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In my city, in the rougher parts it used to be somewhat normal to pay someone to "look after your car", of course you were paying them not to vandalise it while
by LandR 3y ago
In my city, in the rougher parts it used to be somewhat normal to pay someone to "look after your car", of course you were paying them not to vandalise it while you were away! Especially popular on football days when parking near the stadium.
It was only a couple of pounds or so. I haven't been to these parts of town for years so I have no idea if this practice still goes on.
- leesalminen 3y agoThere’s a popular swimming around here that’s near a rough neighborhood. One elderly gentleman from that neighborhood guards the cars at the swimming hole. He even got himself a shirt that says “security”. You pay $2 and he makes sure nobody busts the windows out of your car.
- seabass-labrax 3y agoDo you think this is blackmail as described by your parent comment, or a genuine (albeit unofficial) offer of protection?
- leesalminen 3y agoNo, I don’t think it’s blackmail in this particular situation. Though that definitely does exist here in other spots. This is just an old guy who tries to quell the riff-raff of the youth of the neighborhood. He’s really sweet actually. And if you bring him a cold beer, he’ll do a quick cleaning of your windows to boot!
- djbusby 3y agoI'm aware, and have used, this practice in Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, SF, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and Portland OR. One reason I keep a small amount of cash around - just for the vig.
- canadianfella 3y ago[dead]
- konschubert 3y agoIt's extortion. You're paying protection money.
- djbusby 3y agoYep, and my stuff was protected. Been doing it since at least 1995.
- konschubert 3y agoYou have been financing crime.
- djbusby 3y agoI prefer to think of it as financing entrepreneurs.
- Ekaros 3y agoAt least the scale is much smaller than giving VC money to likes of Uber and AirBnB. So you have moral upper-hand.
- freediverx 3y agoEvery tax dollar you pay finances one human crime or another.
- konschubert 3y agoI’m discovering an increasing number of edgelords here on HN. You know that what you said isn’t true. Or you are really badly informed.
- 3y ago
- slashdev 3y agoThis is common all over the developing world. I always give them a little something, despite the feel of extortion it has to it. It’s marginally better than begging, and they will really watch the car, and often help with parking and leaving. Fair enough.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- salad-tycoon 3y agoIn the one of the Third world countries I lived in, the more attentive ones would also put a piece of cardboard on your windshield. A nice touch. Not so much the guys that insist on spraying your windshield with soap at every traffic light.
- seabass-labrax 3y agoThere is often a fine line between crime, commerce and even altruism. It is a shame that western society has been perhaps a little too effective at separating these concepts. The very same contract could be any of them in different contexts: "Party A pays 1 Pound Sterling for the item owned by Party B" Crime: Party A blackmails Party B into selling them the item at a discount Commerce: Party B offers the discount to entice Party A to try the item out, so that they can sell more at full price in the future Altruism: Party B wants to give the item to a good home rather than destroying it (if that would cost them, then it's even mutually beneficial altruism from both parties) Clearly it is the context about how the contract was made that distinguishes the situations. It would be a mistake to try to classify every possible contract as legitimate based on its semantics alone.
- freediverx 3y ago“Soap”
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoThat happened to me at least a few times; I never went for it, and nothing bad happened in those instances. In retrospect, I suppose I'm surprised. But perhaps it was sort of randomized, so that people wouldn't draw obvious conclusions?