Drive-By Panhandling
The scruffy guy in the ballcap and dirty clothes rushed up to me out of nowhere, immediately stirring that uneasy feeling in the stomach, with that little head voice saying, "Uh oh, this guy wants something. I hope he's not dangerous or easily riled."
Talking fast and sounding in a panic, he said his car's tank had gone dry, and he needed a couple of bucks to get gas so he and his family could return to his Vidor home.
I'm a charitable, compassionate guy and all, for the most part, but this kind of thing makes my neck hairs stand up. I've been scammed. I've been robbed at knifepoint. I've been in seemingly precarious situations involving strangers.
When I was in college, I took a date to the AC/DC concert at The Summit in Houston. I'd been to a lot of concerts with raunchy-looking crowds, but this one had a whole new level of danger and ugliness to it. There were fights galore. Brazen drug use was all around. It looked like Ex-Con Day at The Summit.
On the way out, a group of young thugs wearing bandanas surrounded us, with the ringleader saying, "Give me your wallet, or we're going to stab your ass."
I literally, and ignorantly, thought my butt was in danger. I pictured 15 knife-wielding guys stabbing my hind quarters.
In a fair fight, I could have taken on at least two or three of the little fellas, but this was a gang thing, with knives in play, so I handed over my wallet and they took off.
I took comfort, and a little pleasure, in knowing the wallet contained all of 6 cents, a driver's license, my student I.D. card, a Gulf credit card and an unused Palais Royal credit card my mom gave me.
College kids - and bandana-wearing hoodlums for that matter - don't shop at freakin' Palais Royal, man.
Anyhoo, I had to file a police report, and the officer told me that the same thing had happened to a young couple at another concert. The guy wouldn't give up his wallet, and the gangsters stabbed him to death.
In a more humorous incident a couple of years ago, I was meeting a friend at a Houston bar for a couple of beers, and there was a guy in the parking lot with a flash light. He waived me into a parking spot and said the charge was $5. Seeing as this was Midtown, near downtown Houston, I believed him. Parking fees can be ridiculous in Houston, and $5 almost seemed like a bargain.
But I only had a $10 bill. He said he didn't have change and needed to go get it from a nearby building. I never saw him or my $10 again, and my friend later told me that this guy, whom I nicknamed Parking Lot Pete, spent his days scamming people like this. My friend, kind of like Norm from "Cheers," was a Midtown regular, so all of Midtown had a nice laugh at me that night, and I even got a couple of sympathy drinks out of it.
Back to the recent gas guy, I turned him down cold, and he marched back across the parking lot. However, I felt sorry for him, so I drove over to where his car was parked, handed him a couple of bucks and took off.
A few days later, someone claiming to have the same predicament approached my wife in a parking lot and asked for gas money. She turned him down. Since then, I've been hearing about this kind of gas-money thing a lot.
On Saturday, a guy driving in an old car, with an old guy in the passenger side, drove up to me in the Lowe's parking lot and said he needed gas money to get back to Lumberton.
Already irritated about an unrelated thing earlier that morning (My new riding lawnmower conked out on me the first time I tried to cut the grass), I had a less-than-sympathetic response:
"Look, you scammers need to find a new angle. I've heard about this tired old scam a lot lately. Find someone else to rip off. If you're not a scammer, learn to read a !!#%$#@!! gas gauge before you hit the road to questionable return."
The driver just hit the gas and got the hell out of there.
It's too bad people have to resort to this kind of thing to make their way in the world. It takes advantage of the compassionate and makes it more difficult for those who really need help to get it.
Talking fast and sounding in a panic, he said his car's tank had gone dry, and he needed a couple of bucks to get gas so he and his family could return to his Vidor home.
I'm a charitable, compassionate guy and all, for the most part, but this kind of thing makes my neck hairs stand up. I've been scammed. I've been robbed at knifepoint. I've been in seemingly precarious situations involving strangers.
When I was in college, I took a date to the AC/DC concert at The Summit in Houston. I'd been to a lot of concerts with raunchy-looking crowds, but this one had a whole new level of danger and ugliness to it. There were fights galore. Brazen drug use was all around. It looked like Ex-Con Day at The Summit.
On the way out, a group of young thugs wearing bandanas surrounded us, with the ringleader saying, "Give me your wallet, or we're going to stab your ass."
I literally, and ignorantly, thought my butt was in danger. I pictured 15 knife-wielding guys stabbing my hind quarters.
In a fair fight, I could have taken on at least two or three of the little fellas, but this was a gang thing, with knives in play, so I handed over my wallet and they took off.
I took comfort, and a little pleasure, in knowing the wallet contained all of 6 cents, a driver's license, my student I.D. card, a Gulf credit card and an unused Palais Royal credit card my mom gave me.
College kids - and bandana-wearing hoodlums for that matter - don't shop at freakin' Palais Royal, man.
Anyhoo, I had to file a police report, and the officer told me that the same thing had happened to a young couple at another concert. The guy wouldn't give up his wallet, and the gangsters stabbed him to death.
In a more humorous incident a couple of years ago, I was meeting a friend at a Houston bar for a couple of beers, and there was a guy in the parking lot with a flash light. He waived me into a parking spot and said the charge was $5. Seeing as this was Midtown, near downtown Houston, I believed him. Parking fees can be ridiculous in Houston, and $5 almost seemed like a bargain.
But I only had a $10 bill. He said he didn't have change and needed to go get it from a nearby building. I never saw him or my $10 again, and my friend later told me that this guy, whom I nicknamed Parking Lot Pete, spent his days scamming people like this. My friend, kind of like Norm from "Cheers," was a Midtown regular, so all of Midtown had a nice laugh at me that night, and I even got a couple of sympathy drinks out of it.
Back to the recent gas guy, I turned him down cold, and he marched back across the parking lot. However, I felt sorry for him, so I drove over to where his car was parked, handed him a couple of bucks and took off.
A few days later, someone claiming to have the same predicament approached my wife in a parking lot and asked for gas money. She turned him down. Since then, I've been hearing about this kind of gas-money thing a lot.
On Saturday, a guy driving in an old car, with an old guy in the passenger side, drove up to me in the Lowe's parking lot and said he needed gas money to get back to Lumberton.
Already irritated about an unrelated thing earlier that morning (My new riding lawnmower conked out on me the first time I tried to cut the grass), I had a less-than-sympathetic response:
"Look, you scammers need to find a new angle. I've heard about this tired old scam a lot lately. Find someone else to rip off. If you're not a scammer, learn to read a !!#%$#@!! gas gauge before you hit the road to questionable return."
The driver just hit the gas and got the hell out of there.
It's too bad people have to resort to this kind of thing to make their way in the world. It takes advantage of the compassionate and makes it more difficult for those who really need help to get it.
posted by Brian Pearson at 11:34 AM
2 Comments:
We had that happen to us in red lobster parking lot. A man approached my sister, my husband and myself and asked for money. Said that his car was out of gas and his pregnant wife was in the car waiting for him to return and they needed to get home. (i was pregnant at the time).. My husband instead offered to go pick up the guy some gas. THe guy refused. But insisted we give him a few dollars. Then said that the store was just right there if we'd give him some money. My husband again insisted tha we call someone for him or that he pick up the gas and bring it to his car for him. THe man said no.. that he didnt think it was out of gas that he needed to call a tow truck. my husband offered to call a repair service to come take a look and the man refused so we walked off.. I cant stand that.. Its getting old.. Those people need to get off the street..
As a pastor, I get this all the time at the church, since I have funds available for assistance. I very clearly state that I am unable to give cash and have none available. I then offer to meet the person at a nearby station and purchase gas for the vehicle with a gas company credit card. I then get reimbursed by the church for the ministry assistance.
The other day I had a guy ask about gas. When I offered to meet him at the station, he finally confessed that he didn't have a car, but was hungry. So a member of the church and I went to a local fast food restaurant and got him (and his friends) some food. Same deal - no cash.
The very next day, the same guy came to the church with basically the same story. *sigh* It does get old.
For the most part, I already knew the guy I helped was scamming me. I generally give them 'one bite', and help no one more than once a quarter.
Had one person come in for help who claimed he needed help because "someone had scammed him out of his money while he was being a Good Samaritan". I helped him while noting that sometimes I help people I know are scamming me, because you never can tell whether the one time you help is the time they finally experience God's unconditional love and then turn their own lives around. Nothing like telling a scammer that you know they're scamming you! *chuckle*
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