Stoned Silly said:YOU BETTER COME HEAVY.........
moose eater said:For those who feel ashamed or silly for having provided support or empathy to a likely scammer/or ???, a story from long ago occured to me today re. this thread.
25+ years ago, I had a dog that got hit by a car, and his leg was badly broken. He was the pup of a bitch that I'd travelled a lot of miles with, and I was very close to them both. They were my friends and family.
I took him all over the area near where I still live, going from vet clinic to vet clinic. He was in pain, and I had no money.
I was destitute to the point that I was down to one hand-gun, and didn't even have a full cylinder of bullets for it.
Every veterinarian I went to wanted cash, guns, or gold as payment/collateral.
I was going to take him home, and, as much as it pained me, I was going to take one of only 4 or 5 bullets that I had, and shoot him.
I made one final call, and I found a veterinarian off the beaten path; one whom I'd never seen before, or even knew was in the area before that day.
The vet did over $500.00 work on my pup, and did it with -no- collateral or down-payment of any kind, on a promise from me, a guy he'd never seen before.
Later on, I recommended him to another destitute hippie I knew whose dog(s) needed some injections, and also had no money at that time.
The vet in question again extended services with no money down, and no prior familiarity with my friend..
On a subsequent visit to see him, and pay him a little bit of the money I owed (he never ever charged me any interest, and worked out of a clinic in his home) I asked him this, "Doc XXXXXXXX, you didn't know me from Adam, and you helped me, doing the work at just over half of what others wanted, and doing it without payment or collateral. And you didn't know my friend either, extending the same credit to him as well. Why'd you take these risks?"
He replied, "Cause your dogs and you and your friend needed my help, and I was in a position to give it."
And I asked, "But what if we hadn't paid you?"
He replied, "If your friend hadn't paid me that twenty dollars, I'd be out twenty bucks. And I can pick up twenty bucks almost anywhere. But your friend would be out of a reputation. And he can't buy that anywhere for twenty bucks."
That old vet is dead now, rest his soul. he was a good man. But he taught me as much as anybody else did about how to weigh how much to risk or give.
I can safely give empathy anytime. It costs me nothing other than time and compassion.
And I'm not at fault for another's dishonesty.
If you got played for sympathy, pat yourself on the back for being a decent person. We need more decent persons in this world, frankly.
If you made yourself vulnerable by 'giving too much,' as some have implied may have occured, then please learn how to meter such things for your own benefit, so that if there's ever a next time, you don't do yourself any harm, while still being able to be a decent human being.
If you're feeling like you made yourself seriously vulnerable, then take required precautionary measures.
TMo3, if you're a cop, then you lived up to my beliefs about your kind, and if you're just a random scammer, then you're proof that some of human kind has not evolved past the stage of primordial ooze.
Take good care folks, and watch your keisters.
moose eater