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People on street asking for train/bus fare

who_me

Had a couple of odd experiences over the last week with people stopping me asking for money on the street. What made them a bit unusual (for me at least) is they weren't asking for spare change, but for money to get bus/train tickets. In one case - train fare for a couple and a child to Dublin - how much would that be?? 70 or 80 euros?

In both cases, they had a hard luck story. In the one case they'd come to Cork with a friend who was then suddenly taken to hospital so had no way home. In the other, the woman came to Cork but had been attacked and robbed and now had no way home.

They might be genuine, but what made me extremely sceptical is they both had a bit of a spiel before telling me the story. "Hi there, excuse me. What's your name? Who_me? Can I call you Who? Here's the thing..."

Both were fairly pushy. I did give the first guy a couple of euros, but he spotted a tenner sticking out of my pocket "Sure I'll take that tenner". OH NO YOU WON'T! "Ok, I'll take that fiver so". Nope.

Odd that both of these happened within a week.

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cantdecide

celica00 wrote: »

ha what I would do is offer to go to the shop with him/her and get him/her what they are asking for (bottle of water, train/bus ticket etc)

It's not a case of trying to outsmart them. I do hand over money in the hope that they will spend at least some of it on food and sustenance but I'm not naive. You can't make them spend it on what you want.

celica00

cantdecide wrote: »

It's not a case of trying to outsmart them. I do hand over money in the hope that they will spend at least some of it on food and sustenance but I'm not naive. You can't make them spend it on what you want.

well if they ask for it I would be happy to help out, but in these times, it should be fine for them that i ask for "proof" and go with them to buy them stuff...think thats fair enough for free stuff they get

smackbunnybaby

Had this happen to me in Dublin as well a few years back.

It's confusing! A fella comes up to me on my road, not a major road, quite residential and says "Are you living around here?"

Without thinking I go, "yeah" (immediately went f**k, why did i say that).

He then goes on a spiel about losing all his cash, needing to get to the airport to met his wife and kids and could I spot him (effectively 30-40 quid).

I go , I've no money and then he goes "Well, will you drive me so?"

I said no and walked on.

What I dont get is the "Will you drive me so?" part. Would he have pulled a gun on me? What's the story? Stolen the car?

I probably sound pretty naive here, but it didn't seem like your run of the mill junkie, who are normally cash only, short term gainers!

who_me

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

Had this happen to me in Dublin as well a few years back.

It's confusing! A fella comes up to me on my road, not a major road, quite residential and says "Are you living around here?"

Without thinking I go, "yeah" (immediately went f**k, why did i say that).

He then goes on a spiel about losing all his cash, needing to get to the airport to met his wife and kids and could I spot him (effectively 30-40 quid).

I go , I've no money and then he goes "Well, will you drive me so?"

I said no and walked on.

What I dont get is the "Will you drive me so?" part. Would he have pulled a gun on me? What's the story? Stolen the car?

I probably sound pretty naive here, but it didn't seem like your run of the mill junkie, who are normally cash only, short term gainers!

Likewise, one of them asked me first if I was from 'around here', and was asking for fare for the family. However with me, both of them were asking to get back to Limerick/Dublin so a lift was never on the cards.

H3llR4iser

Happens all the time, everywhere. When I was still in Italy, it would be most common in the car park of shopping centres: it would always be "I ran out of petrol, my two kids are in the car and I forgot my wallet". In that case they'd be asking for a few euros, maybe 2 or 3, just to "restart the car and get home".

Here in Ireland, it seems to get more complex and they seem to ask for more money. The "bus/train/cab fare" is mainstream, but when I was in Dublin I ran into one VERY well thought one: guy standing beside a BMW, going on about locking his wallet in the car and needing a cab fare to go home and get the spare keys...

the beer revolu

H3llR4iser wrote: »

when I was in Dublin I ran into one VERY well thought one: guy standing beside a BMW, going on about locking his wallet in the car and needing a cab fare to go home and get the spare keys...

Well thought outish...
In that situation you'd get a cab to your house, get the spare keys, take the cab back to the car, open the car and pay for the cab from your wallet.

While I've no doubt that the vast, vast majority of these are scams, I did, once, years ago, find myself in a situation of having to ask strangers for a tube fare. I was staying with my brother North of London. I had spent a weekend with friends in Cambridge and had (as 19 year olds do) spent all my money bar the train fare from Cambridge to London but while on the platform,I realised I didn't have the tube fare to get from the mainline station to where my brother worked to get a lift back to his place. Though greatly embarrassed, I tried asking a few strangers on the platform for the fare (about £1.80 IIRC) but no one believed my story-one man even suggesting that my destination didn't exist because he thought I was saying Oxbridge rather than Uxbridge. Unsuccessful, I had to go back to my friends flat, climb in the window and raid his loose change for the fare.
I was young and stupid but genuine.

I'd like to think I could tell the difference but the much older me would probably not have given money to the 19 YO me either.:o

H3llR4iser

the beer revolu wrote: »

Well thought outish...
In that situation you'd get a cab to your house, get the spare keys, take the cab back to the car, open the car and pay for the cab from your wallet.

Definitely, but a lot of people won't think about that immediately. Also, he was clearly well practiced in his comedy, I suspect more than one person ended up giving him a five or a ten every day. And if we want to be entirely thorough, I am not even sure you can actually lock your keys in a 3-Series. One I rented a few years ago needed either the physical key or the remote on the key to lock, just like most relatively recent cars...

I'd like to think I could tell the difference but the much older me would probably not have given money to the 19 YO me either.:o

You could have tried to ask somebody to actually get the ticket for you, might have worked. If a decent fella (in other words, no readily apparent drugs/alcohol issues) asked me not for money, but to get him a 2 Euro ticket for a train, I would probably do it. For one, it's really hard to sell a tube ticket in exchange for drugs

One thing that I find curious however, it's almost never a woman pulling the no money for the bus stunt. I have a feeling that a decent looking girl with a sob story and need for a cab fare home would rack money in by the hundreds per day...

gimmick

Would these be the same poeple who are walking around looking distressed who need to use your mobile phone? I always just say "no credit" and keep walking to those.

who_me

gimmick wrote: »

Would these be the same poeple who are walking around looking distressed who need to use your mobile phone? I always just say "no credit" and keep walking to those.

Hah, I did give a loan of my phone once, to a French guy in London. No problems with it at all, but I ended up getting lots of angry txt messages in French from then on "Putain! Why don't you call me back?!?"

the beer revolu

H3llR4iser wrote: »

You could have tried to ask somebody to actually get the ticket for you, might have worked. If a decent fella (in other words, no readily apparent drugs/alcohol issues) asked me not for money, but to get him a 2 Euro ticket for a train, I would probably do it. For one, it's really hard to sell a tube ticket in exchange for drugs

This was before you could buy tube tickets outside of London. I was afraid to go to London without the fare for fear of being left stranded without a penny in central London. Friends in Cambridge would have looked after me.

Mushy

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

There's a young fella (18-ish) in a trackie who does this very often around North Main Street and Castle Street.

Used to see him on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which also happened to be around the time when people would be coming out of mass and heading back to their cars.

He stopped asking me, but the two times I seen someone give him money, I followed him out of curiosity and he went straight into the Boyle's Sports at the end of the street.

I think there were a few people in the 'characters of cork' thread mentioning an older man wearing a suit doing the same thing and using it for something like scratch cards.

Wonder is that the fooker who stole a sausage off my plate outside Tony's...I was enjoying that fry.

I was stopped at the top of McCurtain St by two women with a sob story, but I was a bit tipsy so said I had no money left. They went to grab my arm but just went away too fast. I had my doubts on whether the baby was real too.

darkdubh

A couple of times I've encountered this guy,very big fat lad in his late 20's I'd say.He dosen't give a sob story just begs in a very aggresive manner, stands in front of you as you're walking and tries to block your way

mikeym

darkdubh wrote: »

A couple of times I've encountered this guy,very big fat lad in his late 20's I'd say.He dosen't give a sob story just begs in a very aggresive manner, stands in front of you as you're walking and tries to block your way

He should be reported to the Gardai.

AlanS181824

Thankful that I personally never experienced much of this but my Ma told me a story about when she was in Stockholm about a Romanian "tiggare" that used to hang around all the hotels switching by day with one of those utterly creepy fake babies saying her son was "so very sick" (She had the child in rags and blankets and that)
She needed the money to pay for a doctor's visit (Health care in Sweden is totally free so this was clearly bull)
My mother gave her money the first time she saw her and then a few days later she was outside a bar with the same "sob" story, she completely acted as though she'd never seen my mother in her life.

regress

cantdecide wrote: »

I used to live in the city centre and my advice to anyone is look them in the eye and just say 'sorry I've nothing on me' without stopping or slowing. If they ask for anything else or persist, just repeat a version of same.
I...

This is so very Irish. Why are you unable to just say no. Why is telling a lie which is obviously prepesporous and untrue preferable tO just being honest. Do you think they believe you when you say that you have nothing on you.

gimmick

Does he care?

Anyway. I was asked for €2 for a bag of chips last night.

FTA69

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

What I dont get is the "Will you drive me so?" part. Would he have pulled a gun on me? What's the story? Stolen the car?

It was a last-ditch effort to appear credible, to convince you that he really was genuine. He was hoping you'd think "sure if he wasn't genuine he wouldn't ask" and that you'd hand over the coin after all.

You can be sure he wasn't genuine.