Last night Todd went to a concert I had no desire to attend. I stayed in, watched TV and knitted. I went to bed fairly early and woke up when he called our phone 4 times at 1:30am. I decided to answer the phone, because I assumed it was an emergency "Hello?" I answered. "There's no parking, will you come down and let me into the gated parking lot?" Sigh, "Okay, I'm in bed so give me a few minutes."

I threw some boots and a jacket on and ran downstairs. I went to the gated parking lot behind my building where Todd's mom pays $50 a month for me to park; Todd was sitting in his car waiting for me so I used the remote control to open the gate. Out of nowhere, a car pulls out in front of Todd's car and looks like they are going to pull into the gated lot. My heart started to beat a little bit faster because I've been jumpy since my car window was smashed. The car didn't pull into the lot, but a woman got out of that car and started to walk into the parking lot towards Todd; I was still standing next to my car.

As the woman walks closer, I see what she looks like: the face of a 15 year old, bleached orangey-blonde hair, oversized gray T-shirt, tight jeans and high tops. She didn't look homeless or drug addicted or mentally ill. Todd didn't even close his door yet when this woman said to him, "Can I have a dollar?" Todd replies, "no." (with a tone that implies, why would you even ask me that?" She waits about 15 seconds, looks at me, looks at Todd, and says "Are you sure?" Todd replies, "yes."

Now, being panhandled is no surprise in our neighborhood. It is unlikely that we leave our apartment and aren't asked for money. In fact, earlier that day Todd gave a guy some money to get him to stop bugging him...he wasn't even sure if that person was asking for money or not. Most people who are asking for money at least have devised a reason, good or bad, as to why they need the money. I'm hungry....or I need to get on a bus. If they don't give a reason, then they are at least polite. I have never seen somebody hop out of a car to demand a dollar from a pedestrian in the same tone of voice that a teenager demands money from their parents.

While this woman was asking for money, the gate on the parking lot had closed. When we rejected her request she walked toward the gate, and realized that there was no way out of the parking lot. She seemed to be saying something to another person who was waiting for her in the car she had jumped out of which was parked on the street. Part of me was tempted to just leave her trapped in the parking lot, but I really didn't want another window smashed in, so I used the remote control to open the gate. Uh oh. The girl was standing just off the the side of the door and when the gate doors spread open, she was trapped between the gate and the door. I heard her yell "Hey!" when the gate stopped moving, she had to slip out from between the gate and the door, then ran out of the gated lot. Todd and I waited for the gate door to close before going back to our apartment.

We just couldn't stop talking about it last night. What a sucky panhandler! Clearly, she needs to improve her craft. How embarrassing to have to get back in the car, after not getting the money. I can imagine the conversation, "did you get a dollar?" "no." "Did you ask if they were sure?" "yes."

Todd thought that maybe she was a prostitute, but why did she still ask when she saw me, and why wouldn't she ask something more provocative? I doubt that "can I have a dollar?" is prostitute lingo.