Thursday, November 6, 2008
Has anyone come to your front door trying to sell magazines? The mother I nanny for informed me that a young group of African American males have been going around the neighborhood kicking down the back door of houses if no one answers the front door. Earlier this week I heard a loud banging somewhere on the house. Next thing I know I see this guy waving at me through the front window. I freaked out. Remembering what she told me, I waved him over to the front door. When he got there I realized there was another guy with him. My only thought was, be friendly don't make them angry. I began speaking to them through the glass door, scared to death of opening it. Guy number two went on a huge schpill of this organization they worked for that took inner city kids and taught them business skills and they could earn money based on how pleasant and well mannered they presented themselves professionally. I thought oh wow that's kinda awesome. They had a list of magazines that they were selling subscriptions to, each worth a certain amount of points they could earn. I really didn't want any magazines, but they seemed somewhat legit, especially after seeing a list of other neighbors who had signed off for them. At this point they began hitting on me. Asking me if I had any kids, how old I was, and wanting my number. Normally I would say something really sarcastic/tell them off....but my mind kept going back to the 3 month old laying a few feet away. I signed up, only because you could cancel it within 3 business days and I wanted to appease them and get rid of them.
It turns out it is a scam. And the guy who I mostly talked to has been charged with break ins, sexual assault, and attempted rape. I had to call my bank and get them to void the check I wrote. So just a heads up. Learn from my fear and stupidity.