My fellow blogger friend MARIAs post about not trusting people who are begging for something has made me watch obvious beggars more closely.
I’ve been sitting here in this walmart lot all day creating eBay listings for the stuff I bought at the “mega-pick” yesterday. I’ve done 70 so far. It’s tedious and boring work but what work isn’t tedious & boring right?
Being here for the 4+ hours has given me the chance to watch these young scammers work their scam.
It’s a real basic, unimginative and almost effortless scam too. Simply put up a cardboard sign that says “OUT OF GASOLINE” on your car and just sit there looking as down-trodden and desparate as possible. Bare feet seems to really helps garner extra sympathy.
I think the worst part of this scam (for the scammers) is dealing with the boredom. But, maybe they’re used to just sitting there for hours on end, doing nothing.
So, how do I know they’re not REALLY out of gas? Because, I heard them drive in late last night (early this AM/). They were outside of their car talking loudly near 3-4 RVs with people inside trying to sleep. Tigger started barking and woke me up. I'm sure everyone in all the nearby RVs were awaken (awoken?) by the rude car dwellers.
The annoying bums couldn’t possibly have run out of gas right where they decided to spend the night... could they? Read on...
The car drove in. It wasn't pushed or coasted.
I watch this nice guy in a somewhat beat up 1980’s pickup truck, pull up and point to the back of his truck. In the truck bed was a full 5 gallon can of gas which he GAVE to these scammers. He had gone to a gas stations with his own gas can and gotten the bums gasoline. How amazing is that? What a nice guy. The generous guy in the old truck didn’t look like he could really afford to be giving away $20 worth of gas... but he did.
I'm thinking... "Great, they got some gas... now they'll be on their way and stop creating a spectacle here".
Nope!
They stuck around begging for a good 2-3 more hours... claiming to still be out of gasoline.
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| Still out of gas? Yeah sure! |
It got to be like grand central station around their car. People were coming in from every angle to hand them money and other free things. Here's the pictures that got deleted from this post a few days ago.
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| This guy gave money. You can see a bill in the bums hand. |
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| 2 cars stopping at the same time |
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| the woman on the right gave groceries and money. The one on the left, just money. |
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| FREE GROCERIES, GAS & MONEY?! ISN'T AMERICA GREAT! |
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| You can see the bag of poop falling off the rear tire... where they put it hours earlier. There ARE numerous trash cans in walmart parking lots. |
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| This is the thanks walmart gets for graciously allowing them to panhandle in their parking lot for a full day. A bag of dog poop. |
Hey Don I bet they make more than you do!
ReplyDeleteThe bright side of this story is that most humans are generous by nature. I mean think about it... what was the ratio of scammers to helpful individuals today?
I think I'd have gone over there, engaged them in conversation and casually mentioned they have a pretty decent racquet going. I bet that would have moved them along pretty quick.
Though maybe not....
If I wasn't so busy here I would have gone over and said something. Having been somewhat of a victim myself... I felt a bit taken.
ReplyDeleteNot long ago I was sitting at the dukin donuts in Albany NY drinking my coffee when this girl walked up and asked for money. I said no and watched as she walked away.
She and her male friend sat outside the place and acosted almost everyone who walked in or out.
After I finished my coffee, I got out to throw the cup away. The trash bin happened to be near them. I told them that they were "what's wrong with America" as I walked away. I hope they thought long and hard about that and changed but... I doubt it.
You probably talked right over their heads.
ReplyDeleteStill, at least they were blatant about it.... not like most of our government officials.
Wow! It made me think of a young girl who stands at the road that goes in and out of Walmart with a sign. Nelson felt so bad he gave her $20 bucks. He had tears when he told me about her. So it does work. This was three months ago and she is still there! Makes you think doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteMom they prey on good folks like Nelson. They are shameless in their quest for easy money.
ReplyDeleteRather than give them anything, we should call the authorities and alert them to the beggars horrible plight. I'm sure if life is so incedibly bad they need to stand at a walmart with a sign, the government would be able to hekp them more thoroughly then our few dollars even would.
And why is it that they always choose walmart? Because it's the busiest place in town and the middle class people that shop there are more inclined to give. You don't see these beggars in front of goodwill or the salvation army where the low income shop. Or on rodeo drive where the uber rich shop.
Nelson would do well to go back to that girl (who is probably still there) and shame her into stopping what she's doing. It's just wrong playing on peoples sorrow and guilt like that. Or call child protective services to help her.
Hmmmm, It appears that the majorty of my post is gone. Poof... Disappeared. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteFor those still reading this post or who might read it in the future... after they dumped the 5 free gallons of gas into their car, they continued to display the "OUT OF GASOLINE" sign for another 2-3 hours. I watched numerous good samaritans (suckers?) give them money, bags of groceries and dog food. Eventually, they must have felt like they had everything they needed because they drove away... dropping the bag of their dogs poop in the parking lots as they left.
ReplyDeleteYou really should fully assess the situation before handing over your hard earned money to ANYONE. Don't let your emotions and your guilt get the better of you.