Thursday, October 24, 2002
I went to Buckingham Palace [today] to take some pictures of the morning ceremony; but getting tired of waiting, I decided to leave a little after noon as I recall. I was walking away from the palace thinking I might go check out a hat shop on St. James street. I noticed a path in the Royal Gardens and stared a bit to see if it went through. Seeing that it didn't, I decided it would be safer to just stay on the street I was on and go to the next corner where I knew St. James intersected with it.
On
the way to the intersection there
was an old man in a beige trench coat and a green beret walking swiftly along.
He asked me if the street went to Trafalgar Square. I, not being
certain, said I would have to check my map. "Ahhh! I'm sorry I
thought you were English!" he said. (In retrospect, I was carrying a
backpack and wearing an old Old Navy t-shirt, and I think I looked like a
tourist). He explained that he was from Australia and that he was on
vacation. I started to say, "Ah! I have friends in Australi..."
Cutting me off he continued with his questions.
I had no idea where we were walking to. I think we went around in circles a bit...he was walking so quickly and not stopping much for lights.
I remember bits and pieces, not in much order. He asked me many questions about myself, but...just things someone would normally ask.
"Where are you from?" I told him I was from the US, and he replied, "Ah ok! I'm going to Orange County, Los Angeles and Las Vegas next week."
"Where are you visiting in London?" he asked.
"I'm not sure yet I just arrived. I would like to see Canterbury." I replied.
He told me about having won a huge sum gambling the night before, and pulled out a wad of British Pounds to back up his claim. He explained that he was going to the theatre that night with a young lady he had picked up the night before, but he wasn't sure if he would see Phantom, Les Mis, or Mia Mia! (of course he asked me which one I liked).
Then came the question of how much my hotel room cost (£17) and then saying, "My! I paid a bit more! About £200 a night!".
Anyway, when he had enough information about me to know what my weaknesses might be (I was obviously not a snob, nor someone who believed in psychics, etc. but I was a student teacher in France on vacation), I think he focused in on the weakness of knowledge. It probably took so long because he had to fish for something I didn't know. He had a few dumb questions but not too dumb, the average American high school student probably wouldn't know. But this is how he tapped into my weakness I think:
"Now I heard that your President was a governor of a state once, um, Texas I think."
"Yup."
"And he was a senator too?"
"No he wasn't."
"Oh, really? That surprises me because I thought most Presidents were senators."
"Nope. In fact, I think they're mostly state governors."
"Really?"
"Yep...I think the governorship is even called the stepping-stone to the presidency."
"Really? I had no idea! But there were some senators, right?"
"Right, umm...Kennedy, Nixon..."
"But now George Bush's father was a senator, right?"
"Right, er...I'm not sure if he was a representative or a senator, but yes I'm pretty sure he was a Congressman. But Reagan, Clinton, FDR they were all governors at one time."
So while he was asking general trivia questions about presidents and general information (How big is the US? How big is Canada? How big is Mexico?), he stumbled across something where I showed I was a little uncertain. I knew the population of the United States was around 260 million, something he had asked, and it continued like this:
"Wow! I always thought it was 500 million! I thought America was about 500 million people!"
"That must be North America, I'm pretty sure the US isn't much bigger than 270 million."
"And how many people would you say there are in Canada?"
"Not sure, really."
"Would you say about the same?"
"No, much less."
"Would you say more than 200 million?"
"No, less."
"Would you say more than 100 million?"
"No, still probably less..."
"About 50 million?"
"Mmmm...Canada is larger than the US, but sparsely populated, but I would think it would be a little more than 50 million if the US is at 260 million. I drove through Toronto once and it was a packed city."
"OK, so you would say between...50 and 100 million?"
"That would be a good guess I think."
"I like to bet about things like that, like I would have bet you about Bush and you would have had £100."
"That's nice."
"How positive are you its more than 50 million?"
"Fairly."
"Wow, you were right about Bush I bet, and Clinton...so I'll take your word that you're right about that."
"Don't. I'm really not."
"How sure are you that (W.) Bush wasn't a senator then?"
"I'm probably 99.99% sure. He owned a baseball team before he was governor."
Conversation continued about nothing in particular for another 15 minutes. He talked about the Quebecois, about how he was a Free Mason, told me I should visit Scotland while I was here...and somehow during this time he got me to shake on a bet of £100 on the population of Canada: 0 - 50 million he would win £100; 50 - 150 million and £100 was mine; above 150 million was a draw - no winners.
I hesitated, then shook his hand. He had managed to convinced me I was certain,
although I had had no clue a mere half hour before.
So then we had to find a bookshop to verify the answer. We wandered
around "looking" for a bookshop." I really wasn't looking, I was
too tired; but he kept asking people, and eventually someone knew. There
just happened to be a huge bookstore not too far from us (what luck!). I
didn't think anything of it at the time because I knew we were walking towards a
big shopping area (I was going to go look for a hat originally, remember?) I
just didn't know where I was.
He played it so brilliantly, he went over to the Atlases and said, "Maybe in here!."
"No, I don't think so", I replied as I opened one up and to show that there were only maps. So I took control, found a book, opened it up and...30 million people. 30 million friggin' people. There were millions of Canadians where I lived at the border and the entire population of Canada must be right there.
This was the beginning of my solid sensing that this was a scam...I had had suspicions before...but...now...
Then I can't tell you why, but I said, "OK, so I guess I owe you. Let me go to the ATM, I don't carry around a wad like you do."
Even though I sensed, that it was a scam...I felt...I shook on it...I fell for it the moment I accepted the bet, and scam or not, I had given my word. I felt morally obliged to pay up.
At the first ATM, I took out only £50 handed it to him. He didn't seem to notice at first and then he said, "Oh, wait, this is only £50!"
I said something like, "Oh, sorry its an American card I was using, I probably hit the limit on it. We'll go to another machine and I'll get the rest."
We walked around for awhile talking. He didn't seem concerned about the missing £50.
"Well, I'm going to send you something much nice, worth much more than £100!", he said. "You're really an interesting person, could I have your address? Just write it on this postcard."
I wrote an address on the postcard, the the address of the high school in France where I am working.
"What would you have done with the money if you would have won?", he asked.
"I don't know, I probably would have purchased gifts for my family for Christmas.", I replied.
"You could afford to lose it right?"
"I guess so...it's about 2 weeks salary as a student teacher." He didn't seem to care about what I said, just saying, "Good," after each of my replies.
The he asked, "So what would you say is the population of Mexico?"
"I have no idea," I said.
"Not to bet, but what do you think it is?"
"I don't know," I replied.
"What about another unknown country?"
"I don't know."
"Pick a country, any country...Look! An ATM machine."
I withdrew the other £50 and gave it to him.
"So what country?", he insisted.
"China," I said. I know the population of China.
"So what would you say for Mexico, not betting."
"I don't know, 100 million to 200 million."
"And for China?"
"Around 1
billion. You're very good you know. You're lucky I'm exhausted
from traveling right now." He answered with silence, then continued,
"What would your mother like for Christmas you think? I am an antiques
dealer and I'm going to the store to shop for jewelry."
I knew I had been scammed, so I wasn't about to fall for anything else.
"No, nothing like that," I said. "My mom likes simple things that come from the heart."
"Well, I'm going to send you something," he insisted. "Do you have an e-mail? I am going to send you something in the post, I have your address. I've had a wonderful time today, you're such a wonderful person. I want you to write me back when you get my letter, and tell me what the population is of Mexico and China."
I really wasn't saying much at this point, being kinda' pissed off and embarrassed. But he kept talking to me as if I was responding to his questions.
"I had a wonderful time chatting with you," he continued. "So you think I should go see Les Mis, ay? You have a magnificent mind, you should be a diplomat."
He was still rolling with the scam even though I had let him know I was onto him!
"Promise you won't tell anyone
I've been gambling! My wife doesn't like me
gambling," he confided.
I promised I wouldn't tell his wife, but was careful not to mention anyone else 'cause I wasn't sure what to do at that point.
"I had a wonderful time today, but I've got to go see my
friend. Look up the
population of China and Mexico and write me back!" he said cheerily.
Of course, he had never given me his address. With that, he kissed me on
the cheek and speedily walked away, leaving me to feel more than slightly out of
kilter.
On the way back to my hotel I thought, wow...he was really good. His manipulation had kept me doing what he wanted, even though I knew it was a scam. He was well aware that I HAD to give him the money after I shook his hand, no matter what. He had determined that I have that thing called integrity and that my word means something to me.
So right now, I feel I paid for a rather expensive play in which I was the only audience. I'm not expecting a postcard...but I'm kinda' still hoping he will send one saying, "You've been had by XXXXXX," though this is probably unlikely.
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Contributed by F. W.
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