Crazy Dog Lady & Copycat Scammers
The other day, my girlfriend Kelle got into a conversation with some people at the dog park. They were telling her about a lady that frequents the park often. Somehow, she's come to the conclusion that people are trying to steal her dog from her apartment. She's so convinced of this, that she takes her dog to work with her everyday. Now, this in itself is fine, as long as it doesn't bother the other employees. However, in this case, she doesn't bring her dog inside with her. She leaves the dog in her car all day long with a bowl of water and the windows cracked. Not only is this odd, but it's extremely cruel to the animal. She shouldn't be surprised if she finds her dog dead in her car one day. But, hey, I guess it's better than having CIA ops break into her apartment and steal her dog to retrieve the secret microfilm embedded in it's collar.
I had two eerily similar experiences in Tallahassee recently. I was at the BP getting some beer when a lady approaches me, waving wildly. She says she's embarrassed, but both she and her husband are A. out of money, B. have lost their ATM cards, and C. are two hours from home in Georgia. She asked if I could spare any money for gas. She looked like an "honest" person (of course, what does that really look like anyway?), so I gave her some change. So, a few days later, I get the same routine at Wal-Mart from some crusty guy with his kids, hanging out in a dinged up black van. I would have believed them if I hadn't heard the same spiel a few days earlier. Needless to say, I gave them some change just in case they weren't lying. I'm a sucker, I know. But the weird thing is that it's possible (okay, probable) that both of these parties were scammers. Where did they pick up the idea for this scam at? Was it 'Scam-Of-The-Month' in Scammer's Monthly? In any case, I'm sure I've been duped (rhymes with 'stupid', or at least it should).
Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow for a vacation retreat to Helen, Georgia. Hopefully, we don't encounter any copycat scammers or crazy dog ladies.