I'm stranded... Gimmie free stuff

[taxguykarl]

Sounds like one scammer who hangs around the tax office. She is a friend of SM, so banning her is not an option. Well a week or so ago she was trying to bum some gas money off me--never mind that she just bought a large meal from the carryout place around the corner for at least enough for a couple gallons. Needless to say, I turned her down.

[EvilEmpryss]

Hubby (now a psychologist) wants to put on a suit and stand on a street corner with a sign that says "Grad Student/Need $$$ For/Student Loans/Anything Will Help/God Bless"--because here in the South if you don't have "God Bless" then you're not sincerely humble enough to deserve squat.

We're wondering how fast he could pay off his student loans that way.

As for the "I need gas money" scam, heck, I might need to try that myself. With the price of gas nowadays, I'll happily accept someone giving me a few gallons instead of a few bucks! /tongue-in-cheek

[Jester]

There are people who piss me off, and people who genuinely need help.

First the former: I was coming out of a convenience store one day, and I had a twelve pack of beer I had bought to bring over to the place of a girl I was dating at the time. Outside said convenience store were a couple of twentysomethings, both perfectly able-bodied, both looking kinda grubby. The kind of kids I call street rats: they're perfectly capable of working, but have chosen not to. I have zero sympathy for these people.

RAT #1: "Hey man, can I have one of those beers?"
ME: "No."
RAT #1: "Why not?"
ME: "Because they're MINE."

And gave the little shit a look that said, "Hey, if you want some beer, do what I did, and go get a job and earn some money to buy yourself some damn beer."

And now the latter: I was driving through the South, probably in Tennessee or Georgia, and saw a shabby looking man hitchhiking. I pulled over, asked where he was heading. He was trying to get to his kid's place, I think in Savannah, and he'd appreciate my getting him anywhere near there. As I was not heading there, but was heading in that direction, I him to hop on in, and I'd get him closer.

The dude reeked. Honestly, he stank. And as it was rainy, I couldn't really roll down my windows. But he was nice enough, and without saying it, seemed aware of his deplorable condition, and the effect it must have been having on me, though I didn't mention it. This humble and humbled man offered to do work for me, work on my truck, clean my truck, do landscaping, whatever. He was not looking for a handout or any cash, and clearly felt bad about even accepting a free ride. I told him I didn't need any work done, but thanked him for the offer. He didn't seem happy with that, and kept trying to offer his services for, well, whatever. Finally I told him, "Look, if you really want to do something for me, here's the deal. I helped you out today, and I had no problem doing so. One day in the future, you may run into someone who needs help themselves. You want to pay me back for today, help that future person out. Pay it forward, my friend, and consider whatever debt you think you owe me paid." He thought about it for a bit, nodded, and said that seemed fair. And we rode the next however many miles mostly in silence.

There are a lot of scammers out there. I have no pity or time for them. But there are people who are down on their luck and need help, sometimes from a stranger.

Fuck the scammers.

For the others, pay it forward, kids.

[Sapphire Silk]

I had a guy pull up in his car and tell me he'd left is wallet at his father in law's house, and needed money for gas.

It was quite a long and involved story. http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...highlight=scam

[Teskeria]

There is a woman in Boston who works the streets around Harvard. She dresses for work in nasty dirty clothes and ensures she looks homeless. She makes about a hundred grand a year (the newspapers did a report on some of the 'panhandlers' in Boston one year) and pays her taxes properly.
If you do it right, in the right place, it can be more than a living.

[Kagato]

Slightly related, a little off topic, but this reminds me of an anecdote I heard from a fellow university student that was conducting an experiment for an assignment.

Basically they dressed up in fairly old clothing so they had the look of a homeless person and sat out on the street with a sign, but the sign quite clearly read "I am NOT a homeless person, I am conducting a university experiment to see how many people actually pay attention to signs and how many simply make presumptions from first visual impressions - if you read this sign, please say hi to me! (Money given will be donated to <insert charity here>)" It's kind of surprising how many people didn't read the sign and just assumed he was another homeless bum - By the end of the day, he was able to make a $200 donation x_x (When I first heard about it, I was tempted to try out the experiment myself to see if I could duplicate the results he got, or whether it varied from area to area)

[raudf]

I was amazed the other day, because I saw a panhandler asking for... a tent and a sleeping bag. If I hadn't lived so far from town, I might have given him/her (I have no idea, long hair, looked female, but...) our two person tent that we weren't using, simply because she wasn't asking for money!

[thatcrazyredhead]

I guess I'm a little bit of a softie on this one. If I actually have any cash on me, which is rare, and the person asking doesn't scare me, I'll give them what I can. If they're fine and it's a scam, I'm out a few bucks at most. If they're actually in need and I don't help them, then I lose a piece of my humanity. Just my take on it.

[Sheldonrs]

...Similarly, I see many panhandlers with crude signs saying they haven't eat in days, etc. I recently started helping out at a nearby foodbank/kitchen, and was (slightly) surprised to learn this city has over a DOZEN soup kitchens in the downtown area, and not one of them turns someone away empty-handed, or empty-stomached.

This reminds me of an old joke:

Panhandler approaches a well-dressed woman and tells her, "I haven't eaten in three days." The woman replies, "Force yourself, dear." and walks on.

[infinitemonkies]

I've commented before about seeing the same panhandler every day for a year with a sign that says he's stranded, need money for a bus ticket - OOO! just thought of something, my brother does graphic design, I should get him a really nice professional made sign with lights and music

Anyway, My father had this experience a couple days after new years: He was filling up at a gas station, when a young man approached him with a polite and earnest yet sob story: stranded, heartbroken, blah blah blah, 4 bucks short for bus ticket to city 6 hours away.
As it happened, my father was heading there that day, he offered the young man a lift; And got punched in the face for his offer of charity.
(He wasn't hurt, just surprised. Gas station got in on video, cops called, report given, never heard anything come of it.)

Similarly, I see many panhandlers with crude signs saying they haven't eat in days, etc. I recently started helping out at a nearby foodbank/kitchen, and was (slightly) surprised to learn this city has over a DOZEN soup kitchens in the downtown area, and not one of them turns someone away empty-handed, or empty-stomached.

[Shyla]

There was a guy on NJ Transit train a week ago begging for money to get to the farthest destination for that train. I didn't give him money but I was impressed. He never offered a reason and kept his voice sincere sounding and not too loud. You actually sound less like a liar if you don't embellish. I bet someone fell for it.

[drjonah]

I had to make a late night trip to Walgreens for cough medicine. Outside was a guy asking for money for the bus. I told him I didn't have any money, but what I do have is some passes that are just as good if that's all he needed. Funny, I still don't know why he'd turn down that generous offer.

Sounds like a former friend of mine who kept trying to hit me up for cash. When she tried whining that she just started her period (of course she conveniently forgot she pulled the same story with me just SEVEN days ago). She whined that she needed cash because she was bleeding all over the place. I tried telling her I had no money but I would gladly give her a ride to the pharmacy to get her some products. NOPE, had to be cash, cold hard cash, nothing else would be accepted.

She tried telling me that she was too embarrassed to go anywhere because she was bleeding but then proceeded to beg me for a ride to someone else's house so THEY could give her cash. Uh huh sure, nice try

[Mr Hero]

I had to make a late night trip to Walgreens for cough medicine. Outside was a guy asking for money for the bus. I told him I didn't have any money, but what I do have is some passes that are just as good if that's all he needed. Funny, I still don't know why he'd turn down that generous offer.

[mathnerd]

So I'm currently chilling in a random city hundreds of miles away from anybody I know. I have minor car trouble. There's vapor lock in the radiator...I was okay nursing it through the cold night air, but wasn't willing to do the kind of climbing I need to do to get to my destination in the warmer daytime air until the engine has a chance to completely cool and I can confirm that's all that's wrong with the car. The only thing I asked the hotel desk clerk? Did he mind if I parked my car in the parking lot and walked somewhere with the kids and the dogs until check in time? Even though it was only 7:30AM, super amazing and awesome desk clerk found an open room and checked us in, and even made sure we had breakfast, even though that's technically for last night's guests (I was planning on walking to McDonalds). He even gave me a little bit of a break on the rate, which I didn't ask for, but hey, ten bucks is ten bucks. I'll take it if it's offered. I can't imagine asking for anything other than "what's the best rate you have?".

[Pagan]

There was a guy hitting up all and sundry for 75 cents over a ABQ Uptown when I was over there a while back. His story was that he was out of gas and just needed it to get to a gas station. Wasn't aware the cars can run on change. Oh, and he had and was using a cell phone....