Been Hustled Lately?

When traveling for an extended stay, and hotels are the only option, we usually try to find places that are away from the major traffic lanes and have suites with kitchens and living areas.  The Hilton brand "Homewood Suites" fits this description at a very affordable price.

Here in Atlanta, we are at the Homewood Suites by the Cumberland Mall, a short distance from 285, and centrally located for us to get to all our destination with relative ease.  This particular location is kinda tucked inside a curve in the road, hidden by hills and trees.  If you weren't looking for the sign by the road, you would totally miss it.

The spousal unit and I had just pulled into a parking lot, after a wonderful  dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.   The same parking spot, that we have used every day of this trip, was once again available, so naturally we took it.

As we were walking to the secured entrance, we passed a fellow that was "busy" talking on his cell phone.  Being a properly raised southern girl, the spousal unit politely nodded her head to him and said hello. As we slowly walked by him, he suddenly ended his phone conversation, and said "thank you for that smile, I needed that".

His comment was enough to bring our trip to our room to a pause.  That's when he started:

"Pardon me folks, my mind is a little off today.  My family and I are here in Atlanta for a family funeral due to a sudden death.  I'm in a bit of a predicament.  We are from North Carolina and are our way home.  I apologize for stopping you, because you seem like such nice people and all, do you have a minute?  You see, my family is sitting at a local church, and I've got a small issue with my car, the timing belt has broken.  Now its kind of hard for me to say, you see, I've been searching for a place for us to stay, now folks, please stay with me for a minute.  I found a place, the Extended Stay Inn that is only $39 a night, and I only need $17.35 to cover one night."

I think it was PT Barnum that said "There's a sucker born every minute.  I didn't fall off the turnip truck today, and red flags were going off everywhere!

1. No church anywhere near our hotel
2. The Homewood Suites is secluded, not easy to find
3. Its past 10:00 pm
4. What about the car, a timing belt is no small issue
5. There is no Extended Stay Inn within several miles of our location
6. What about food for the family
7. What about gas money to get to North Carolina
8. Erratic speaking pattern
9. The hotel office is on the opposite side of the complex from where we are.
10. Buzz words like funeral, death, predicament, etc...

We offered our prayers to him and good luck in his journey. Thank God the side entrance was a secured door,  Hoping I still have four tires and a car in the parking lot.

  Best I could figure, from his behavior and speech patterns, he was a crack addict looking for some money for a quick fix.  I promise, I don't go looking for this stuff, it finds me!