So, Carlee’s post about Target has prompted me to write about something that has been bothering me. About two weeks ago, I was in Macey’s (grocery store) parking lot with Dylan loading up some groceries. A man wearing a black shirt, levis and was holding an empty gas can approached me and asked for some money. He stated that his car had run out of gas about a 1/2 mile down the road and he needed to purchase some gas. I was suspicious of his story, so I politely told him I did not have any money and returned to what I was doing. A few moments later two older women approached their car which was by mine. As they started to open their car doors the same man came up to them and gave them the same story he had given me. I overheard one woman say, “I have one dollar you can have.” She gave the money to him and proceeded to get into her car. The other woman was also opening her wallet to give him money, but I did not overhear how much she had. Anyway, I was so irate that they gave him money that I wanted to turn around and tell them not to because I felt they were being scammed. I didn’t however mostly for fear of what the man might say or do. Then as I got into my car I watched the man walk two rows over, put his gas can in his trunk, get into his white Chevrolet car and drive away. By this time I am fuming mad because he lied and took advantage of these two women who were probably scared to death of what he might do if they didn’t give him something. I took down his license plate number, color, make and model of his car, wrote down what he was wearing and wanted to call the cops. However, after talking with Ryan about the situation he explained there probably wasn’t anything that the police could do. So, I decided not to report it. It has weighed on my mind so much since then and I just wish I would have been brave enough to say or do something to stop him. So, I’m just curious as to what you would have done in this situation. Is it worth maybe calling Macey’s and asking them to beef up security in their parking lot? Calling South Ogden City and telling them to patrol down there a bit more frequently? Or should I just give up and consider the man lucky to have met two very nice women who were willing to share what they had with him in a so called time of need? I’m curious as to what you think.
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Allie,
I don’t know what I would have done either. This same sort of thing happened to me the day I went to Target last week (the time I wrote the post about). A guy was going from car to car asking people if they had any spare money to help him get home. I told him I had no cash, but the people across the row from me dug in their pockets and gave him what they had. I could tell that the man wasn’t going to use it to get home because he seemed a little drunk. I thought the same thing as you did about beefing up parking lot security. It creates a very uncomfortable situation for the customers. I even considered giving the man some money because I was all by myself and I was a little scared that he’d do something to me if I didn’t. Luckily it was in the broad daylight so I kept my cool and turned him down.
Anyway, I don’t know that it would be worth it to call the cops, because like Ryan said, they probably have no evidence to do anything to the man. But I think it would be worth calling Macey’s. Maybe you could just let them know what happened and that it could affect business because it makes their customers uncomfortable. They might decide that it’s worth it to have somebody patrol the parking lots just to make sure these situations don’t keep happening and that their customers feel comfortable shopping there.
Now that I think about it, I believe Kory and I have been asked for money in Macey’s parking lot also. It might be something they’d be interested in knowing about if nothing else.
As far as you saying something to the man, I think you did the right thing by not saying anything. You never know what people like that are capable of and especially where you were alone, it could have turned into a bad situation.
It’s too bad that some people are so dishonestly creative (or maybe creatively dishonest) (or maybe just plain scummy lazy) to do those kinds of things. Although we should help those in need when we can, you were wise to keep my your money in your pocket. Keep it up! May you always be blessed with such wonderful discerning abilities.
I have had that happen to me too. I probably wouldn’t have said anything at the time to him because it’s scary confronting a man when you are a female that is alone. I think it’s the store’s responsibility to keep their lots safe and overall it would be more advantageous for them to secure it a little more because if I don’t feel safe going somewhere I will avoid going there.
I’m glad you were safe though and that you didn’t fall for his lazy and cheap scam.