Have you ever seen a stranger and wondered if he's okay now?

Once I was shopping with my mother, and there was a man working in the store, about twenty years old, who asked my mother if he has to become a bad person because everyone else was bad. He asked her if he has to resort to deceiving others to survive, and much more.
This kind of interaction with a stranger may seem weird, but i live in a very social society where this kind of behavior is considered normal. However, that man seemed very desperate and needed someone to tell him no in a way that would convince him, and I think he did not find my mother's answer convincing.