a sad tale

anthowl · #1 05-15-2009, 07:00 AM

the other day an african man stopped me as i was leaving my banks ATM..

..he said to me, "Excuse me sir, I have recently come from Africa to find work, but my mother, she is in africa..

..she is dying of cancer..

..can you spare any money to help me save to get my dying mother an operation?"

to which i said..

"NO PICS= No dying african mother."

perogato02 · #2 05-15-2009, 07:08 AM

Right, you have been lurking too much on TB!

Quadcam · #3 05-15-2009, 10:51 AM

Here's mine, I'l PM you the adress of where to send the money

Spinal Tapper · #4 05-15-2009, 01:13 PM

you sure you weren't on Craigslist!? happens to me all the time

MooseLumps · #5 05-15-2009, 04:32 PM

Unless the dude swam across the puddle, he is wealthy/crafty enough to help his mother himself.

pjh2112 · #6 05-15-2009, 04:41 PM

I have heard this kind of stuff many a time. Unfortunately 90% of the time people are lying. Even then there is always the thought in the back of your mind that is saying, what if they are telling the truth. A lot of the time people are looking for drug/alcohol money. Not to say that they always are, but just they usually are. Something similar happened with my mother the other day actually. She was at a gas station and a man came up to her and said his car was out of gas and asked if she could spare a couple of dollars. She's very nice, so she gave him a few dollars. Then he hopped in his car and drove off. Didn't even wait for her to leave, he was absolutely shameless. I never give anyone money like that. Also a lot of times people will ask for money for "food", one time I offered to take them to Mcdonald's and they quickly changed mind, and weren't "hungry" anymore. Goes to show you.

dmusic148 · #7 05-15-2009, 04:55 PM

Happens to me several times a year, in restaurant parking lots, or in the hotel back lot while I'm having a smoke. It's usually a guy and a girl, in a ratty car, and the standard line is "we're on our way to her Mom's funeral, and don't have enough money for gas to make it all the way(girl looking very sad or even crying). If you just gave us like ten bucks, we'd be so grateful." If you have an eye for it, you can usually tell that they're crack or meth heads.

pjh2112 · #8 05-15-2009, 04:58 PM

Look for the meth mouth. Easily recognizable.

nsmar4211 · #9 05-15-2009, 06:22 PM

We get em...... twice i've had the same guy tell me he was a veteran just off the bus from Iraq and he needed a few dollars to get another bus ticket. Keep in mind that'd be a 10 mile walk from bus station to where I was. He showed me his drivers liscense (not sure why)..... the first time I had no cash, the second time I asked him how he did that twice.

Come on....just tell me the truth. If someone just walks up and says can you spare a dollar? and I had it, I'd give it to em. If they lie to me (need gas to go to mothers funeral?!.....etc) ferget it. I always feel bad when I see people that are really stuck and don't mind helping if I can. I don't like people that try to take advantage of that.

EgoBlood3 · #10 05-15-2009, 07:03 PM

That's why I've always enjoyed the hobo's with two sided signs. First side they show you is the usual junk, but once they know they have your eye they flip it around and it says, "Why lie? Need money for booze." I always want to pay them right then! Just always carry plastic :/

xgator4u · #11 05-16-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EgoBlood3

That's why I've always enjoyed the hobo's with two sided signs. First side they show you is the usual junk, but once they know they have your eye they flip it around and it says, "Why lie? Need money for booze." I always want to pay them right then! Just always carry plastic :/

ME, we don't get too much pan handling here, but I have encountered it . If the person comes up and is straight and tells me " hey man I need a drink real bad" I will help them out, if they feed me a line of crap, I tell them to pi$$ off.

guy n. cognito · #12 05-16-2009, 05:02 PM

I once had a guy approach me in a Academy Sports parking lot, stating that his car broke down a few blocks down and he needed a few dollars to get it towed. He said...."it's in the middle of the street."

Since I knew he was lying, I said...."wow, that sounds really dangerous. Let me call the police for you." He asked me not to call, then walked away when I started dialing. Funny thing......he jumps into his buddy's car and they drove off. I got the license plate and called the police.

Stupid people are fun.

anthowl · #13 05-17-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quadcam

Here's mine, I'l PM you the adress of where to send the money

dark as your post was, you prettymuch win this thread.

and yeah, i have been on TB waaayyy too much..but come on! saying that was inevitable!
unfortunately there are a lot of street hassler types around my work, a few of them have spray paint beards if ya get my drift

EDIT: having read a few more posts, yeah i help people out if they need it.
like a couple times recently i've been at a train station and someone has needed to ask me for a dollar or so, thats fine, i'd even ask that of someone else myself (probably not a whole dollar, but ya know).

the difference in the matter to me is that if someone feels they need to guilt trip you to get what they want, then that shows that they themselves wouldn't give the money to someone of their same cause.

archer121 · #14 05-17-2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

We get em...... twice i've had the same guy tell me he was a veteran just off the bus from Iraq and he needed a few dollars to get another bus ticket. Keep in mind that'd be a 10 mile walk from bus station to where I was. He showed me his drivers liscense (not sure why)..... the first time I had no cash, the second time I asked him how he did that twice.

Come on....just tell me the truth. If someone just walks up and says can you spare a dollar? and I had it, I'd give it to em. If they lie to me (need gas to go to mothers funeral?!.....etc) ferget it. I always feel bad when I see people that are really stuck and don't mind helping if I can. I don't like people that try to take advantage of that.

I had pretty much the same thing happen to me a few years ago at the Greyhound station in SLC (I think) only the guy said he was Navy, broke and wanted some money to buy a sandwich. I told him "If I had any money to spare, I wouldn't be riding the bus."

Jim Carr · #15 05-17-2009, 11:15 AM

Once I built a railroad, now it's done. Buddy, can you spare a dime?

**Vorago** · #16 05-17-2009, 11:32 AM

Not exactly bass humor...or funny for that matter.