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When my friend and I got off of the Thalys in Paris, we went to the Metro kiosk to figure out how to buy tickets to where we wanted to go. A homeless gentleman was standing nearby, and he offered to help us in broken English. I was very suspicious, as my dad and uncle had warned me up and down about pickpockets and scammers being prevalent in Europe, but everything on my person was pretty secure except for a few francs in my pocket (this is pre-euro). I shrugged and said sure. He came over, asked where we were going in Paris, we told him, and he showed us how to navigate the menus on the ticket kiosk. I put in the francs for our tickets, got them, and then slipped him a few of my remaining francs. We went on our merry way, although traveling on the Metro with our backpacks made me nervous. I kept expecting someone to sneak up behind me and get into my shit because the car was packed and we had to stand.
And james t kirk: I've seen the petition scam here in my own town. We live in a university town. There have been a couple people who have come by saying they're petitioning the UN or some government body for whatever reason, will you sign the petition, and donate to their cause? My husband was patiently listening to one guy give his spiel when I interrupted (after hearing him ask for a donation), said no thank you, and closed the door. My husband was like--thank you! He was also pretty sure the guy was a scammer once he'd asked for a donation, but he wasn't sure how to politely extricate himself from the situation. Fuck politeness in that kind of situation.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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