Post by RuneDeer on Jan 18, 2010 6:04:53 GMT -5
Scarlett's update on Crazy Beer Lady fits in with an encounter I had this weekend.
When we first moved here in '06, we had to navigate relationships with some of the local folks. We had to figure out where the line was between "being friendly" and "being played for a sucker." While we were still unloading the moving truck, people would walk onto the lawn and ask if we needed help with this (we didn't), or any odd jobs, or if we had a cigarette. This continued throughout the summer.
One of our first visitors was a lady named Barbara. She came to the front door; I thought she was a neighbor, so I let her in, and she proceeded to give us this long, drawn-out, rambling tale of her hardships and needs. This woman was butt-ugly. She had a beard, somewhere between a soul patch and a goatee. After I'd convinced her that I really didn't have any money whatsoever to spare, she asked if I could drive her home. I did. She turned out to live several blocks outside our neighborhood, in one of the nastiest multis in Avondale. She accosted us one more time a couple of months later; said all she needed was a ride to KFC but then came the pitch for money again. After getting yet another "sorry, no" from us, she left us alone; I thought maybe she'd died, because years went by with no sighting.
Until this past Saturday night! Rang the bell, asked my husband if "Terri" was home, then amended that to "You know, your wife." When I came to the door, I recognized her immediately by the eyes and the voice (too dark out to see if she still had the chin whiskers, but I knew who it was anyway). This time, the door stayed locked.
I've noticed a routine of sorts with people who do this: They will try to "warm up" to the pitch for money, and if you cut them off early with "I have no money and I can't help you," they always come back with "Now, you don't know what I was going to say." Which, I suppose, is technically correct! I don't! So this woman throws in a reference to some alleged relative ("you know, the guy who stays over in that house on the corner on Raulston"), mentions something about her car, and then tells me she has a watch she'd like to sell me for $87. I was able to discourage her relatively easily with "Sorry, can't help you."
But this appears to be another case of some bothersome type who had disappeared for awhile and is now back.
Makes you wish for the cold weather to hang on just awhile longer...
When we first moved here in '06, we had to navigate relationships with some of the local folks. We had to figure out where the line was between "being friendly" and "being played for a sucker." While we were still unloading the moving truck, people would walk onto the lawn and ask if we needed help with this (we didn't), or any odd jobs, or if we had a cigarette. This continued throughout the summer.
One of our first visitors was a lady named Barbara. She came to the front door; I thought she was a neighbor, so I let her in, and she proceeded to give us this long, drawn-out, rambling tale of her hardships and needs. This woman was butt-ugly. She had a beard, somewhere between a soul patch and a goatee. After I'd convinced her that I really didn't have any money whatsoever to spare, she asked if I could drive her home. I did. She turned out to live several blocks outside our neighborhood, in one of the nastiest multis in Avondale. She accosted us one more time a couple of months later; said all she needed was a ride to KFC but then came the pitch for money again. After getting yet another "sorry, no" from us, she left us alone; I thought maybe she'd died, because years went by with no sighting.
Until this past Saturday night! Rang the bell, asked my husband if "Terri" was home, then amended that to "You know, your wife." When I came to the door, I recognized her immediately by the eyes and the voice (too dark out to see if she still had the chin whiskers, but I knew who it was anyway). This time, the door stayed locked.
I've noticed a routine of sorts with people who do this: They will try to "warm up" to the pitch for money, and if you cut them off early with "I have no money and I can't help you," they always come back with "Now, you don't know what I was going to say." Which, I suppose, is technically correct! I don't! So this woman throws in a reference to some alleged relative ("you know, the guy who stays over in that house on the corner on Raulston"), mentions something about her car, and then tells me she has a watch she'd like to sell me for $87. I was able to discourage her relatively easily with "Sorry, can't help you."
But this appears to be another case of some bothersome type who had disappeared for awhile and is now back.
Makes you wish for the cold weather to hang on just awhile longer...
