Beggars in the University Heights Library

Do I look rich or like an easy mark? I guess so because oftentimes when I am in the University Heights library applying for jobs on my laptop, someone targets me looking for a handout.

Once while I was sitting at a table job searching on my laptop, a woman entered the library and walked straight up to me and asked if I had any spare change to give her. I told her no and she turned around and exited the library without stopping to ask anyone else. Why didn't she ask a librarian? They obviously have jobs and don't look like they've ever missed a meal.

Another time a dude who was sitting at the table behind me, also with a laptop, decided to approach me and ask if he could borrow my phone. My phone was not in sight, but I guess everyone knows that virtually everyone owns a cell phone now because this wasn't the first time in recent history that a stranger asked to borrow my well concealed phone. I told him I hardly had any minutes left, which was true, but I also wasn't going to hand him my phone. Besides, I could smell that he could afford luxuries like cigarettes and see that he, like the librarians, never skipped a meal. If you need me to call 911 or roadside assistance, then I can probably help out, but I'm not giving my phone to strangers.

That same day as I was leaving the library, a man asked if I had a bus pass I could give him. I thought about it for a second and said, "Not on me." Actually, I didn't have a bus pass, but I did have a bus token. But I decided that I would save it for the next time my car breaks down.