or... 'an interesting mor(n)ing for cheesecake'
this morning a girl came to our house, the fact that I didn't know her and her question as to whether I had 2 mins to spare already alarmed me. but it only seemed to be a survey, namely about drug addicts, whether they should be given a second chance, how many people I think backslide after a therapy and so on. so far, so good!
I said drug addicts should be given a second chance if they show they are willing to work on themselves. then, said girl told me she used to take drugs and that she's part of a kind of 'trust' programme (alarm bells ringing... not MY money!!!). This programme evolves around certain procedures, e.g. that she collects trust points. She goes from house to house and talks to people, does the survey I mentioned above etc. Then, three days later or so, her tutor calls those people and asks them if she was really there and talked to them about the programme yadda yadda yadda ...
Of course, they need your address for this. So you sign a sheet of paper and you're supposed to suscribe to a magazine for a limited period of time. The number of trust points depends on the magazine. She showed me a list of trust points and prices...
I told her I don't earn any money and I might go abroad so I'm not interested in a subscription, and I certainly won't give her my account details. She said it's not problem (excuse my neglect of reported speech forms), I could just sign it pretending to want a subscription and then call them telling them I can't pay, i.e. cancel it again. I wouldn't have to pay a thing and she'd still get her trust points. Hooray!
Stupid as I was and still looking for my good deed of the day, I chose a magazine and signed. She seemed very sincere and tbh she looked a bit like a former drug addict! I didn't give her my account details, but it was still a sort of subscription with my name etc. The contact details of her organisation were on the sheet of paper, a copy of which I kept. She seemed very happy, thanked me and wished me good luck, and I wished her good luck with the others.
Despite my naive behaviour in this scene, I decided to google her organisation. And what's the first thing I get? Forum links, many of them, with reports about people pretending to be drug addicts to coax you into subscribing for magazines etc. Basically, all the links said how convincing these people were, how plausible their stories are and how so many people actually signed up because they wanted to help.
Having read this, I grabbed my shoes and the keys and went outside. I was determined to find this girl, she couldn't have been very far yet...
And indeed, after about a minute she was back on the sidewalk, apparently thinking about her next victim. She was walking past a car when she saw me. She didn't really seem to be alarmed, she merely asked whether that was my car (probably saw my keys). I said no, and I asked her whether I could see that sheet of paper once more. She looked puzzled, saying I got my own copy with the very same details on it. Nevertheless, she produced her version from a pocket in her jeans. I took it and pretended to be reading what it said once more. Once I was sure she wouldn't take it from me right away, I said: I googled you.
"You did what?" (google is an English word, it's an Anglicism in our language and not many people know it yet I suppose)
I said I found out they're frauds and that she wouldn't get this sheet of paper back.
Now she looked desperate: "I need this for my tutor, I won't get the trust points otherwise!"
I think she believes this story herself. She must have told this story so often that it has become real to her. At least she didn't look like she was acting.
I said I don't believe a word she says anymore and that I think it's terrible what they are doing. She gave up and walked away. So did I, feeling somewhat triumphant that I had managed to get the contract back. I know I was stupid to begin with, but sometimes I'm just too naive for my own good. Other times I'm highly suspicious, it's not really reconcilable I guess.
Anyway, I am lucky that I found her and that I managed to solve this problem. I hate conflicts and I don't usually shout at people, so going outside and doing this was a big step for me. It's not the first time that somebody managed to make me subscribe for something (last time it wasn't a fraud though), but it's definitely the last time. No more miss nice Jess.
