Kate and I ate lunch at chik fil a yesterday. And there was a man sitting a few booths away from us who was on his cell phone. He was very loud. These are the things we learned from his numerous conversations:
1. His dad died, was traveling home from funeral.
2. His piece of junk car broke down.
3. His name was Steve (no last name, never told anyone on the phone his last name).
4. His wife’s name was Stephanie.
5. Stephanie was pregnant.
6. He and Stephanie had spent two nights in a hotel waiting for car to be fixed, and car repair cost $640.
7. He was out of money and 900 miles from home.
8. He had two children at home who needed to be picked up from somewhere. Two boys, ages 9 and 11. He called Elaine, said his name was Steve, asked her to pick up the boys, told her she could stay at their house, then had to tell Elaine the boys ages. Sorry, that is sketch.
9. Stephanie had stopped eating because they didn’t have any money. She was in the car because she was upset.
10. He called Pastor David, asked him to pray for them and God Bless.
11. Needed someone to western union him some money.
Honestly, it was the most transparent scam I have ever seen. And the worst part about it? Some sweet older man went up to him and gave him money. And after he gave him money Steve made like six more phone calls instead of going outside to check on poor pregnant starving Stephanie.
Want to know when he did finally leave? When I went to tell the manager to keep an eye on him. Want to know what "Stephanie" was doing outside? Smoking a cigarette. Did she look pregnant? Nope.
Now, I don’t want to seem like a heartless bitch, because I do believe that desperate people do desperate things. And this guy probably really was desperate. But it really makes me irate when people prey on the sympathies of good hearted people in the name of being a down and out Christian. Lots of people patronize chik fil a because of it’s Christian values (i.e. not open on Sundays, their kids meals normally include bible stories) and this guy was taking advantage of the it.
I know that people do get stuck in situations where they run out of money on the road and have to rely on the kindness of others. Life can hit you hard sometimes. People like "Steve" make it very difficult to help the people who really need help.
Sorry for the rant. More happy posts soon.
the thin line between optimism and delusion... 