I woke up this morning and realized I'm kind of a jerk. The oil, sure to devestate the ecosystem for years and years to come, is still spilling into the gulf. For the last week, I've been worried that it was going to inconveience me on my summer beach vacation.

Also, Blaine and I have decided to give our kittens some new nicknames:

Piper AKA "Big Oil":




and Fitzwilliam Majeed AKA "Tar Ball"





Yep, I'm kind of a jerk.







A couple of weeks ago, there was a knock on the door. I was expecting Lisa, so I hauled Piper to the door and stuck her little fuzzy head out there as if she were answering it (funny haha). Instead of Lisa's girlish giggle, I heard a deep HUH HUH HUH laugh.

A little embarrassed, I dropped Piper and looked outside to see a well dressed, smiling, plump young man around 17 or 18. I stepped outside to talk with him. He tells me a heartbreaking story about how he is from Atlanta and wants to go to college, but he doesn't have the funding. He is part of this program that works with teenagers in his same position. The group works off of a points system: they get so many points for the way they handle themselves on door-to-door visits, (SIDE NOTE: when explaining this part to me, he said his sponsor would call me to get feedback and asked if I would let his sponsor know that he was respectful, handled himself well, and didn't ask me to make him some collard greens. I shit you not) points for how many homes they visit, and points for however many magazine subscriptions/books they sell. He then proceeded to show me the list of magazines and books that were available to sell.

In hindsight, I should have known better than to believe this little shit. But...
1. He had official looking paperwork
2. The receipts were triplicate copies with the name of the company and address, etc. on them
3. He gave me contact information for his sponsor
4. I am a sucker for a teenager who works hard at anything during the summertime (not common)

So, to end a long story, I went inside to get my checkbook to write a check for a crazy amount ($72) to renew a magazine Blaine already subscribes to (Rolling Stone for 2 years).

I should've seen the red flags here:
-he said he got more points if I paid cash
and here:
-however uninvited, he asked if he could come in while I wrote the check

Of course, I wrote a check, and of course, practical-minded Blaine looked it up as soon as I told him. It was a scam. Please check out reviews here (courtesy of Blaine Duncan Detective Agency):

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-856-642-0012

http://citysquares.com/b/millenium-sales-721836

http://www.bbb.org/new-jersey/business-reviews/magazines-distributors/millennium-sales-in-mount-laurel-nj-90009226



Moral of the story: never stick Piper's head out the door assuming it's Lisa on the other side.