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Change of venue for Sob Story Guy
By adamg on Thu, 06/23/2011 - 10:36am
You know, the guy who always claims he needs $7.75 to get to an appointment with his probation officer in Worcester. SelfRighteousCyclist reports:
Sob Story Guy has been called out too many times on the Red Line. Now hustling outside the RMV on Washington
Can you imagine the conversation between him and Spare Change Guy?
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Comments
How about
Sob Story Woman?
She typically hangs out around Quincy Market/GovT
The paid . . .
. . . charity solicitors have set up shop outside my Dunkin's in the Aquarium parking garage this week. I thought the "God bless you guy" in the wheel chair was a bit annoying (though I still tink his cup once in a while) but these kids get on my nerves like no bum ever has.
I love to put radio GPS trackers
On them, and map their moments. It be fascinating.
Teleportation
I think most of the people I see giving Sob Story Guy money must be tourists or people unfamiliar with the area. I've seen him get on a Red Line train at 3:15 PM announcing he needs to see his "parole officer" or be at a "shelter" in Worcester by 3:30 PM.
Nothing short of teleportation will get you from Boston to Worcester in 15 minutes.
We had a guy
at South Station last night (in the tunnel from the Red Line to the main station) saying how he hates to bother us but needs only $1 or $2 to get home and could anyone help him out.
The sad thing....
... is that someone _could_ lose their pass and their wallet (or get pickpocketed) -- and really NEED just enough money to pay for their trip home. Sadly, the scammers make people reluctant to help someone who might really need help.
Offer to buy them a non-refundable ticket
The transients will tell you to go frak yourself, the people in need will be grateful.
It's only a few bucks after all.
Actually, I have.
One evening, a man sat down next to me on the train and I heard him speaking into his cell phone on how he was just jumped and robbed in the South Station men's room. He was just going to tell the conductor that he did not have cash since he just got robbed, hoping for the best. I gave him some cash to help him out and he was very happy.
Who was he speaking to?
Did he call the police to report the crime?
Paid charity solicitors
Chris Dowd, I agree!
Those charity solicitors are so annoying and obnoxious! I feel they are even trained to be that way.
Panhandlers
Any day now the Romany Gypsy panhandlers will show up again, if they haven't already. They immediately appear at the first traces of warm weather, and have for years. You know the ones,they're all females, they shove a dead flower in your face at Downtown Crossing asking for money for "The Indian Children". I swear, some of the ones I see are the same ones I saw back in the 70s! I don't mind them nearly as much as I do the annoying professional fundraiser teenyboppers, I just wish they'd be a little more honest. Or at least update their hustle. Who refers to Native, indigenous peoples as "Indians" anymore?
Maybe they mean Indians-from-India
after all, doesn't the Romany language have its roots in India?
Indians
> Who refers to Native, indigenous peoples as "Indians" anymore?
Why not ask the people at the American Indian Center of Boston (in JP, last time I looked)?
Yup.
They are trained- no doubt :)
I think he was back on the
I think he was back on the red line around 11 or so. Apparently, he now needs money to get an ID or something to get his Section 8 apartment after 18 months living in the shelter. Which, you know, go go getting yourself together.... But... This is not the way to do it.
What about the girl with the
What about the girl with the ankle brace who supposedly needs money to get the train back to CT? I heard about her "working" at North/South station, now she's always hanging around Tremont around 5-6 PM. If I see her trying to scam someone now, I ask how she managed to get stranded in Boston 2 days in a row. Usually takes the wind out of her sails.
She's been around for a while
If it's the same woman (about 20 to 25-years old, possibly hispanic), she was hanging around Newbury Street, Boyleston Street and The Pru Center Mall a lot this winter and spring. Always with that same story about Connecticut. Some days with a crutch, some days without.
And it's universal
I dashed out to grab a smoke between planes at Chicago O'Hare several years ago, and a guy came up and explained that his ride had stiffed him and he had to get money to get himself to Moline to see his ill mother.
"Funny," I said, "People try that on me at home in Boston a lot. Do you have relatives there?"
He suggested that I engage in autoerotica (not his actual phrasing) and left.
I can also report
...that you'll get a similar response in Harvard Square if you point vaguely southwest when someone starts telling you they need help getting to NYC.
I had a guy who used to
I had a guy who used to appear at inopportune moments (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) as I dropped my girlfriend off o Friday nights in front of the Greenhouse on Huntington Avenue. He always needed $20 bucks to get the bus back to Springfield.
Back on the Red Line
He's trying the Red Line again. Luckily he boarded at DTX as I was about to step off at South Station.
This time his bullshit story is that he needs enough money to buy a winter coat from the Goodwill store. They're holding a coat for him for $15. Some nice people already gave him $5...can anyone else contribute the rest. He needs the money today because Goodwill is only holding the coat today, what with the high demand for coats right before winter starts.
One or two ladies who apparently believed his horseshit story appeared to be digging in their purses as I exited the train.
Red Line Park Street / DTX again
He's apparently making a good living on the redline between Park Street and DTX. Most recently back to the Commuter Rail Fare to Worcester story.