Yesterday, Sunday, I rushed home from work to catch the remainder of the Cowboys ultimately get a whipping from The Philadelphia Eagles. I was home for about 15 minutes and the doorbell rang. It was almost the end of the 1st half. I was a bit irked by the intrusion, but not enough to ignore it. So, I answered the door to a slim black woman, who was out of gas and needed money to get back to Weatherford. She said that she had reported to work in the neighborhood as a home health care worker to find that her client had been taken to the hospital earlier that day. It was payday for her. She was certain that there would be a message on her answering machine at home advising her not to come today. She had not been home to get it. She hedged and hummed about what her purpose was. I finally asked her what she needed. She said $20. I know how far away Weatherford is and I knew $5 would get her back there. I told her as much. She then informed me that she also needed to buy formula, a $7 item. She gave me two telephone numbers. One was suppose to be her employer, the other was her home. I checked smartpages.com and neither was assigned. Also, the number she gave as her home number was 817 625-1001. I know that is a Fort Worth exchange and told her as much. All the while I was missing the football game. She insisted that it was her Weatherford number. Finally, I decided to give her some money, more to get rid of her than anything else. It was not the $20 she asked for. It would have been $5 but I did not have that denomination in my purse. I gave her $10, with her promise to return it to me the next day...today. I got back to the TV to see the Eagles score a touchdown. With that touchdown I won $100 in the football pool. I decided it was my good karma, for being so generous with my visitor. During halftime I dialed both telephone numbers that she had given to me. Both reached a disconnected number recording.
In retrospect, I am sorry I gave her the money. But I am glad I did not receive the same demise as this lady. I resolve to not be duped again.
Posted by Rita at December 17, 2007 09:07 PMWelcome to the club! About a month ago, I was stopped by a woman, at night, here at the University. Her story was that she was trying to get to a woman's shelter, was fleeing her abusive boyfriend who was also a policeman, was first-time pregnant a the age of 41.....she also had numbers and offered identification. I asked her what she wanted, too. I had a ten-spot in my pocket and really needed to be on my way. She beamed.......I'm still waiting to win something.
Posted by: Leah at December 18, 2007 01:23 PMWhat a strange experience. Knocking on doors in a nice residential area for a handout is weird unless she was going to break in if no one was at home. It was worth the $10 to get rid of her.
Posted by: Cynthia at December 18, 2007 03:29 PMI would have told her to throw out my trash, pour me a new drink, and ask if she had a good therapist after seeing what happened to the Cowboys.
Shame on you, never hand out cash to someone standing on your doorstep. I would have called the police for the intrusion. Especially if you have a sign posted that says " no solicitation "
Posted by: BERT Bell Boy at December 30, 2008 07:45 PM