aloco wrote:Please close this thread.
Based on what? Email Bergie and let him decide if the thread is a problem in the forums.
MisterBeasley wrote: Andrew Falconer wrote:He was probably doing it as a distraction to steal something, but it did not work. Or did it? Suppose this guy was the distraction, while a conventionally-dressed, washed and clean-shaven accomplice pocketed a handful of small but pricey items, then bought a copy of MR for a few bucks and left, looking like an ordinary customer.
Andrew Falconer wrote:He was probably doing it as a distraction to steal something, but it did not work.
Or did it? Suppose this guy was the distraction, while a conventionally-dressed, washed and clean-shaven accomplice pocketed a handful of small but pricey items, then bought a copy of MR for a few bucks and left, looking like an ordinary customer.
If the distraction to steal something did work they were very clever. "Mean Mr. Bean" was not dirty or smelly just dressed in outdoor work clothes. He looked like he did not wear work clothes normally. He was rather stiff in his posture. Those clothes looked like a stage costume on him. If there was a main shoplifter, that guy came in much earlier and left a lot later.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
It also makes you want to be "extra cautious" when it comes to credit card receipts, eh? jc5729
Oh well, we're this far off topic, I might as well.
In my trade as a professional tourist (truck driver) I have dealt with many of these types. Some of the panhandlers around Atlanta make a killing. One local news station did a report, had a reporter dress up in old clothes and panhandled for 8 hours, and shot video of the "pros" with hidden cameras. The reporter came up with several thousand dollars (which was donated to charity), and video showed some of the "bums" leaving in expensive luxury and sports cars. One "bum" was even followed to his home, in a fancy, upscale neighborhood.
I have, in the past, had the "bums" offer to unload my truck (which I turned down), wash the windshield, polish the aluminum wheels and fuel tanks, been approached by the "ladies of the night" even in broad daylight, and nearly everything else. I try to steer clear of these guys when I can; it always seems to start off with "got a light/got a smoke?" I don't smoke, and say so, and then I get the "got a buck?", to which I say (truthfully) no, bill collectors got it. I have even asked the bums if they had a dollar, and could I borrow it. One bum seemed scandalized by my asking, he started saying "it don't work like that", and I said "that's why I'm out here doing this, to earn money."
I do admire the one bum who had a sign that said "Need money for booze, dope, and women. At least I'm honest." Talk about truth in advertising. He was probably the one bum who really needed the money to eat on, or for a true sob story.
I do trust my instinct/gut feeling/whatever you want to call it. It's what I call part of using your common sense and street smarts/streetwise. You have to in my profession in this day and age.
I heard of one driver who was in NYC waiting for his delivery to open, when he was awakened late at night. The driver only opened his window an inch or so, but the guy said he needed access to a driveway the driver had blocked, and if he could pull up about 4 feet or so, he could go about his business. So the driver pulls up 4 feet, and goes back to bed. He wakes up to find his outer 8 tires have been removed. Seem as though when he pulled up, he pulled onto 2x4 blocks, raising the outer wheels off the ground enough for the theives to remove.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
dw57 wrote:The 2nd amendment , and the bill of rights help make America the great country that she is.
Sorry dw57, I must have missed something. Please explain to me what the bill of rights has to do with this topic... Thanks.
Tracklayer
The second amendment is part of the bill of rights
jeffrey-wimberly wrote: Oh, the tangled web we weave, when our intent is to deceive. I've seen that distraction number pulled several times, often times, successfully.
Oh, the tangled web we weave, when our intent is to deceive.
I've seen that distraction number pulled several times, often times, successfully.
You are correct..97% of the bad guys are smarter then the general public gives them credit in being and it may take years to bust up a ring of con artist,pick pockets,shoplifters,illegal gamblers(called "professional cheaters") and other illegal groups that found ingenious ways of ripping off honest business men and the general public..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
About 3 years ago at The Rider's Hobby Shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan there was an obnoxious stranger incident. Rider's Hobby Shop had all windows in the front looking South on Portage, Michigan.
Some stranger to the store walked into the shop.
This guy looked almost identical to the actor who played Mr. Bean on that Thames Television show Mr. Bean, but he was severely dressed down and had stubble.
He immediately grabbed the most expensive, high-end Lionel Steam Locomotive in a box that was sitting on the shelf.
He never took out a wallet, a money clip, or a credit card.
This Mr. Bean type guy stood in line holding the box for about 40 seconds. From out of nowhere he started to scream and yell and curse that the line was not moving fast enough.
That was enough to get Tom Burton irritated. He forcefully told this stranger to get out of the store several times.
Thankfully this stranger left.
He never did show that he had any money or credit, so why did he start yelling? He was probably doing it as a distraction to steal something, but it did not work.
It was absurd.
I am kinda of scruffy looking myself..As far as my attire it will depend on several things..On a summer day its blue jean shorts and pocket tee shirt with a hat.Other days it may be a pair of faded jeans and pocket tee shirt..
Anyway any time you are out and about always keep your wits about you and survey the area after you leave a place of business...Never look mouse looking for a cat..In other words don't look like a scared victim.
One Track Mind wrote: The strangest looking guy in my shop is me.
The strangest looking guy in my shop is me.
I have to agree. What is weirder than a Mexican/African-American mix teen in a WIDE brim cowboy hat and steel toed pull on boots in the hobby shop pricing Lionels?
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
TA462 wrote:I don't think Tracklayer was judging anybody.
Thanks TA462. I wasn't. I was just sharing my experience with the other members. It's too bad that we've got members that elect themselves forum police and "get onto" other members to make themselves appear to be righteous guardians of the forum... I don't get onto anyone unless it's a personal issue. Otherwise, that's Bergie's job.
MisterBeasley wrote:Yeah, we have gotten a bit far the LHS and off into social commentary, haven't we? So, how many of us model areas where some members of the local populace might be considered "undesireable?" The figure makers have hobo camps, ladies of the evening and even a shootout with police. Is this a part of your layout, too, or do you lean more towards a more Disneyesque view of the world? I've got a few "rough types," (WS "Rebels") but at the moment they're merely looking for an opportunity to get into trouble.
I tried to make my layout as close to the "real world" as possible without going too far. For personal reasons I left out things like cemetaries, road kill, litter and things of that nature, but did include a cop giving someone a traffic ticket, some suspicious looking folks standing around in front of the bank, a hobo camp and city dump. There's also graffiti on the water tower.
We did go off track didnt we?
I know of a few HO scale hobo camps, a little Red Light there and a few other goodies in HO.
=)
Personally I try to balance between the good, bad and the ugly. The glue spots on the buildings need something to cover them up.
Cheers.
aloco wrote:Tracklayer, this is not a forum for judging people. Let's stick to discussing model railroading, okay?
?...
TL
CurtMc wrote: Bums are bums. Go to Atlanta or Baltimore and they are all over. Kliens is a gaunlet of homeless looking for spare change that causes a guard to be at the door But in Denver it is the same thing with bums begging at the offramps . They must get cash given to them or else they would not be there.
Bums are bums. Go to Atlanta or Baltimore and they are all over. Kliens is a gaunlet of homeless looking for spare change that causes a guard to be at the door
But in Denver it is the same thing with bums begging at the offramps . They must get cash given to them or else they would not be there.
Are they still in the same location down the brick street? (I forget the name, aint been there since the early 90's)
Atlanta brings the Bankhead Petro Truck stop to mind. You have panhandlers on the Interstate Ramps around the traffic signals, up the hill all the way to the truck gate down into the fuel area and if that isnt enough you gotta walk past them inside the resturant arcade as well. Many a un-wary driver got scammed there. Even a few bums got left out with a few smart drivers who knew the area.
Baltimore aint too bad as long youse stayed near the Harbor by daylight and away from the Block. Sometimes they will run up to you and do your windsheild for money and then claim that you did not pay for services rendered. I always used the weight of the big car I had to bull my way past these. If a foot or two got run over... oh well.
Ive used the subway to go downtown and it was not the problem it was once.
I remember one lucky bum in New York City. He was in a wheel chair. They had closed the GWB completely on the upper deck at the Manhattan Side and we ALL had to get off 95 and wind our way past 15 blocks worth of panhandlers. But that wheel chair bound person was the first hand everyone passed on that ramp and boy did he make a killing.
I had a warchest of change and ciggies that night and it was one of the few times that they made a good profit, just hoped they went to get food and bed instead of good old thunderbird.
Sometimes I think I should have been a Engineer and roll a train past all of those beggers blasting the horn to clear the track. It would not be a problem. (Shows how much I need to learn about the engineer's life doesnt it?)
CurtMc wrote:They must get cash given to them or else they would not be there.
No doubt about it, although some people consider it simply just an "urban toll booth," where you pay a buck to make sure this guy doesn't put a rock through your windshield and run. The last couple of weeks I've noticed that panhandling at traffic lights has become so successful that professional fundraisers are doing it. You'd expect the police to break these things up when they start jamming up traffic, but what are the cops going to do? Arrest all the firemen that are doing it?
A model train shop has to be one of the safest places to be...with the very rare exceptions like this one Tracklayer posted.
Tilden wrote: Yea, but.....was he a model railroader or not?????
Yea, but.....was he a model railroader or not?????
No he was not. From what I understand the person did not want to accept the prospect of spending his life in such a poor and dangerous area. He wanted to reclaim his life and future while he was still able bodied and had a desire to lift himself out of poverty.
Im willing to bet the dirty and filthy person in the trainshop had no such desire as evidenced by following a customer out to the parking lot asking for handouts. Im just glad it was not me he followed out to the parking lot.