Originally Posted by
kingston
Probably has more to do with the middle-aged guy stuff I buy and sell which is related to where I live, but not the same thing. I sold a van a few years ago, and one of the guys interested in it asked if I could meet him at his house in Humbolt Park because he didn’t have a car. Humbolt Park isn’t the worst neighborhood in Chicago, but it’s not that great either, and it was totally fine. I figured the worst they could do was take my van which I ended up selling to someone else for fifteen hundred bucks, so a big loss, but not the end of the world. They guys were cool and even though they didn’t want the van, they went with me to auto-zone to get a part to turn off the engine light that kept coming on during the test drive.
Funny thing: When I lived in the NYC metro area, I used to haul junk cars with a tow truck. I'd go into some of the very worst "hoods". About the worst thing I encountered was a crackhead running up to me and offering to sell me obviously stolen power tools. Luckily, he just floated* away when I said I wasn't interested. [*= Couldn't think of a better word. "Walked" or "ran" wouldn't do it- that guy was moving like a butterfly- hardly touching the ground- and coming and going like a stray greyhound....]
I even stopped and gave someone a jump once [err...their car, that is]- for free.
I figured out that I was one of the few guys who'd pick up cars in those neighborhoods- so I actually ended up advertising there- and picked up a lot of extra business by doing so! (The older I get though, the more foolhardy I think that was]