"I know I'm a big, scary, Black man..."

[Karen]

Yes...when I lived in Chicago...same line....

and I was ashamed because I was frighten by this man standing on the off-ramp...and I gave him money and then more when he said it wasn't enough...within 10 seconds I knew I had been conned. He appealed to my racial fears and my shame for those fears....and he profited from it.

The second time I was angrier and not afraid.

Okay, Lobodeb - time to contact a local newspaper or better yet, TV station, and tell them about this con artists. Have them do an exposée!

[ramanth]

I was taken in by an elderly looking woman. I was putting gas in my car and she came up to me saying her car had run out of gas a few blocks away and she had no money. I gave her $20 like the fool I am. I should of given her .35 for the pay phone.

Never again.

[K9soul]

I know nothing about whether he was a con artist or if he's the same man conning others. I went by the info from the first post with my response when it was stated the only reason the man was not given help was because of what he said, stated that she would have helped him but because he said those words she didn't. He could have been joking or lighthearted, he could have really been someone in need and was just trying to break the ice. Not everyone is totally PC in how they speak or say things. I've been around a lot of people who have different ways of communicating and different senses of humor and to make a snap judgments and assumptions because of the words used is what bothered me and what I found sad.