Keys: The Finale

It's been exactly a week since I left the Florida Keys. The time since then has not ceased to slow down. My last day in the Keys was Wednesday, Feb. 20. I spent the morning hanging out with a hostelite I had met down there. A quick note: want to know why I hesitate around people who ask for favors? Cause of guys like this. The dude was staying at the hostel and was going to be kicked out cause he couldn't pay for any more nights, but another hostelite with a kind heart lent him money so he could stay. Nice enough. Well, I befriended the two of them and eventually hung out with this guy a few times. On my last day, literally that morning, he broached the topic out of the blue of me lending him money. Now, here's the thing. He spent days telling his sob story about why he was there and broke. The kind of story one would feel sympathetic towards. I did. Family troubles, crazy ex-wife, took the kids, etc. As we hung out, he dropped what now feels like strategically placed stories about getting his taxes back that Friday and having to keep them from his ex-wife. He mentioned how he would pay back the other hostelite three-fold for her gesture. He even pulled out his smartphone (yea, a smartphone...oh, he also had an electronic cigarette...nice way to divvy up those finances) and showed me his tax receipt as, 'I don't like people to think I'm a bullshitter.' It was an awkward moment. After that, I felt enough that I needed to get away from him for a bit to think and to write a tad, so I excused myself, told him to meet back at the hostel and went to a pier. While on the pier, I ran across this sight: Some asshole had caught a baby hammerhead shark and left it for dead on the pier. Kind of a jerk move, unfortunately to my benefit as I got this photo. After the pier I went back to the hostel. I had promised a ride to the other nice hostelite that day on my way to Miami, so I waited for my roadie pal. The other guy was there waiting. Thinking it shameless of me to not at least help the guy out considering his circumstance, I lent him $35. Not a lot, but that would feed a frugal person for a solid four or five days. He was grateful. Told me he'd pay me back when he got his taxes. I wasn't expecting it, but he said the words, so I was like, hey man, whatever you feel is necessary. Needless to say, I haven't heard a word from the guy since nor has the other hostelite. Friday came and asked her if she'd heard form him, 'Nope.' She didn't know, but he had told me he was going to pay her back. She had told him not to. SO when she said she hadn't heard, I knew right away something was up. His story felt too good. *sigh* I hope I'm not just being an asshole. Maybe something came up. Maybe it didn't. Either way, experience is the best teacher and I've experienced a disproportionate number of money-lending that resulted in my feeling the fool.