On a small Gypsy bus a few days ago I watched something unravel that I ultimately labeled as a brilliant scam.
When I climbed aboard a woman with a young daughter was shouting at the driver. My first impulse was to feel bad for the guy, she really seemed to be overreacting. The gist was that he hadn't given her correct change, but she wouldn't let it go. Jeez, I thought, give the poor guy a break!
I gave the driver a $20 (it's all I had, though I usually make it a point to have correct change...), and he took it, looked around and then held up a pointer finger to say, "hold on". I figured he couldn't go far. He went and sat down and began to drive. I thought, this is odd. But knew he was about to make a stop and assumed he needed change.
He stopped, took 5 or 6 more people aboard and began to drive. So now it was up to me to remember to get change from him. The ride was $3 so I needed $17 in change. Meanwhile it seemed a similar albeit quiet, under the radar version of this money exchange went on with a woman behind me. Though I'm not sure. I could have just been reading my own mystery story into this particular exchange.
I mulled over whether to wait until I got off in 10 minutes or to go up and disturb him while driving and get my $17. I'm a big no phone no distractions while driving person so it was a dilemna. Knowing how my mind wanders I decided in spite of the danger to make my way up front while he was stopped at a light. My curiosity was getting the best of me. I wanted to know what he was up to. I wanted to see if he would pretend to have forgotten.
But he had the money right there and handed it to me.
I sat down.
But I ran the frames through my internal projector again and realized this could be a brilliant scam. When the first woman yelled at him he didn't offer an argument for his innocence as most honest people usually do, he just mumbled and went on with business. As I said the second woman I wasn't clear on.
But I thought about the end result and worked backwards. This was a great little scam, I thought. You put the onus on the rider. If the rider remembers, she gets her change. If she trusts and waits because it's just a dollar or two, there's the possibility she'll forget and get off at her stop. Poof, he's made an extra bit of cash under the table and no one is likely to take the trouble to get his bus number or license (remember, they've forgotten and the bus is gone pretty quickly) and make a call. If they do, they're unlikely to get their money back. Where's the proof!
The really brilliant thing of course is that he was nice the whole time. A smile, soft voice. This makes it more difficult to accuse him - although the tough Latina mom with her five year old had no trouble giving him a piece of her mind. This is a common ploy used by petty criminals and rapists a like to Interview or Position their victims. Gavin DeBecker discuss this is his magnificent book The Gift of Fear.
Notice all three of us were women, so he's less likely to get his skull cracked by a tough guy who catches him. Another indication it was a scam since criminals are always watching for two things, getting caught and getting hurt, so they pick on those least likely to retaliate.
All in all, it was a fascinating little exchange. Food for thought. Next time I'll be prepared with exact change!
(Please let me know if you think I'm right or wrong by commenting on this post. Thanks! I'd love to know what you think!)
