The Truth that Exposes the Lie

I saw three families on Wednesday. The first "family" was my second scam. I managed to discover that they were not from the Gulf Coast after becoming suspicious about the story they had concocted about their experience. After making some calls, I found out that one of them was (?) a resident of Manhattan.

In both cases, the scammer had mixed in some truth with the fabrication. I suppose they do this to try to make their story more convincing. Given just a little truth we can begin tracking someone down to reveal the fabrication. If both of my “families” had sufficient acting talent to build their entire story on a lie, it would be very difficult to refuse them help. The truth is that some people have been dislocated without any papers, including such staples as a driver’s license, library card, credit card, or something official that anchors them to the area. So I imagine the talented scammers are in full bloom, taking advantage of the chaotic circumstance.

In a way, I admire them. In both cases, they were homeless people that had many years of learning how to survive by working the system. My thought was to try to help them for who they are. But they have literally worn out their welcome in the agencies and organizations who work with the homeless in this community. They like being homeless (hard to imagine that) and have no interest in achieving any different lifestyle. They have learned to con people of good will in order to survive. An ordinary person might feel sorry for them. But they have survived by finding the seams in the local culture where they can scheme to get what they need to survive. In some ways, they remind me of gypsies. They go to a community… tap into the services provided by churches and agencies. When they wear out their welcome, they move on. Years later, they are likely to return to work the same con.

Thank goodness I had a great but busy afternoon with two households that were part of an extended family. Wonderful people and two boys of Middle School age. Last night I visited the home where they are staying to drop off some computer games and board games for them to play.