I was sitting in the car, waiting for my husband to come out of work. It was late in the evening, and he often worked late.
A woman came up to me, after walking across this very large, empty parking lot (not the best part of town). I saw her coming, long before she approached me directly. I cracked the window to see why she was talking to me.
"My car ran out of gas about 1/2 mile down the street. Can you give me some money for gas?"
I didn't give her any money, but a funny thing happened... Someone else had the same sad story about a week later! If she'd been carrying a gas can, it would have been much more convincing.
Another car story: Working overnight shift in at a 24 hour copy center in a downtown area. A man came in and told me his son was stranded with a flat tire on the highway. He needed some cash to pay the tow truck driver, who was waiting at the scene. "Please lend me $40! I will be right back to pay you back. Take my vehicle registration as collateral." I was 22. I fell for it, and gave him money out of the register. He never came back, and I had to pay the store back $40.
We have a few busy intersections in our town, where people stand with those cardboard signs. They did a story on the news, and apparently it actually pays off. The guy they interviewed made about $400 a day, standing on the corner. Why go get a job? When it is really cold out, I feel so bad for them. I have handed them food or candy bars before. One lady had a sign that said she needed soap and shampoo.
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...OUTLAW