Spare Change News

[ron_newman]

In the Davis Square T station, I often see people, presumably homeless, selling Spare Change News. Sometimes I buy it.

Today, one of them came around to me while I was sitting on a bench, waiting for an inbound train. I gave him $1 -- but then he wouldn't give me the paper. He said it was his last one. I found this annoying, especially since I actually wanted to read two of the articles that I saw on the front page.

Now this guy's got enough trouble in his life, so I don't want to make more by complaining to Spare Change News ... but this just isn't the way to do things.

Comments

[xjustquietx.livejournal.com]

What? Is it one of the regulars or some new guy? They warn about fraud in the paper. That sounds shady to me.

[ron_newman]

I don't know. Didn't pay enough attention. This has never happened to me before.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Did he actually have a Spare Change seller's badge? Some people do run scams. I once gave a buck to a guy with a stack of papers with SC on top, but he gave me a (usually free) Cambridge Tab instead.

[ron_newman]

I didn't know there was such a badge. Even if there were, I can't imagine myself asking to see it ....

[artemii.livejournal.com]

They usually wear the badge pinned to their clothes. It's what is supposed to mark them as a valid Spare Change vendor.

[tanpiover2.livejournal.com]

It was the dude w/like a black newsboy cap and walks with a limp (sometimes a cane), possibly in Kendall or Central, wasn't it?

[ron_newman]

this happened to me in Davis.

[tanpiover2.livejournal.com]

Happened to me in Central years ago. Then I saw the same guy pull the same trick in Kendall about a month ago.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

In Porter, but yeah. I've seen him in Harvard too.

[inahandbasket]

and almost always black sunglasses too?
I see him at every redline stop in cambridge, he can be really in-your-face.

[inkscarred.livejournal.com]

About a week ago I saw a guy in the T do the same thing to a woman seated next to me. After the woman gave him some money he said that it was his last one and couldn't give it away but that he needed the money to buy more papers.

[ron_newman]

yeah, I think he said something like that to me, too. Sorry I didn't take any notes about his appearance; I'll pay more attention next time.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

I don't think they make them pay upfront for the papers, right? It seems like most wouldn't have the money to do that.

[ron_newman]

OK, based on the above, I am going to tell Spare Change News if I see this happening again. (It damages their good name, and by extension all the honest people they are trying to help.)

[xjustquietx.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't bother. In every paper they say, "don't buy from people without badges." I don't have one handy to quote from but if you buy the paper even once in awhile, I'm surprised you would miss it.

Basically, anyone with a dollar can go up and buy a paper and use that same ruse. I coudl do it. I live in a relatively trouble-free, comfortable home. There's nothing Spare Change nor anyone can do about it, other than asking to see the badge.

[ron_newman]

I guess because I've never been scammed before, I never paid attention to that. Asking to see a badge seems intrusive, but I may just not buy it again unless I see the vendor carrying more than one copy.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

You don't usually have to "ask." Most of the regulars I buy from wear it around their neck (looks like they're wearing a conference name tag) or somewhere else conspicuous. An honest vendor won't take it badly and a scammer ... well, I don't really care about a scammer's feelings on being called on a scam.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

You should call them now, rather than wait to see if it happens again. Even if you did buy without seeing a badge, how would a tourist know to look for a badge if it happened to them? You should call and give them a description of the person who scammed you, so they're at least aware that it's still happening, whether or not they care.

[ron_newman]

I e-mailed them, both directly and via this form, and pointed them at this discussion.

[ron_newman]

and I soon got a long personal e-mail reply from the paper's managing editor. I then asked him to post here, and now he has.

Thanks, everyone who has participated in this discussion.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I have seen this gentleman do this in multiple stations (mostly on the red line but that's what I frequent the most). He does have a tattered badge. I asked to see it when I tried to buy a paper from him once because he only had one ratty paper and I figured I'd end up getting that one. With some effort he produced the badge (buried in a couple of shopping bags in his pocket with a bunch of other stuff). I didn't get his name (or the name on his badge really... it might be one that he found) at the time (I didn't expect to have a problem) and have been meaning to get both his name and his picture so I can complain to SCN but have failed on at least two occasions since then. I'm now to the point that I'm willing to miss a train to do this if I have my camera on me.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

White guy, clean-shaven, greying curly hair, fiftyish? He's pulled that with me, too.

[ron_newman]

white, curly hair, fiftyish? yeah.
not sure about clean-shaven, and I thought he had dark hair.

[chuckm.livejournal.com]

Yup. The badges are pretty obvious, and the legit sellers are very good at keeping them obvious for just this reason.

Next time you see a legit seller, check out the badge so you know for next time.

I love our regular vendor in Porter Square. He's got this amazingly soothing voice. "Spare change... only one dollar."

[spatch]

If it's the guy in Porter I'm thinking of, he's great. Last year he was doing his own version of headline hawking. "We have a new Pope! What's his name? I don't know, but I bet it's in Spare Change today..."

[krysalist.livejournal.com]

If you ever have any sort of concern or situation such as the one in the above post, do not hesitate to call us and report it (617-497-1595 ex.16), or email it to us as Ron indicated above.

We want to provide coverage of issues that interest you, as well as give you a chance to help out someone in need. We do not want you to get scammed, and we want to know about it if it happens.

Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts about SCN--it's more typical for us to get bashed on livejournal than it is to see people who actually buy the paper and read it, so seeing this post is a breath of fresh air.


-Paul Rice, managing editor, Spare Change News

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

Did you ask him for the dollar back?

[ron_newman]

No. That would have seemed mean-spirited. But then, I didn't know I was being scammed until after I read all of the replies here.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

Understood, and you were also being polite. I suppose it's different because he's homeless (or presents as homeless).

But you gave him a dollar in exchange for something, and you got nothing back.

Normally, you get the money back.

;)

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

Really? "Buy this item for $1 / Thanks for the $1 / No, you can't have the item" sounds like a scam to me.

[ron_newman]

liam pretty much answered for me, above, in his first two sentences.

[eeka13.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'll jump on the bandwagon of saying that legitimate vendors won't take it personally if you say something like "vendors usually have those badges, don't they?"

Also, I personally think it's pretty ableist to accept behavior from someone who presumably is homeless/is formerly homeless/has mental illness that you wouldn't accept from most people. It's one thing to be accomodating when someone presents as sort of odd or awkward -- that's helpful to people who are trying to get back on track. It's enabling and actually insulting to perpetuate the thinking of "well, he has a disability and/or is homeless, so I'm not going to act humanly to him and instead am just going to smile and nod as he is flat out rude and inappropriate to me."

I think we owe all human beings the decency of interacting humanly. If someone acts in a way that we feel is rude or dishonest, the respectful thing to do is say "I feel like you're being dishonest and rude to me" to that person. Reality testing is often the best thing for someone with major mental illness. It's really the best thing for anyone, really. Wouldn't you feel really disoriented if you got up one day, were a total asshole to everyone you encountered, and just had everyone smile and nod?

[jayjaybobay.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't you feel really disoriented if you got up one day, were a total asshole to everyone you encountered, and just had everyone smile and nod?

Nah, I'd figure they thought I was a system administrator.

[eeka13.livejournal.com]

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

And that's SO funny you mention that after my wanting to kill one at work today...

[ellf.livejournal.com]

If only. I find that the best response to any situation (with few exceptions, such as when smiling would be insulting -- ie, at a funeral) starts with a smile.

[cleanup-davissq.livejournal.com]

If you don't give them money, they won't be hanging around the T or the Square. Please don't encourage panhandlers or drunks.

[ron_newman]

Legitimate vendors of Spare Change News are neither panhandlers nor drunks.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Did you create this entire account just so you could post this mean-spirited comment? Wow.