Did I just get screwed?

I'm working outside when this guy pulls into my driveway and gets out of his car. He's obviously under considerable strain as he introduces himself and explains that his wife is stranded on the side of the road on the freeway with his paycheck, but that he needs gas money to go there and fix her alternator. He showed me his gas gauge and it was indeed on empty. Once he gets to his wife and gets her alternator fixed, she has his paycheck which he can cash and get the money back to me. He said he lives in the neighborhood and pointed out his house. Frankly, I don't know about that. We've had a LOT of new people move into the neighborhood lately and I don't keep track of everyone. Now, I don't like getting screwed anymore than anyone else, but if he truly was in a jam I was willing to help out a bit. I forked over a $20 bill. He said God was blessing him and me at the same time, gave me a hug, said he'd say a prayer for me tonight, and that he'd stop by at 7 pm(in about four hours) to repay me. As he's driving away I'm thinking I'll never see that money again.

Did I just get screwed?

Well it depends if you consider it getting screwed. Some people come up with good stories, other really do need help. If you think of it as just a gesture of good will towards him and don't expect the money back you didn't get screwed.

Regardless of his motives or character you made a deposit in your Karma account.

Stranger things have happened than this guy's story, but yeah, if I had to I'd bet that you got took. BUT, and its a big but, you really didn't have a choice, for only $20 could you really take the chance that the guy's story wasn't true? ($20 is an "only" to me, I'm lucky, I know it isn't to many on the board)

IF you did indeed get took, it says far more in credit to your character than anyone could possibly say in fault of your your judgement.

I say good call. :goodjob:

Good deeds always come around! You gave because thats what in your heart feeled you needed to do. Don't have remorse in that. God will repay you over and over again.

AlexGT

Earl would be proud, at least you can bank on that!!

Dude...Sorry, you aint gettin' the double sawbuck back!

I would have to know more details to have a really good guess but I think you just got screwed. I don't agree with the karma/good deed way of looking at it. If the guy was just cruising for cash, as I think he was, then you didn't help anybody.

The best way of looking at it I ever heard was from the late Chicago columnist Mike Royko who said he looks at it like street performance art. Depending on how entertained he is by the story and the acting job he will give them money accordingly.

Wow. This happened about once every week or two in my old neighborhood.

Here's how it goes:
1. Unplug gas gauge so that the needle shows empty.
(or)
1. Just walk on foot up to someone's door and do this...

2. Come up with a story about how your wife/husband/dog is on the side of the road/at the hospital/at school/on the moon and how you need "a couple of bucks for" gas/bread/food, etc.

3. Person gives them the money.

I told them that if they wanted money, they needed to check in some other neighborhood because we were all poor there. (And we were. Mostly, poor college students putting ourselves through school...the ones that had "mommy and daddy" putting them through school lived on the other side of town in 150k houses...my house there was built in 1905...and largely unrestored.)

It got so bad, I started answering the door with the HK in hand.

This started happening to friends of mine recently and some people have been picked up for it. My friend had the obvious solution though...since they usually are asking for a "couple of bucks to buy some gas", just have a gas with a couple of gallons of unleaded in the garage and go, "Ok...where's the gas cap?"

JM-99
(Oh, and I bet he would've pooped himself if you said, "Ok, hop in and I'll take you to her and then we can go cash your paycheck and pick up an alternator for ya!" If his story was true, no harm no foul...still would have been a great gesture, just as the $20.00...if not true, well... )

Let me know if he doesn't come back and I'll pay forward your Karma. I'll send you a brand new unopened light worth more than $20, let me know, my feeling is I'll be mailing you a light.

If I decide to do something for someone, I don't expect something in return...I know it will come back to me somewhere down the line. There are exceptions though...like the obvious scams and what not. But when I can tell without a doubt that there is a genuine need for my help, I am more than happy to oblige.

Since I don't usually have much cash on me, I'd offer to take him, and the parts and tools, to his wife. Tell him to park his car in his garage, and call his wife to let him know we're on the way. Wonder what the response would have been?

oldgrandpajack

Ha!! I was just editing my post to say that when you posted this OGJ!!!

JM-99

oldgrandpajack said:

Since I don't usually have much cash on me, I'd offer to take him, and the parts and tools, to his wife. Tell him to park his car in his garage, and call his wife to let him know we're on the way. Wonder what the response would have been?

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Interesting..... When I traveled to Dallas from Richmond by DC, Chicago by Amtrak I met a lot of people with stories that required money. I smoke a carton that week and surprisingly only a few people asked for a smoke. They had some good stories too.

I hope you get your money back. I was going to beg for money to get my learners permit a few weeks ago when I was short. I asked myself, how can I ensure this person will get their money back in their mind. A business card wont do it, maybe my college id card or a key from my keyring.

Radio - That's a very generous offer, but I'll decline. Thank you.

Everyone else - Thanks for the kind words. I'm pretty well convinced I got taken, but I'll reserve judgement until 7pm. I gave the money freely, not expecting it to come back to me. If the guy truly is in a jam, I've got no problems giving him a hand, I can afford it. On the other hand......... I'll post again after 7pm with what happened.


Cheers. :buddies:

What you relate is a pretty common scam; So, I'd expect the worst.

How many people get paid on Monday or Tuesday? I guess it is possible that they got paid last Friday and just couldn't make it to the bank given the Easter holiday, but if they were THAT short of cash, I would have imagined they would have made an effort to get to the bank before today.

But on the off chance that it is true or mostly true, you did good.

I wouldn't worry about it either way, 'cause like Beamhead said, you did earn some good Karma.

Because of all the professional scam artists out there (You'd be surprised how much even a small-timer using a story like that can take in in a day) I quit giving out cash a few years ago.

I never turn people down asking for food.... But I give them food, either out of my emergency / camping stash that I always keep in my vehicles, or I take them to McDonalds or whatever is close, let them order then I'll pay the cashier directly.

If they ask for gas money, I say : I'll buy you some gas but I don't have any cash, so we'll have to go to the station together so I can use my card. If they are for real, they will take you up on it and thank you very much... Been my experience that 9 out of 10 come up with some excuse as to why that won't work out for them.

(Same deal with those guys that hang out on street corners with "will work for food" signs.... Try an experiment some time: Offer them a few hours work for food PLUS five bucks an hour. I'll bet you 95 out of a 100 of them will come up with an excuse at best, and some of them will curse you out.)

Makes it hard on that five or ten percent of people who are actually in trouble and are actually willing to work or would honestly pay you back whenever possible; But that's life in modern times.

It has a slightly different slant, but it sounds like a scam that runs through our city from time to time to part young sailors with their money.

Diesel_Bomber said:

...He said God was blessing him and me at the same time, gave me a hug, Did I just get screwed?

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Whether you got screwed is less important than the fact that you're unharmed. Never let a stranger hug you or get closer than four feet from you.

Sounds like a line of BS,but what if it was the real deal,and the guy drove off and you did not give him the money,you would feel like a jerk.You did your good deed for the day.

Whether you got screwed or not depends on whether you learned a lesson. $20 for a crash course in humanity is a bargain.