oomis: I’m unsure what you are responding to. As I noted, I think a man should offer to help a woman struggling with a burden, or struggling with an overloaded donkey. “
Sorry – I thought I was pretty clear. It was REALLY nice of you to offer to help her, nothing wrong at ALL and in fact the Torah mandates helping someone with a burden (azov taazov imo, no?)to lift up someone’s animal who has fallen down. Certainly a woman with a stroller and small children would be more in need than a donkey (or at least as much).
I think she was foolish to refuse your help (unless she thought you looked a little skeevy, in which case, she was being prudent). But if she was refusing your help out of what I believe is a misguided uber sense of tznius, then she was wrong IMO. She cut her nose off to spite her face, and I don’t think it is quite as meritorious on her part, as you make it out to be. Mountain, meet molehill.