I am conflicted about something. Today, while out walking the dog, I ran into a guy asking for money. This is not unusual in Vancouver since every day you are bound to run into a few people begging for change. Normally, I dismiss them as I tend not to carry money (being the Interac addict that I am). But, this encounter was different. He asked for change but didn't seem like a "street person". This guy was different. He was relatively clean and groomed and when he spoke, he was articulate and appeared to be fully sober.

"I really, really hate to ask you this. But, can you spare any change?"

I answered as I always do.

"Sorry, I don't have any change on me."

"That's okay. I hate asking. Never once did I think I would be on the street asking people for money."

I thought this was an unique ploy and became interested.

"Really? What did you do?"

"I used to work for a moving company and I got sick a couple of months ago."

In a nutshell, here is his story:

• He was working as a mover for a moving company (which he named, but I can't recall it now) in North Vancouver. He has been working in the moving industry driving trucks for the last ten or so.
• A few months ago, he was at a get-together when the house cat scratched his leg.
• He didn't pay much attention since it was "just a cat scratch".
• A week later he realized the scratch was quite sore and it wasn't healing. He felt he should have it looked at and went over to St. Paul's Hospital.
• While at St. Paul's for treatment the doctors admitted him due to a serious blood infection that was supposed to require only a couple of days stay. He said that he wasn't worried and his employer mentioned it was fine for him to take a few days.
• During his short stay he caught what has been called a hospital "super bug".
• It was this "super bug" that kept him in the hospital for the next six weeks as he was bed ridden and unable to work. (I did a little Google snooping and found this interesting thread on the CBC.)
• Apparently, his employer told him that a month of not being able to work (which then turned into a couple of additional weeks) was not good and after an additional week chose to lay him off.
• He applied for IE roughly two weeks ago.
• To make matters worse, he has lost his apartment due to his lack of employment.
• He lived out near Gilmore Station with a room-mate. His room mate had planned to move away to Prince George with his girlfriend but hadn't set a date.
• During his stay in the hospital, his room-mate decided to move and left for Prince George.
• Some time went by and the land lord demanded the next month's rent. Since he had not been working and hadn't received a pay cheque, he wasn't able to pay for a full second month's rent and was evicted with all of his belongings being held by the land lord until his rent was settled.
• He is still recovering and has been receiving out-patient treatment where he must get an IV session once every 12 hours until this coming weekend. Of course, this made me suspicious (story to cover needle marks) but he did show a St. Paul's Hostpital wrist strap that had his name on it and an April date from the previous day. Of course, all of this could be fake or found on the sidewalk. But, I ran a little on faith here.

Since I had to get back to finishing my day, I said if he came back in an hour, I could scrounge together five bucks. I was going to be going out to pay for parking anyway and if he was committed to meeting me, the money was his. I decided I was being scammed but I couldn't shake the feeling that he may be somewhat on the level. I also determined that I could use a little karma and felt if there was even a glimmer of truth in what I had been told, I could spare a few dollars. The last week in my life has been running on faith with people, so, why should a street person be any different?

The hour passed and, like we'd discussed, he was there. He was very gracious when I handed him the money and I asked him if he wanted to hang with me for a bit at the local Starbucks. I thought he would turn me down but, surprisingly, he agreed. I thought it was a bit weird but, I suppose, a free anything is worth a few words.

I bought a couple of Jones Soda Root Beers and, for the next forty minutes, we chatted about his life, work, and what he was up to. I asked him about his family and friends and his story seemed plausible but I was apphrensive.

• He was two years old when his parents were killed in a car crash.
• He was placed into Foster Care and he was moved around the province.
• Once he was dumped out of the system he found work in different places but fell into being a "career mover".
• He has only a few friends and he hasn't wanted to impose on their couches since he has so few. (He also indicated that they don't know he is on the street either because he is embarassed.)
• He also has no immediate family that he is aware of.

At one point, a Starbucks employee walked over and asked if we would like to try out a new line of doughnuts. We said we would and I had a little bit but left the majority to him. We talked for a for a while more and then parted ways. He said that he was glad we chatted and he felt a little more human but he still needed a few bucks and wanted to get back at it before it got dark. He produced a piece of paper with his e-mail address on it and said that if I heard of any moving jobs, driving jobs, to drop him an e-mail. It was then that I became certain that I wasn't being taken for a ride - but, dammit, I still think I was. (I haven't tried the e-mail address yet, so, when I do, I hope it doesn't bounce.)

So, was I scammed? What do you all think? Something inside says that I wasn't but my logic says I was. I hate being distrustful. but isn't connecting to another human being a good thing? Shouldn't I trust him regardless?

I am going to assume he was 100% on the level. Since he is a truck driver (he mentioned 4 and 7 tonne) - I told him that he must have good skills, so, I am putting the word out there: if you know of any jobs for him in the moving industry, let me know. He did say he would be checking his e-mail at the library downtown when he could. Until he can find work, he will be going to that labourer place near Yukon and 4th for the "day work" program. He mentioned that since he was at such a cross roads he may want to pick up and move. We talked a bit about Victoria and he didn't seem opposed to it.

Oh, I forgot to mention, while he was talking, I happened to glance inside the bottle cap of the soda I'd opened and, I swear, my heart skipped a beat. It read: "Buy a homeless person a meal." I may not have bought him a meal but a root beer and some free doughnuts ought to cover it.