Dear editor:
Hot Springs may be a welcoming community, but that does not mean all characters should be welcomed here.
With the advent of computers, we have a whole new breed of snake oil being sold in mass quantity, usually being peddled by a foreigner posing as a Microsoft employee. It is helpful to remember that the con artist is still alive and well and their prime target is still the elderly.
I received a call from "Ann" last week concerned about someone trying to take over her computer. During our conversation, she recounted to me the following true incident that occurred to her a week prior. Note: Her name has been changed to protect the guilty.
Ann was home alone when she answered a knock at her front door. There stood Hank, a middle-aged man whom she later referred to as hunk. "Hi, so good to see you again" the stranger rattled off, his dimples catching distracting sparkles of sunlight. "You probably don't recognize me, but I have done some work for you before." Ann discretely perused his chiseled form. "I never forget a face or a name," she countered, "and you are right that I don't remember yours at all." Ann admitted that she was not paying attention to her own words and had some momentary thoughts of spoon-feeding him bundt cake on the divan.
Moments later she was writing him a check for $500 to remove the raccoons from her attic. She understood that this would limit her groceries for the next week, but she was relieved by the thought of those pesky critters being eliminated once and for all. Hank excused himself temporarily to retrieve his ladder that he had inadvertently left in Texarkana.
Five days later, Ann stood at the picture window in her living room staring at the driveway. She wondered if she would ever see Hank again. She wondered if she had ever really met him before. And most of all, she wondered just when did she ever have a raccoon in the attic.
Trevor Lewin
Hot Springs
Editorial on 06/12/2018