Mini Con-Artists !

The other afternoon we were standing around the desk - three of us, one customer, chatting about something, when a boy entered. He looked like your typical middle class kid, and was probably 11 or 12. He approached us, and asked if we had 85 cents which he needed for bus money. We were surprised. I, cynically, instantly thought of all the people on the street who had asked me for some exact amount of change that they needed to get the train home - especially the guy who after I gave him the money, headed off in the opposite direction of where he said he was going. We all looked at the kid for a bit, and one of us asked "well, what happened to your money?" I happened to be standing facing the street and noticed a taller boy looking into Joie intently and a bit impatiently - somehow I felt he was an accomplice. "Where do you live?" I inquired. The kid gave an address maybe ten blocks away. It was a perfectly nice day, so "Why don't you just walk?" was my next question, and he blushed, stammered a bit, and exited the store. We think they were junior con-artists, just trying it out. Would have liked to have followed them at a discreet distance to see what happened next but . . . got back to work instead!