Sadly, "don't let people try to help you" is good general big city advice.

Fun story ... I lived in Chicago for eight years before moving back to Portland in 2005 (long before we met). Before I moved back to Portland, I took a train to visit, bringing my wife (then, girlfriend) with me to meet my family. This was, maybe, 2001ish?

Anyway, for context, at the time there were signs at Chicago O'Hare airport warning people that the official taxi pickup zone was located [wherever it happened to be located, this was 20 years ago, I can't remember] and that if anyone offers you a ride OUTSIDE that area, you should IMMEDIATELY turn them down, because it's a scam. Again, having lived there for years, I had internalized this skepticism. It was the only way to go about your business on a daily basis.

[I know said train earlier, but we flew from Chicago to Seattle, then took a train to Portland from Seattle. Long story, irrelevant for my point.]

So by the time my lady and I arrived at Portland's Union Station, I was super confused and defensive when a guy started walking up to us asking if we needed help getting where we were going. I had stopped in front of a display of Trimet bus pamphlets and I was trying to figure out which ones I needed to get where we were planning to go (this was, of course, before smartphones made this process much easier and simpler).

This is a brief reenactment of what my conversation with this dude was like.

--

"Hey, can I help you guys figure out where you're going?"

"HEY BACK UP OFF ME, SON I DON'T KNOW YOU LIKE THAT."

"Oh... okay, sure. I just thought since you were looking at the Tri-Met pamplets--"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP. If I need information, I can just call the Tri-Met number."

"Okay sure, but--"

"What, like you WORK here or something?! Dude, seriously..."

"Uh, yeah."

"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT--wait, what?"

"I work for the Port of Portland. It's my job to stand here and give people helpful information about where they need to go."

He shows me his ID badge, with the Port of Portland logo on it.

"Okay, dude, I'm ... sorry. I didn't realize you were like, an actual thing."

--

I had become so used to those kinds of scams that I literally did not believe him when he told me it was his job to be helpful.

Knowing what I know now, would I have still reacted that way back then?

HELL YES.

In any decent-sized city, there are enough assholes in residence to make it a wise proposition to be skeptical anytime someone offers their help.