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How to Get My Money - The Successful Beggar
Current mood: generous
Category: generous Life
I'm not one to hand out cash to a stranger
Seriously, I'm more likely to toss gold Krugerrands into a public
fountain than to hand out a crumpled dollar bill to a greasy guy with a
a shifty story. [and remember, that dollar is now worth about
half a femtogram of that gold!] It doesn't really matter what the
story is, but a beggar should note that I know what the cheap liquor
goes for, so when one asks for *exactly* seven dollars - the line about
kids needing dinner ain't gonna fly.
The other evening, a fellow
approched me outside a grocery store (the Cherrydale Ingles), as I was
loading the car. He walked purposefully across the lot from one
corner by the highway, turning straight toward me halfway across.
Getting closer, he starts to talk at me, but keeping a respectful
distance. I decide to give the guy one chance to tell his
story.
He's dirty, but in a
working-under-a-truck-all-day way, not a never-heard-of-a-bathtub
way. He gives me a name, says he's from Texas. He tries to
show me some cards from his pocket, including an out-of-state driver's
license. He explains that he's staying at a hotel just around the
corner, and shows me an electronic hotel door key (the generic Domino's
ad type). He's asking for just enough cash to get 'a gallon of
gas'.
Well, he could be legit. I don't know.
I can't be bothered to care. But then he throws in the line that
clinches the deal. He fans the stack of cards again and says,
"That dumb bitch left me every card *but* the gas card."
While
remembering all the times I discovered that my ex had 'borrowed' items
from my wallet, such as when standing in a hotel in St Louis trying to
get a hotel for the week, in front of my co-workers who were there for
the same convention... or having a state champion shooter take us
to the range for a lesson - and then making him pay... I fished
out a five dollar bill and wished the fellow well.
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Currently
listening
:
Billion Dollar Babies
By Alice Cooper
Release date: By 2001-02-06 |
1:31 PM
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