{"id":1506,"date":"2016-05-25T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T06:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/?p=1506"},"modified":"2016-05-31T12:41:48","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T06:41:48","slug":"going-extremely-high-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/?p=1506","title":{"rendered":"Going extremely high tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just when I thought it was safe to close the chapter on the topic of homeless mendicants in the Meadow City, I received a report that I once thought would happen only in the movies.<\/p>\n

And though I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve admitted in at least two previous columns that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m one of the biggest offenders with my enabling, sympathizing, empathizing, mealy-mouthing, dollar-giving manner, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come across today as being critical of those who camp near restaurant entrances an gas station to beg for money.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, my files show that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had many encounters with beggars at 1) a frontage road near I-25 in Albuquerque; 2) Souper Salad in Santa Fe in an encounter that I feared might lead to fisticuffs; 3) a dozen places in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what happened:<\/p>\n

My wife and I were entering a restaurant on South Grand when a man, possibly in his 30s, gave us an oh-too-smooth woeful tale of a family emergency necessitating money for gas to enable him to drive to the Mineral Hill area to fix things up.<\/p>\n

As is my wont, I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t refuse. I offered him five dollars before checking my resources or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tipping my hand,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard is a poker term in which one inadvertently lets other players see the kind of cards he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got. I found two golden dollar coins and checked my billfold and fortunately located three one-dollar bills. I say fortunately because all the other bills were twenties, and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wish to part with them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, workers at the restaurant, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d apparently witnessed the entire transaction, talked among each other, one of them threatening to call the police. As that was happening, the mendicant found another prospect, and we all saw that person transfer a dollar to the same Mineral Hill denizen.<\/p>\n

Amid warnings like, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If people keep giving him money, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep coming back,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we entered the restaurant and chatted for a while with the employees there. And what was the topic of conversation? Well obviously, the man who unabashedly sought money from others and us.<\/p>\n

One of the employees, Richard, who provided only his first name, seemed to know the oh-so-smooth man. He told us of a local who showed him a wad of bills \u00e2\u20ac\u201d most of them singles \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d collected that day, 30 or 40 dollars, and calling that day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take \u00e2\u20ac\u0153about average.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I was fascinated by Richard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s account, and I told him I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to write about his observations for today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s column, but all he agreed to give was his first name.<\/p>\n

He left the restaurant long enough to discover that the Optic rack at the nearest Allsup\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s store was missing. Somebody had stolen the entire rack, not just the coin box. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s see: at 50 cents a copy . . . I doubt the thief is now planning his or her retirement cottage on what he ripped off from the rack. But Richard said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Notice when someone buys cigarettes or beer and pays only in quarters.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Either the numbers of people begging for money is increasing or I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m simply becoming more observant, as one who has spent much time downtown in the 17 years I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked for this newspaper. Richard told of a woman who drove to the Wal-Mart parking lot in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153an almost new Jeep,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d took out a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153homeless\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sign from the trunk and set up shop by one of the exits.<\/p>\n

In a number of previous columns I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve given my views on all the what-iffing I do. Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it better to be conned by a dozen non-needy people than to let a single famished person go hungry?<\/p>\n

Until last week I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t thought of street-peddlers having gone high-tech. Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a bit more informed. I often think of the Biblical account of the Widow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mite, in the Gospel of Mark, wherein the small coin an impoverished widow donates means much more than much larger amounts given by the wealthy.<\/p>\n

The ultimate in high-tech simply has to be the account Richard gave of a recent experience with a man he tried to evade by saying he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any cash and was carrying only a debit card.
\nThat would have been a smooth move by a man wishing to keep what is his. But the man asking for spare change was a step ahead of Richard.<\/p>\n

To my amazement, Richard said the man who approached him explained that the card would work fine.<\/p>\n

You see, apparently even tiny cell phones have ways to let you transfer funds from your bank to his. Richard showed me a small object with a slot through which one slides the card. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a simple way to connect it \u00e2\u20ac\u201d about the size of a fire alarm battery.<\/p>\n

Richard showed us the same kind of device that the restaurant stores inside the cash register. But that brings up the question: If this gentleman who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s begging for money can afford such a device, why does he need money from me?<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

Judy Long emailed a series of photos of actual small businesses that show creativity, if nothing else. Here are a few of the ones she sent. Some of the names \u00e2\u20ac\u201d representing actual businesses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d are obvious; others might keep you wondering. See if you can determine the kind of business these names would represent:<\/p>\n