Among Friends

[Annabellethecat66]

I've never understood it either.  My surgeon who gave me both of my new knees shared with my daughter and me...."when she mentioned my QVC issues" that his father sends money to everyone who calls his house asking for it.

He said it was finally brought to his attention when a relative called his Dad to tell him about another relative who'd asked HIM for money.  

The surgeon said his Dad then sent money to both the relative who'd called to relay the incident AND to the relative who'd asked initially for the money!

The caller to the Dad called my surgeon and told him what was going on!  He said his Dad isn't senile or anything, he just wants to help everyone who needs it.

He said it drives him and his mom crazy!  The way they stopped it was they have a separate bank account just for his Dad to send money out (forget the limited amount), then when it's gone, that's it!

They also made it so the Dad gets to see the amount first hand how the money is disappearing and that helps too.

Part of me says "Well it's nice there are so many kind people".  Then reality seeps in and I realize how difficult it is for those around these people to see this!

Also, I'm glad it isn't me or anyone I know doing this!

I had to go back and add I do give money to quite a few family members when the ask for help.  I've helped my little sister buy a car a few times, and on and on.  But they are family members.

I feel like GOD has been good to me (and I had a very smart late husband) so GOD expects me to be kind and help other people because I can afford it.

But, again, these are family members, not strangers.

[Leiloni]

@KingstonsMomHi IG & Kingston, I forgot (1st time) to say hi to Kingston today, sorry Kingston, my bad...Anyway, the Baebody Eye Gel is about a 4. When I first began using it I mentioned to you I rec'd a surprising compliment from my hubby on my eyes looking much younger & better. I haven't rec'd anymore but feel for the price, the ingredients & the amount (1.7oz) is a really good deal & I will use it all. When I am finished w/ this, I will probably buy a Dr. Denese eye serum/gel/crm, if you use her & know of any in her line for women of a certain age, I am open to suggestions (anyone???) With all of that said, my husband uses the Baebody every day, twice a day & his eyes look amazing! I am so jealous, but I'm the one that told him about it. LOL! So very nice to chat with you! 

[RetRN]

Many people are definitely manipulative. Everyone has to be careful nowadays.

[jeanlake]

I like what John said - there are very few people he needs to trust. I feel the same way. If I'm under a surgeon's care, that's one thing but I don't put myself in a position to need to trust people on a day-to-day basis. All I can do is make sound decisions, pay attention to my intuition and hope people are fair with me.

I trust myself to be fair minded and try to make good life decisions. Early life experiences include a dad with PTSD (military) who used liquid courage as an escape. I couldn't trust my own dad to get help and put others before himself. A valuable life lesson. We had closure before his death.

Somehow, and thankfully, I'm able to trust a higher power at times I can't trust people or organizations, or when I need drection.      

[reiki604]

I trust people in general until they give me a reason not to. I'm not stupid about it though. Sending someone you've never met money, is stupidity, not trusting and naive.

[Catiele]

I can’t imagine getting into a scituation like that. I do not answer the phone unless it is someone I know. We receive calls that we know are some kind of scam. If I answer one by mistake I immediately hang up. We worked hard for what we have. My husband answered one about our grandson who needed money. He said which grandson. Thy guy hung up. We let my brother borrow money once and if course he paid us back. I find it hard to understand how it happens to so many people. Trusting I guess I am not.

[AuntG]

Yes, I'm generally trusting and want to take things at face value. For example, I don't know why people accuse others of lying on these boards - I mean it's just a shopping board. In real life, I'm sometimes skeptical of people, but I can't think of a time when anyone took advantage of me in a big way.  

[chiclets]

NO

[cerb]

I was raised to be skeptical about people in general.  It's served me well.  My own family is actually very trustworthy.  My husband's family are a mess and very manipulative about wanting money.  We gave each one of them small amounts of money in the early years and weren't paid back.  Later when they asked us again, we'd remind them that they never paid us back the previous money, told them we weren't a bank, and that we needed the money to be taking care of our own children.  Eventually their requests dwindled away.

As for the scams... It's easy to spot the scams when you're young, but it can get difficult for the elderly.  Several years ago my Mom instantly spotted a "Grandma-scam" phone call from the supposed grandson in jail.  But you know what?  About 6 months ago it happened again and this time she wasn't so sure.  She's 88 years old now and her judgment isn't as good as it used to be.

Heads up regarding a new similar scam.  Nowadays people are getting a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped a loved one and demanding that you pay them ransom via sources like Western Union.  It happened to my husband's co-worker and the person on the phone threatened to do horrific things to the kidnapped "niece" and truly frightened the co-worker.  The sheriffs were called and they said this scam is on the rise.  Please spread the word.

[Elri]

I'm 100% with @reiki604.  

Sending a stranger money is stupidity and has nothing to do with trust.