinderella fairytale
• They want to look good to others (and be praised)
• They think it (finally) gives them the right to lecture them or verbally abuse them
• They aim to demand something back
• They crave power

The woman at the supermarket who quickly hands you or the cashier a fiver when you are short, she’s genuine. When someone in a similar situation (or who has been there) helps you, that too is usually genuine. Most others aren’t.