Conned at Christmas

A day or two ago, the doorbell rang and Pedro answered. It was an energetic guy speaking rapidly in Spanish and gesturing at several other guys up and down the street, who were ringing our neighbors’ doorbells. The story we heard was this: These were our garbage men and they were coming around to collect a donation for their upcoming annual picnic.

You have to understand that at this time of year, there is a regular collection taken by the garbage men. In fact, it is a practice in Chile to pay a Christmas bonus to anyone who renders you a regular service (garbage men, gardeners, maids.)

That knowledge, combined with the fact that there were half a dozen of these guys and they assured us of our neighbors’ cooperation as well, led us to contribute to the cause.

Imagine our surprise the following day when we learned from our next-door neighbor that she had questioned the garbage men when they arrived that morning for their regular pick up … and they stated that they had not come around for a collection!

We fell for the oldest one in the book.

Years ago, when my parents first arrived in Chile, we had a local newspaper boy. He was a nice kid and his parents owned the “kiosko” (outdoor booth from which candy, magazines, etc. are sold) down the street. One day, we received a visit from someone announcing the sad news that the newspaper boy had died in an accident and asking for a monetary gift towards his funeral expenses. Many of the neighbors contributed, only to find themselves face to face with the supposedly deceased young man the following day!

Another incident involved a man who arrived at our doorstep with a photo of his wife and children who had died in a tragic gas explosion at their home. The man’s story was so sad and convincing, that of course we gave some money to help him rebuild his shattered life! The only problem was, this guy must have been super unlucky because about a year later he showed up with the exact same story. Lightning may strike twice, but in this case I think he was simply another slick con man …

And we are simply another family that has been “conned at Christmas!”