"My Own Little World"

Have you heard the Matthew West song "My Own Little World"? There is a lyric from the song that goes:

Stopped at a red light, looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign, said “Help this homeless widow”
And just above that sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?”
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
Oh how many times have I just passed her by?
So I gave her some money then I drove on through
And my own little world reached
Population two

I'm curious how you handle those situations? I normally drive by and offer a smile, but nothing else. It's hard to trust people in today's society, especially once you hear all of the stories about how much money people make panhandling. There are quite a few people in Springfield who sit on the sidewalk holding their signs.

Today when I pulled into Winco there was a woman sitting with her dog, holding a sign similar to the picture above. When I pulled into the parking lot I couldn't get her out of my mind and for a brief second I thought of giving her my Starbucks gift card with what was left on it (it was a gift for my birthday) but then I didn't know if she would really appreciate it or not. Once, Greg offered to buy a homeless man a sandwich from Subway and the guy freaked out on him and was rude, so I wanted to be careful not to offend.

Well of course, once I get into Winco I completely forget about the lady. I hadn't eaten lunch yet and wanted to pick up a fresh bagel to eat on my way home. I decided to get two because they are really good and I figured I would have it for breakfast in the morning. When I drove out of the parking lot I saw the woman again and would be driving right past her. I quickly removed a bagel for myself and handed her the bag with the other one. She was so nice and said, "Oh sweetie, thank you! God bless."

I'm not trying to brag about my good deed but more question what is the "right" thing to do in those situations? I can't necessarily give food or money to every person I see waiting on the side of the road, but do I just drive by without a care in the world? I also start to think about the future, when I (God willing) have my children in the car with me and they wonder why I don't stop to help any of those people? I've heard some people keep a container of granola bars and bottled water in their car for those instances and let their kids hand them out if they happen to pass by someone in need. I'm curious as to other people's thoughts/opinions on the matter?