I was heading out to my sister's house the other day. I took our dog, Pepper, with me because she likes to play with my sister's dog, Smokey. I needed to get gas, so I pulled into a station near our house. As I was pulling in, I noticed a vagrant that I've seen around the neighborhood. He was hitting up some guy for some change at one of the pumps. They vagrant spotted me pulling in. I pulled up to the pump island that was farthest away from where he was standing, hoping that he would not bug me. No such luck. As I was about to exit the car, he approached. Pepper, seeing him approach, jumped onto my lap and stuck her head out my window, which was slightly open. She never does this. The guy stopped about 3-4 feet away from the car and hit me up for some change. I told him, "No!" Well, I thought he would leave. But, he stood about 5 feet from me. I intended to pay at the pump with the credit card. I guess I could have left and gone to another station, but the Escort was running on fumes and I wasn't even sure if it would make it to the next closest gas station. So, I rolled down the window about halfway. Enough for Pepper to get out, if she needed to. I took out my card and then held my wallet, under my arm tightly while I ran the card through the card reader. I then put it back into my wallet and tossed my wallet into the open driver's window of the car onto the passenger side floor. The passenger door was locked. The only way he could get to the wallet would be to enter through the driver's door. And, I don't think he was about to do that, not with Pepper sitting there watching his every move. After I tossed the wallet into the car, he walked away. What a relief. That is one of the reasons I love travelling with a dog. They make me feel a little more secure.
Posted by Valkyre at June 10, 2003 10:39 PMI would imagine that a vagrant is the least physically able to do harm to someone, what with their liver and stomach problems...it's the young drug addicts who are fast and desperate that scare me.
But yes, the creeps are the creeps, and our doggies are good for when someone gives you the creeps.
So many times these beggers don't want to buy food with the money they ask of you....they want to buy booze. I don't like being approached by anyone when I'm alone so I know how you felt. I would even get freaked out if a nun was walking up to me. These days, you just can't be too safe ;)
Posted by: Violet at June 11, 2003 01:40 PMI know I'm late to this, but I usually just give them the dollar.
Life is hard for them, and me not giving them the buck isn't going to make a difference. If I have the buck, I give it to them. I usually don't carry cash with me, but if I have a buck or two, they usually end up getting it.
I think I do it more so that I don't feel guilty. I mean, I know they're not going to use it for food - but a person has to eat sometime, and maybe that time they'll use the money I gave them for food.
Posted by: Misu at June 20, 2003 10:23 AM