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Y&R Discussion Group
MY BIL opens the door to an older Latino woman, her daughter (about 18) and a baby in a stroller. The middle girl asks if he speaks Spanish. He said no. She asked if any of the neighbors did. He said he didn't think so. She chastised him "You don't know ANYONE that speaks Spanish?" "Why are you at my door?" He wants to know.
(my sis and I are both cringing here because BIL can be very abrasive at times, so we are not sure how this was all going down)
"We are down on our luck and need work. My mom is a maid (her term) and she needs work bad."
He felt bad, but he really didn't know what to say or do. Very awkward. Being confronted at your own door like that. He sent them on their way. I say the outcome they were probably hoping for was that he would give them some money or offer to let them clean his house. But letting a stranger that shows up on your doorstep in to have access to you and your stuff? Seriously! Who would do that? The whole thing just sounds weird.
So that brought up another phenominum that happens to her all the time and never to me! She says that at least every two weeks someone approaches her and tells a tale of how they just got to town and their car broke down and could she help them out by giving them $5? Sometimes they ask for $10. But they are specific in their "request". This often happens while she is pumping gas so you are stuck and can't just walk off. She swears this happens not only to her ALL the time, but to her husband and his best friend too.
She is always making fun of me and my sheltered life and neighborhood. Claiming that I live in a bubble. I think she may be right! Does this happen ALL the time as she claims?
Get this: The summer before last (late August or early September) there was a young woman (I'd say about early 20's) standing outside of Trader Joe's, telling her hard luck story of how she was trying to get to college in Texas (We are in California), and didn't have the money to get there or to pay for her first semester, books etc.
She had a large envelope BURSTING with cash and checks. Not only did people give to her, but they gave her checks with their addresses and phone numbers on them!!!
Well, when she approached me, I started asking her questions, like had she already been accepted and had she applied for financial aid, hadn't the semester already started? etc. She began to squirm and looked shifty eyed. I asked for her information so that I could contact some services that I knew of that would be able to help her -honestly, though I didn't believe her, I wanted to check out her story just in case, and if it were legit, to try to help her get assistance through the proper channels.
She started going on about how she lived somewhere else in California and was just staying with her cousin in L.A., (which made it even stranger since she was way in my neighborhood and not in L.A.) and didn't have a phone number etc. Needless to say, I didn't give her anything.
A few months later, there she was again, wearing a different wig this time and dark sunglasses, although it was pretty close to evening. She approached me, and I replied "You asked me last time", to which she nervously thanked me and scurried away. The last thing she wanted was to be remembered! Eventually they called mall security and she was told to remove herself from the front of Trader Joe's
Shortly after that, there she was at a different store, wearing a full wig and dark glasses at night. She approached me again, I told her she'd asked me back at the other store. She looked away from me.
Last summer, I saw a her a few times, always with an envelope bursting with cash and checks. Always with a different look, but oddly enough always within the same area.
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my former job.
selling insurance over the phone... except it's not really selling because the first month is free, which gives them the trial period to cancel if they wish... except they call them "sales" when we reel another one in.. except it is illegal for us to actually sell it, hence the fact the bank's insurance subsidiary outsourced its business to another company, and the fact the first month is free... all to get more people to get it, legally, through loopholes.
Many people forget to cancel or to cancel right away, and I can't imagine how many claims are denied, or not even processed because the limitations are so extensive to the point that this is practically useless.
I called the process just one more way the banks try to install another pipeline to drain your bank account, and I am, forgive the pun, right on the money in calling that.
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I hear similar things happen to people that place lost pet ads. Talk about preying on someone who is desperate!
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I've had a few experiences. If there is a business nearby I say, ''Why don't you go in and ask if them if you can sweep up or something, I'm sure they'd give you a couple dollars.'' Once it was outside of the Goodwill. I told this guy the same thing and added the name of the place is ''Goodwill'' they should be able to help you out. I might add they look at me with a blank look as if the thought of doing something for the money was a foreign thought.
Once when coming out of a thrift shop, I pulled in Hardees and a woman approached my car. She said she had a child and could I give her a few dollars. I swear I just had a couple and wanted a coke leaving me with $1 and quite a few miles to go home and I told her that.
Well, I felt bad and thought about it. Weeks later while in the same place she approached again. I pulled out a few dollars . She took it, turned and walked away with nary a word.
I should have followed my own instincts and not given in. I have this attitude because I saw my mother take busses and transfer up to 3 times each way to do any work she could do. There is always something a person can do IMO
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Yesterday I saw a lady around 59 using a walker while loading an electric wheelchair onto a rig on the rear of her car. I asked, ''Do you need me?'' She said no at first then after a bit of struggling she said ''I think maybe you can help.'' She was very slow and when she finally got seated (IN the drivers seat!) she told me she had MS (or MD) She had me fold the walker and put it upside down in the passenger seat.
I tell you this for two reasons. One to prove I am not completely heartless and two to ask in maybe another topic ''What is she doing driving?'' This took about 7-10 minutes, after I arrived which was after she loaded the wheelchair. How does she do this alone? How slow is her reaction time behind the wheel? I have mixed feelings while I am glad she can be out but.......?
Neither has ever happened to me. If it did, I would send them packing, no matter how much pressure they put on me. Trust me, I'm not the type of person they want to do that to. If I see a stranger sitting on my doorstep, I don't even answer my door.
Working in Downtown Boston, however, we get TONS of panhandlers. I treat them as if they don't even exits. I just keep walking by while they stick out their hand. If they pressure me, I tell them in no uncertain terms, "get away from me." That usually works, but there are a few instances when it has not...
One time I had a guy come up to a group of us really harasssing us. He was actually trying to hit on me and would not leave me alone. I finally told him to leave me alone and I went upstairs, but others were still down there. He and some other guy continued to harass the people down there, and we ended up calling the police. Both were arrested, and our building took a very strict stance against the homeless hanging outside of our building after that. We haven't had anymore major problems like that since.
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