My Recent Story
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 6
My Recent Story
I recently met an innocent looking teen asking for money in a subway station entrance. I asked how he got to where he was and he said he was in foster care and had runaway, living in homeless shelters for the past year. He needed money to get to one of the only homeless shelters that would take minors. I felt bad for the kid, if his story was true, and I gave him some money. We exchanged numbers, my thinking maybe he needed a mentor to help him get things together.
A few days later, he said he needed $150 because a drug dealer asked him to hold some weed and he threw it away because he was scared and didn't know it cost that much. I told him I couldn't help him with that.
The next day he called, asking if we could get together over the weekend and go to the musuem like we had talked about. I said sure and I asked what he was up to and he said hangng out at a train station trying to get some money. I arranged to meet him on the way home, just to say hi. When I got there, he said his aunt called from another state and wanted him to visit. He needed $80 for the train fare but he would be getting a birthday gift of $200 from his aunt and he could pay me back. Also, he was sweating profusely from his forehead. I mean like a water faucet, it was pouring out. I told him his story was ridiculous and he kept coming up with reasons why his aunt couldn't call Amtrak and buy him a ticket. He was crying and saying I didn't trust him. I should have walked out, but I did give him some money...nothing like he asked for and told him what I thought was a goodbye.
Then I started to feel bad and I called in a few days. He yelled at me and we talked and agreed to maybe hang out together over Thanksgiving. We got togther the day before and I gave him a lot of money, thinking I night have been wrong and I wanted him to have a nice Thanksgivng. He said he need $37 to get to a homeless shelter and maybe we could hang out again on Thanksgiving or the day after.
We spoke on Thanksgiving and he said he was trying to ask for money for the train fare so he could come visit but wasn't sure if he could get it. I asked for him to call later and let me know if he was coming down and he didn't call. I reached him Friday and he said he had borrowed money from someone at the shelter and was coming down to see me. He would have to visit someone else first to borrow money to pay back to the guy who lent him the other money or he would have to raise money when he got here. I texted him Good Luck with that and that is when I said enough of this crap.
He was claiming how much he wanted to be with me and it was always only if he got money first. I even called the transit company and the fare is not $37 it is $10.50. He called the next day and we had a shouting match. I asked him to tell me the truth. He said that on Amtrak it is $37 but Amtrak does not go to the city he said he was going to. I told him to take me to the ticket agent who will tell me it is $37 and I would give him $200. He said the police had spotted him there asking for money and he was so concerned about me that he didn't want me to get in trouble. He then asked if he could spend the next night at my place but first he need the money to go pay back the person plus the money to get there and back. I told him no way. I kept asking me to tell me what the truth was. He said he was not on alcohol or drugs or that he was helping anyone, he didn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend. My head started hurting like it did when I went through this **** with friends who were drug abusers back when I was 19.
So he asked if I could help him and I agreed to meet him and gave him the last money I was going to. He started to speak but I cut him off and told him that I left my bank cards at home. I wished him luck and asked that get his life together.
The next day I found that before we saw each other last, he had texted me that I had a big imagination, this was all my doing, he slept outside a couple of nights because of me, how much he wanted to be with, it wasn't all about money, etc. I texted back that had I asked him to prove the $37 fare and he couldn't. If he was lying to me about that, it was probably all a lie, and that I couldn't trust him anymore. His response was he was sick MY lies.
On the one hand, I'm glad things didn't get any stickier between us. He did get about $300 total out of me. I can spare it and this has sort of been interesting. There is part of me that doesn't want to believe it all and I have tried to call him. It looks like he has switched his phone to contacts only as calls are going straight to VM and texts are not being answered.
I wanted to share my story and thank you for reading.
A few days later, he said he needed $150 because a drug dealer asked him to hold some weed and he threw it away because he was scared and didn't know it cost that much. I told him I couldn't help him with that.
The next day he called, asking if we could get together over the weekend and go to the musuem like we had talked about. I said sure and I asked what he was up to and he said hangng out at a train station trying to get some money. I arranged to meet him on the way home, just to say hi. When I got there, he said his aunt called from another state and wanted him to visit. He needed $80 for the train fare but he would be getting a birthday gift of $200 from his aunt and he could pay me back. Also, he was sweating profusely from his forehead. I mean like a water faucet, it was pouring out. I told him his story was ridiculous and he kept coming up with reasons why his aunt couldn't call Amtrak and buy him a ticket. He was crying and saying I didn't trust him. I should have walked out, but I did give him some money...nothing like he asked for and told him what I thought was a goodbye.
Then I started to feel bad and I called in a few days. He yelled at me and we talked and agreed to maybe hang out together over Thanksgiving. We got togther the day before and I gave him a lot of money, thinking I night have been wrong and I wanted him to have a nice Thanksgivng. He said he need $37 to get to a homeless shelter and maybe we could hang out again on Thanksgiving or the day after.
We spoke on Thanksgiving and he said he was trying to ask for money for the train fare so he could come visit but wasn't sure if he could get it. I asked for him to call later and let me know if he was coming down and he didn't call. I reached him Friday and he said he had borrowed money from someone at the shelter and was coming down to see me. He would have to visit someone else first to borrow money to pay back to the guy who lent him the other money or he would have to raise money when he got here. I texted him Good Luck with that and that is when I said enough of this crap.
He was claiming how much he wanted to be with me and it was always only if he got money first. I even called the transit company and the fare is not $37 it is $10.50. He called the next day and we had a shouting match. I asked him to tell me the truth. He said that on Amtrak it is $37 but Amtrak does not go to the city he said he was going to. I told him to take me to the ticket agent who will tell me it is $37 and I would give him $200. He said the police had spotted him there asking for money and he was so concerned about me that he didn't want me to get in trouble. He then asked if he could spend the next night at my place but first he need the money to go pay back the person plus the money to get there and back. I told him no way. I kept asking me to tell me what the truth was. He said he was not on alcohol or drugs or that he was helping anyone, he didn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend. My head started hurting like it did when I went through this **** with friends who were drug abusers back when I was 19.
So he asked if I could help him and I agreed to meet him and gave him the last money I was going to. He started to speak but I cut him off and told him that I left my bank cards at home. I wished him luck and asked that get his life together.
The next day I found that before we saw each other last, he had texted me that I had a big imagination, this was all my doing, he slept outside a couple of nights because of me, how much he wanted to be with, it wasn't all about money, etc. I texted back that had I asked him to prove the $37 fare and he couldn't. If he was lying to me about that, it was probably all a lie, and that I couldn't trust him anymore. His response was he was sick MY lies.
On the one hand, I'm glad things didn't get any stickier between us. He did get about $300 total out of me. I can spare it and this has sort of been interesting. There is part of me that doesn't want to believe it all and I have tried to call him. It looks like he has switched his phone to contacts only as calls are going straight to VM and texts are not being answered.
I wanted to share my story and thank you for reading.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 923
It is a good and cautionary story and can be a metaphor for those of us who have given much more...to children...in that person's situation and who learned that they were being played. My daughter has panhandled...and would tear your heart apart with her story...we had to learn through being manipulated that on drugs...she is not the person she was before addiction.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: W Washington
Posts: 11,589
i'm sorry but this story has a creepy feel to it.....first off this kid is street smart and knows how to play the game, with sob story after story, and managed to finesse $300 out of you.
but what I am uncomfortable with is your behavior....sure I see giving a kid panhandling a few bucks and hoping for the best. but you exchanged numbers - which is pretty bizarre to do with a complete STRANGER. you me up with him again, whereby he had yet another sob story and you gave him more money. which you said was to be goodbye.
but then YOU called HIM. and agreed to "hang out". and you met up AGAIN and you gave him a LOT MORE money.
He was claiming how much he wanted to be with me and it was always only if he got money first. that doesn't sound like an "innocent looking teen" and someone wanted maybe be their MENTOR. and now you are the one calling HIM.....
but what I am uncomfortable with is your behavior....sure I see giving a kid panhandling a few bucks and hoping for the best. but you exchanged numbers - which is pretty bizarre to do with a complete STRANGER. you me up with him again, whereby he had yet another sob story and you gave him more money. which you said was to be goodbye.
but then YOU called HIM. and agreed to "hang out". and you met up AGAIN and you gave him a LOT MORE money.
He was claiming how much he wanted to be with me and it was always only if he got money first. that doesn't sound like an "innocent looking teen" and someone wanted maybe be their MENTOR. and now you are the one calling HIM.....
Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: WI
Posts: 240
I have to agree with Anvil. What is going on that you trusted a stranger off the street and are concerned about being with them? Did something get left out? What does "recent" mean to you because the story sounds like you just met this person and immediately attached yourself to them for no real reason.
Nature Girl
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
I'm sorry but I agree, you sound like a smart person who would be able to spot the request for money that went with each meeting...and you gave your phone number to a perfect stranger who lives on the street and needs money for drugs. What were you thinking?
About 30 years ago when I moved to a big city, I found it hard to pass anyone on the street asking for money and I gave many of them $5, thinking they could get something to eat (I was naive). It was suggested to me to not give the money to the street people, give the money to the people who take care of the street people, like the Salvation Army. That just made sense.
If this story is legit, I suggest you change your phone number and put a whole lot of space between you and this person. Through your phone number, you address can be found, and you may come home to an empty home one day, with valuables sold for drugs.
With kindness I say, you got yourself into this mess, get yourself out before it gets worse.
Hugs
About 30 years ago when I moved to a big city, I found it hard to pass anyone on the street asking for money and I gave many of them $5, thinking they could get something to eat (I was naive). It was suggested to me to not give the money to the street people, give the money to the people who take care of the street people, like the Salvation Army. That just made sense.
If this story is legit, I suggest you change your phone number and put a whole lot of space between you and this person. Through your phone number, you address can be found, and you may come home to an empty home one day, with valuables sold for drugs.
With kindness I say, you got yourself into this mess, get yourself out before it gets worse.
Hugs
Behold the power of NO
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: WA
Posts: 7,764
He was claiming how much he wanted to be with me and it was always only if he got money first.
He said the police had spotted him there asking for money and he was so concerned about me that he didn't want me to get in trouble
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 2,282
I'm no mathematician, but I DO have
a calculator function on my iphone....
So if you are looking to outclass ME
on dumb........I suggest you go out and
find 33.33333 more of these kids then
get back to me.
a calculator function on my iphone....
So if you are looking to outclass ME
on dumb........I suggest you go out and
find 33.33333 more of these kids then
get back to me.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: WI
Posts: 1,426
Sparky,
IMO I think you ought to stay away from homeless children/teenagers/adults on the street and never give strangers your phone number, look what it has done to you already. Very expensive exchange of phone numbers. Your homeless "friend" had an iPhone?
In any case, whatever good intentions you may have had, leave the homeless alone and walk away, ok?
Also I agree with Ann and the rest, change that phone number ASAP, you just might have given this person a free ride on your property.
Take care and lesson learned.
TF
IMO I think you ought to stay away from homeless children/teenagers/adults on the street and never give strangers your phone number, look what it has done to you already. Very expensive exchange of phone numbers. Your homeless "friend" had an iPhone?
In any case, whatever good intentions you may have had, leave the homeless alone and walk away, ok?
Also I agree with Ann and the rest, change that phone number ASAP, you just might have given this person a free ride on your property.
Take care and lesson learned.
TF
Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 205
Originally Posted by AnvilheadII 
how does an unemployed homeless person have a CELL PHONE?
Anyway, I don't even make eye contact with homeless people. I don't want to get sucked into their manipulation. And anyone who approaches me, I cut them off before they can even feed me their sob story. I say - "I don't have any money" because I know that's all they want. Sure enough, they walk away.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 845
I think we have to balance on a fine line in responding to this post. Clearly this person crossed a line and became very personally invested in trying to build some kind of honest (and possibly intimate?) relationship with a homeless teenager in a short amount of time. I don't think that means that we all have to refuse to acknowledge the homeless, or that all homeless people are money-hungry users. I personally feel there's nothing wrong with giving a little cash to a clearly needy person on the street now and then, and certainly as Ann has pointed out, giving to a charity that serves the homeless is also a good option.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 2,282
Yeah, this thread pegged out my creep-o-meter,too.
And it was set to low sensitivity.
Being robbed by an addict in this fashion has all the
negatives of BEING robbed----but without any of the
benefits of being robbed by a professional thief.
(The thief makes no pretense of being your friend,
and when the transaction is complete----he/she in
the perfect world.....would NEVER want to see you
again!)
....somebody left alot of fish out in the hot sun....
And it was set to low sensitivity.
Being robbed by an addict in this fashion has all the
negatives of BEING robbed----but without any of the
benefits of being robbed by a professional thief.
(The thief makes no pretense of being your friend,
and when the transaction is complete----he/she in
the perfect world.....would NEVER want to see you
again!)
....somebody left alot of fish out in the hot sun....
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: The Sooner State
Posts: 1,725
I am still confused. I hope this isn't what u think it is. I don't even give change to people who claim to be from out of town and stranded. Sorry but it scares me. I got caught off guard once and gave a woman a dollar. I didn't cross my mind to exchange numbers. Three hundred dollars to an underage reeks of inappropriate.
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