I was robbed, guys!

Guys, I just got robbed for the first time in my life. Was it dangerous? What happened? Read it right here, right now:

Alright, so  I was waiting for the bus in downtown Baltimore. I was just about to leave for the Greyhound bus station to go to Detroit. I was chatting with this lady who had just gotten off from work and was waiting for her bus, enjoying a can of beer. As we were talking about the bus being notoriously late a handful of people joined our conversation. They too were complaining about the Baltimorean busses. I told them that german trains were equally as bad and we all had a good laugh. A while later, a man joined the group, greeted some of people as if he knew them and then asked me whether I could buy him a can of beer in the liquor store just behind us. He, in return,  would have a look out for my bus so I wouldn’t miss it. He couldn’t get the beer himself because he was banned from the store, he said. As you may infer from the title of this blog entry, that's where all the trouble started.

“Ok, give me the money and I’ll be on my way” I told him.
He explained to me that he… I don’t even remember what he said because it didn’t make  any sense but delighted by the nice conversation we all just had and since he apparently knew some of the people I was talking to, I went in and bought him a beer. Once I had given him the beer he asked me for change for a twenty dollar bill since the parking mashine wouldn't accept twenty dollar bills. Still none of the bystanders seemed to be suspicious and I wasn’t either. Looking back, they should have been. And I should have been, too. He really didn’t look like the person who had a car and he certainly didn’t know anybody around. I didn’t know that yet so I  gave him twenty dollars in small bills. As I requested the twenty dollar bill he owed me, he said he would have to withdraw it real quick at the ATM around the corner. I escorted him there but after we had reached the ATM he just kept walking. I said:
“Hey man, we’re right here. Why don’t you withdraw my money?”
“No YOU withdraw money!” he responded.
“Me? Are you crazy?” I asked surprised “Why would I withdraw money?”
“So you have enough change for the fifty I’m gonna give you.”
At that point I slowly but surely realised what was going on. But it was too late. I saw my bus approaching it’s stop and I had to  catch it, otherwise I’d miss my Greyhound and that would have meant another night in Baltimore. The guy just kept walking up the street, away from the bus stop telling me he’d get the money. I yelled:
“Give me back my money!”
Not a chance in the world. There was noone around and I had to catch my bus, so I turned around crunched my teeth and left Baltimore for good.

You may have a few questions now. I do too. I’ve never lost any money or had any stolen. I never fell for any scams even though I could have been tricked a couple of times, especially in Malaysia. Why did I fall for this scam? Why did I buy this guy a beer? Why did I give him money dispite of his obvious and lame pretense? Well, first of all I’m stupid. And mentally I was in Detroit already. But I guess the main reason was that I thought he knew the people I was talking to. They were good people and I thought if they didn’t say anything I’d be fine. I turned out to be wrong!

As aggravating as this whole affair was, I had to admit: It was kind of exciting too. It was the first time I’d been a victim of a crime. And it is distinctive that it happended in the USA. The US is the country with the highest crime rate within the “modern” world and so it didn’t even take 50 hours for me to get robbed. But it was an important experience and I sure as hell won’t give any money to strangers again.
May the guy use my money wisely instead of spending it on the rat piss americans call “beer”. Just a few hours later though, god or destiny or whatever you may believe in, made up for the whole misery....