Trusting strangers in a low-class hood

Yesterday, we had friends over for a Memorial Day barbecue. At the end of the night, everyone noticed two teenagers sitting slightly away from the rest of the group drinking beers in our courtyard. After a bit of asking around, we realized no one had any idea who they were. However, they seemed quite comfortable, and soon welcomed a man in a wheelchair to the party who they claimed was their father.

Someone robbed our apartment earlier this year, so having strangers in our courtyard put everyone a little on edge to say the least. However, we got the impression that they were a low-income family just looking to catch a few breaks and decided to let them finish their beers as long as they were contained and supervised.

As they left, my boyfriend, Eric, noticed the girl carrying a purse that was the same large size and flashy fun color as our friend Erin’s purse. He immediately took it from the girl and locked her group out of the courtyard gate. The boy threatened to call the cops on Eric for stealing the girl’s purse, but after Eric confirmed the bag’s rightful owner, the seemingly fake family was nowhere to be found.

I have always been a trusting individual, and before the attempted theft happened I tried telling myself I was just paranoid because of the previous robbery. Since it was dark, none of the invited guests realized there was even a purse left in the courtyard, and the newcomers took their chances on our oblivion. Ballsy little sneaks.

The girl did not steal anything out of the purse, and we were lucky that Eric is so observant to over-sized bags! It certainly killed the flip cup game, though, which really burst my bubble.

It is unfortunate that people take advantage of those who are kind and trusting. The close-call may have been our own fault, but none of us ignored the possibility that the party crashers might be shady characters. Perhaps next time we will not give strangers the benefit of the doubt. However, I do hope we all continue to trust one another, even if it is only with one eye open.