A few weeks ago, a friend and I were making our rounds of our local train shops. As always, we talked to other customers in the stores about one thing and another (usually train related). At the last shop we visited, I noticed a scruffy looking guy over at the book rack thumbing through magazines and checking people out as they came in. I had kind of hoped that he would move on so I could have my chance at the books without his company, but it didn’t work out that way. As we were about to leave, I went over, picked up a book that caught my eye and was looking through it when this guy starts trying to strike up a conversation with me. You could tell by the way he talked, looked and acted that he was very out of place. After a few minutes, I’d finally had enough of his cigarette smoke smell and foul mouth, and motioned for my buddy that it was time to leave. As we were walking out, this guy follows us out and asks us if we’ve got a light. We don’t smoke I tell him. Then he asks if he can catch a ride with us, but I make up a quick lie and tell him we’re late for an appointment and don’t have time. He then asks if we have “a few bucks” we can spare, and I’m thinking if it’ll get rid of you I can spare $5.00… He then goes into this story that he just did three years in prison for robbery, and that he would have never commited the crime in the first place if he hadn’t gotten hooked on dope… I wished him luck and we got on out of there. God only knows what this guy was up to, but my instincts told me he was up to no good. After we got down the street, I called the train shop and told one of the employees what had just happened and he said if the guy came back in the store he would call the police to come check him out.
This is an all too common occurance. I know it happens once in a while at the LHS I go to. The clerk is a very sharp-eyed lad and he usually spots them quickly and politely shows them the door. Just one bum like that can drive away customers and forcibly throwing him out can make good customers afraid to return.
At the LHS that I go to, the owner has several cctv cameras in the shop. There are some shady looking types that go in there, but be real careful with stereotyping (although I keep a cautious eye myself). Some of these scruffy lookin’ sorts give the hobby shop a lot of business.
Please don’t think that I’m the type that makes snap judgements about people upon first sight. But I had a feeling about this guy right off the bat for some reason. And you’re right. This guy would have given the shop “the business” that day alright if he’d had the chance…
Good point, Smitty.
[2c]
As one of those probably considered to be a scruffy-looking character, I can tell you that it’s really is how people act, not how they look, that matters. I’ve seen plenty of conventional looking characters act like jerks at shops, too.
Shop owners are usually glad to see me again, in my experience, after I’ve been there once.
[;)]
I apologize if that came off the wrong way. I am guilty of the same thing. You just never know in this day and age. I understand about getting those feelings about somebody though. It is pretty easy to tell who is on the up and up and who has other motives. Like you said, it wasn’t one of the regulars.
If it was all about how a person looks, I’d be in big trouble! I MIGHT shave 3 days out of 7, my idea of formal dress is old jeans and T-shirt. My hair may be combed if I remember to do it. Often times I don’t. People who know me accept me for who I am, not what I look like.
Not just train shops. We were rather frightened by such a charicter in a nice resturant in Seattle. The owner threw him out, but we were frightened by an possible act of retaliation.
As some have said, it is more than just scruffiness or odor, we all get into that, especially on days off. But most can sense the difference between danger and when I do not get to the shower often enough.
Most owners seem to appreciate pointing these people out.
As I get older, I’ve began to loosen up a bit about my appearance. It use to be that I wouldn’t leave the house unless I was clean shaven, well dressed and every hair was in place until I finally realized how much it was stressing me out to be this way. Now I’m only that way when I have to be…
We already had problems with bums in my former retail job. They get hauled out of the store and banned on sight. If necessary, arrested.
We dont have bum trouble that I know of here in Arkansas as long you stay out of the downtown center where the homeless hangs out.
Sorry to be blunt but Ive years going around and around with these unsavory characters and have no toleranace for the sob story, unclean appearance etc… The most I would do was hand out a few cigerettes in the Market while trucking and that was it.
When I was recently in north Philly to visit my adopted son, I was approached at a convenience store (in broad daylight, on a Sunday morning) by a scruffy smelly fellow who rattled off a string of unintelligible gibberish at me (I guess it is now called something like “ebonics”, it used to be called “jive”). I ignored him and went inside. When I came out he approached me again, rattled off some more gibberish, and stuck his hand out. I just ignored him again. As I drove away, he flipped me off!
When I said something to my son about this, he said that the guy wanted a tip because he had “made sure” that my car wasn’t stolen while I was in the store!
That’s a good example of somebody trying to get something for nothing. If he really wants to help, he can go get a job. But then that requires that he work, and that type don’t like 4 letter words that start with “W”. Every other kind, but not that one.
People sometimes wonder why I don’t have a job and then take into account my physical condition and answer their own question.
There was a Produce Market in LA. A very dangerous part of town. My assignment was to load up produce heading to the east coast and was assured by my dispatcher that I dont have to do anything but “Count the children” as each pallet went into the trailer.
One person being very clean, sober and eager to work won himself a job counting the freight as I stood over him double checking. In exchange I earned intelligence on who are workers trying to get themselves a better position in life, who are lazy and prositutes and other bits of knowledge.
That information is to prove useful as I had other loads out of that market and put him to work every time. One day I was told that the worker will be leaving town to go to school and that I would need to find another counter (With a short list of “Good” workers)
The rest of the riff raff simply played thier game squatting in the sidewalk along the market bumming off other people who are also drivers. Some of the drivers were wise and stayed out of trouble… others were not so lucky.
No he was not. From what I understand the person did not want to accept the prospect of spending his life in such a poor and dangerous area. He wanted to reclaim his life and future while he was still able bodied and had a desire to lift himself out of poverty.
Im willing to bet the dirty and filthy person in the trainshop had no such desire as evidenced by following a customer out to the parking lot asking for handouts. Im just glad it was not me he followed out to the parking lot.
To be honest I find it safer shopping online, once in while I’ll take the ride out to my lhs but to avoid any problems it’s safer to shop online. I’m not quick to judge, but a wise person once told me to follow my mind or as some might say, follow your gut feeling.
Got two stories to tell, both true. When I lived in baltimore there was a guy who walked in to a car dealership, looked like a bum. A couple of sales people that had been there awile sent the new sales guy to wait on him. New guy waited on him ( feeling what the heck I can practice my selling skills on him for when I have a real customer). He did his best and low and behold it turned out to be someone very rich and he bought three cars ( without dickering on the price ). Real story. Next we have why you won’t catch me dressed up much. I was in a medium class restaurant and was with a buddy’s family and he started playing with a crab, kinda posing him. I was taken aback and asked him to stop. He asked a couple of ?, you know any of these people ( no ), you ever seen any of them before ( no ), you think you’ll ever seem any of them again ( no ), then why do you care ! Made sense to me.