Got hit up for cash in the smoothest possible way the other day

[conuly]

It was so smooth, I almost gave this woman money just because!

Her: Good morning!
Me: Hi?
Her: So how're you doing?
Me: Fine, thanks, and you?
Her: Oh, sorry, I thought you were somebody I knew!
Me: LOL, it happens!

And then, when my guard was down -

Her: Listen, I'm a little short, can I borrow $5?

If I'd had any small bills, I really might have given her something. I wasn't fooled from the second she said "Listen", but still. It was really well done, and if she's careful to keep switching grocery stores she can probably keep it up a while before people get annoyed.

Comments

[conuly]

I would pretty much always hand over cash to help cover somebody's bill at the grocery store. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. And I don't want a thank you, either - I always tell them it's faster than having their order voided out, and that's the truth.

But in this case I really had no small bills, and there's a difference between a young mother frantically trying to scrabble together change to pay for her diapers and somebody coolly asking for cash before they get to that point. Maybe not much of a difference in the end, but it feels different. I don't normally like people doing things like that, even if maybe they're in the same position but trying to save face. It feels manipulative. This time was the exception, because it was executed really, really well.