Last monday, after work, I stopped at an ATM machine. One that turned out not to be working. As I stepped back to my car, a van pulled up beside me, and the driver said, "Can I ask you a question?" My first thought was he wanted directions. But he got out and said something along the lines of "we're stranded ... trying to get to the coast ... have $400 worth of tools in my truck ..." The mention of the tools immediately rang a bell, because several months ago, I'd been conned out of money in a similiar situation in which tools were mentioned. I guess the reference to tools is to indicate that the person has capital, it's just not very fluid.

I told him I'd been conned before, was sorry and couldn't help him. He was pissed. I couldn't tell if he was pissed because he was legit, or if it was part of an act. Usually, such guys will approach only solitary men, who don't appear overly hostile. So as I left, I was a little surprised to see he was blocking traffic as he tried to talk to a man holding a baby.

If you stop and think about it, these situations have a strong element of "social engineering" to them. Get the person's attention first with an innocuous comment. Actually an innocuous question is even better. If you were to say, "Can you give me $10," you'd not get anywhere. I wonder if there's a school these guys go to.

No doubt, I could have refused to acknowledge him at first. But I do give some credence to the biblical adage, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

Among my fellow washers was an early-20s-something guy wearing a tight white tee, light tan slacks and blue flip-flops. Short, curly, brown hair, slightly balding, long sideburns. Just a tad nelly. But very unelf-conscious. He darted right and left and was great fun to watch. When he bent over to retrieve clothes from the washer, his tee rode up in the back, and I noticed one of those squiggly-looking tattoos that resembled the blade part of a Winkie's sword.

PAX!