You know how, when somebody starts a thread with - was this a scam?, the answer is never yes but always, HELL yes? This one had me scratching my head.
I was coming out of LAX on a Sunday evening having just picked up the missus. Had to stop for some expensive gas since the low fuel light had popped on. So I pull into a 76 station on Century Blvd. just before the 405 freeway. I’m starting to get the pump going and I hear those lovely words, Excuse me, sir. Crap, now what. I don’t ever like hearing that. And it’s this decent looking woman. As in, she doesn’t look like a bag lady or a hustler. In her thirties, maybe. Cleanly dressed. I just got divorced, and I’m looking for a place to stay. Now she can plainly see my wife in the front seat of my truck - my dog, too so WTF? I gave her a quick, well I can’t really help you with that, and she moved away.
Was she really looking for a spare room from some random old married guy? Hoping for $600 in spare change for a security deposit? Hustling a few bucks for drugs is one thing, but for a apartment? She went away quietly enough, but I can’t figure out waht she was really asking me.
She was looking for any amount of money to help her get a “room.” There are plenty of well-dressed beggars out there. There recently was (is?) a very well-dressed well-put together woman asking for change near the Madison St Bridge in Chicago for nearly a year. If you’d seen her in any other context, you’d never place her as a panhandler.
Just the spare change gimmick. Give her your phone number or address and she’ll promise to pay you back. But you’ll never hear from her again. She might have thought your wife would give you a nudge and kick out a few dollars, not $600.
Or she was asking you where the nearest motel was. She had to go ask the creepy guy in the van instead. And nobody has seen her since.
She’s a classic con-artist. Probably for drugs but if she’s that well put together, maybe not. Every city has them and the good ones are always well dressed and polite.
It’s simple really. No one (ok except my mother) would actually have offered her a room, so the simple and easy substitute is cash. A kind and foolish soul might think she’d be offended by $10, so one might try to equate something fair to help her along, probably no less than $25. She’s probably getting closer to $50-$100 in one pop from enough people that it makes it worth her time.
I agree that its a different angle on the pan handling routine.
But OP, if you thought she was legit about being recently divorced and needing a place to stay, why do you think it odd that she would ask you with your wife right there? Did you think she would want to hook and have sex too? Is this some sort of sneak brag about your attractiveness to women?
Puh-lease! I am strictly random old white guy.:rolleyes: In a well-used pickup truck. I’m used to the garden variety panhandlers on the side of the road. And I’m not adverse to handing them a few bucks. If they want to buy wine, fine. She just kind of surprised me. Being close to the airport and various fleabag hotels is a good place to work the crowd, I guess. And I had no idea if her story was straight. Like the guy who asks for 57 cents exactly, I figured it might be a smokescreen. But you never know.
Classic panhandler, there actually used to be classes taught in LA years ago on panhandling that recommended the well dressed approach. Also, by stating some large number needed, the mark is more likely to kick in a higher dollar amount. It’s the power of suggestion…
I got fooled by one of those, some years ago. “I just ran out of gas, and need to get back to San Clemente.” (30 miles away.) So, shrug, I gave him two dollars. Not enough to get him home, but a fair contribution.
Then…it was like stars coming out at night. Every week or two, “Please, I just ran out of gas…”
My favorite was, “My car just ran out of gas. I’m not lying.”
Heard it a million times. “Excuse me sir, I just [complicated story involving multiple failed modes of transportation], could I trouble you for just [a very specific amount that is 10 times more than I think you can spare]?”
I was accosted for gas money in the parking lot of a large grocery store; the story about some emergency in the mountains that the person had to get his wife back for. He was well-dressed in a casual way and he gestured toward a new-looking SUV. My guess is drugs.
The OP’s story reminded me of Monster with Charlize Theron playing an Interstate prostitute. Wasn’t her story that she was trying to get home to her kids, and she had photos of them to prove her story?
I’ve been accosted for gas money a couple of times. Oddly enough, when I offer to put five or ten bucks worth of gas into their vehicle, but using my gas card, there’s always some reason why they would prefer cash and they just can’t accept the gas into their vehicle. ::rolleyes::
Some woman came up to me in the parking lot a few days ago asking for gas, she even said I could take her there if I wanted. Yeah no.
I did however have some kid come up to me a few months ago saying he was out of gas. He did however accept the gas and was quite happy about it too. Maybe he really was out. I only gave him $5, but that was enough to get him home.
