That’s right Ace…sometimes your Daddy is a Dum Dum.  Let me tell you why…

I try…I try to be a good guy.  I try to help others.  I’m not big on charity.  I’m not big on donations…mostly because you have no idea what that money is going towards.

I usually give the homeless guy at the gas station a quarter.  I usually give that guy who claims to have run out of gas my pocket change.  I do it even though I am pretty sure that they are full of shit up to their ears and are going to go smoke my money in a few minutes.   I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Today we pulled into a CVS parking lot and some normal looking guy comes walking up to us asking for help.  This guy looked like he was in trouble.  He was drenched in sweat and out of breath.  He looked like he was seriously worried about something.

He said that his car broke down a few blocks away and was asking for help to get home.  He said his wife and kids were in the car waiting and that he would gladly take me over to see them to prove it.  He said that he had called for a taxi but it was too much money.  He needed $38 dollars for the cab ride.

I asked him where he was going…and I knew that the cab ride there was just about $40 bucks (I did it a few years back when I was stranded).

He told me to write down my phone number and once he got home to his other car he would call me and meet me at the CVS to pay me back.

My instinct told me to say “No” and move on with my life, but the good guy in me said “Just give him the money…it is only $40 bucks.”

What if this was me, Momma, an Ace.  If I was seriously stranded somewhere without my wallet and no way to get home I would hope that someone would help us out.

I mean seriously…even if the guy takes my money and runs, I have wasted $40 plenty of times.  This would be just another one of those times.

So, I pulled out my wallet and gave him $40 bucks.

The guy shook my hand, looked me in the eyes, thanked me, and said that he would call me as soon as he got home to set up a time to pay me back.

Well, that was about 5 hours ago and my phone still has not rang…and my wallet is still short $40.

(Short pause while I kick myself)

So where did I screw up?  Did I screw up for helping the guy?  Did I screw up for giving him money?

This is a public announcement to all homeless, beggars, people with broke down cars, people who have ran out of gas, people who ask for money of any kind from me…you are SOL.  I will never give out a single penny again to anyone who asks for it.  You want a sandwich?  You want a gallon of gas?  You need the tire changed on your car?  I’ll do those things for you.   But I will never give anyone another penny.

I don’t mind helping people when they need it, but it really pisses me off to be taken advantage of.

So how many licks does it take to get to the center of this Tootsie Pop?  About $40 worth… 🙂