“A-Bridged”
Wise men say –A fool and his money are soon parted.
An abridged version means a condensed version of the original. The term is used as an adjective. From this blog though it emerges that its use as a verb may be permitted. How? Well… to cut a long story short… (here the irony doesn’t escape me)
The incident took place a few days ago. As is my habit I walk back to my place of residence from work over this bridge that crosses the railway tracks. On previous occasions I have seen a small gathering near one end and usually never stop, but on this fateful hot afternoon I was at leisure and stopped to have a look. As a mere passive bystander you see, to take in the going-on…
Turns out to be a very watered down version of a Las Vegan act. A man with three biscuits, one of them with a red sticker on one side. He shuffles the three and you guess which one is marked. It doesn’t end at guessing of course—you bet money on the red herring! It is not so simple as I learn shortly. There are around 4-6 people and they are placing bets. I look on amused. This person next to me bets. He looses. He bets again and I tell him which one - good Samaritan? He wins. He bets again—I help again. And again… this is where the plot thickens… the chappie handling the cards makes for like this guy won… my friend is happy and ups the odds… he shakes my hand…the chap asks if I have money to cover the bet… I think I am helping this friend out win big so say yes and whip out two hundred bills. Before I know it the bet is wrong and chap pockets the 200, friend saunters off, I am left with a massive hole in my wallet… and a larger one in my head. I feel like I just shot myself with a sawed off shotgun. Chap starts afresh nonchalantly. I wonder about all that happened and am benumbed as I walk away. Then my senses take hold of me with a bang. I walk back and argue with the chap. It might have been dangerous but I manage to extricate half the sum back and I know full well I’ve been had as does he, but there can’t be more said as I accept I’ve been duped hook, line and sinker! As I eat that mid-day meal I fume at my stupidity, it takes me over an hour to keep going over all that happened to realize what a smooth con it was. Identify target, flash bait, let overconfidence creep in, guard down up the wager, let him taste blood, reel him in,then—WHAM! Its over before I know it. It was such a fine and smooth operation I don’t feel the pain even without a knockout general anesthetic administration. The loss smarting I report the matter to a police inspector, he smiles and confirms my worst fears. There’s not much to be done about these fly by night operators. What adds insult to injury is when he asks me how educated I am. I reply sheepishly “I’m a Doctor”. He grins… I burn inside. Its been five years in a city as large as Mumbai and I’ve been duped only twice. I fended off real crazies on my Rajasthan trip, but this was really something I hadn’t bargained for. I keep hunting for Red October now… glad I got a 100 back without a fight!
This could have been alternatively entitled as my “Sweet Marie…”experience… the ache though, is worse in this case…
An abridged version means a condensed version of the original. The term is used as an adjective. From this blog though it emerges that its use as a verb may be permitted. How? Well… to cut a long story short… (here the irony doesn’t escape me)
The incident took place a few days ago. As is my habit I walk back to my place of residence from work over this bridge that crosses the railway tracks. On previous occasions I have seen a small gathering near one end and usually never stop, but on this fateful hot afternoon I was at leisure and stopped to have a look. As a mere passive bystander you see, to take in the going-on…
Turns out to be a very watered down version of a Las Vegan act. A man with three biscuits, one of them with a red sticker on one side. He shuffles the three and you guess which one is marked. It doesn’t end at guessing of course—you bet money on the red herring! It is not so simple as I learn shortly. There are around 4-6 people and they are placing bets. I look on amused. This person next to me bets. He looses. He bets again and I tell him which one - good Samaritan? He wins. He bets again—I help again. And again… this is where the plot thickens… the chappie handling the cards makes for like this guy won… my friend is happy and ups the odds… he shakes my hand…the chap asks if I have money to cover the bet… I think I am helping this friend out win big so say yes and whip out two hundred bills. Before I know it the bet is wrong and chap pockets the 200, friend saunters off, I am left with a massive hole in my wallet… and a larger one in my head. I feel like I just shot myself with a sawed off shotgun. Chap starts afresh nonchalantly. I wonder about all that happened and am benumbed as I walk away. Then my senses take hold of me with a bang. I walk back and argue with the chap. It might have been dangerous but I manage to extricate half the sum back and I know full well I’ve been had as does he, but there can’t be more said as I accept I’ve been duped hook, line and sinker! As I eat that mid-day meal I fume at my stupidity, it takes me over an hour to keep going over all that happened to realize what a smooth con it was. Identify target, flash bait, let overconfidence creep in, guard down up the wager, let him taste blood, reel him in,then—WHAM! Its over before I know it. It was such a fine and smooth operation I don’t feel the pain even without a knockout general anesthetic administration. The loss smarting I report the matter to a police inspector, he smiles and confirms my worst fears. There’s not much to be done about these fly by night operators. What adds insult to injury is when he asks me how educated I am. I reply sheepishly “I’m a Doctor”. He grins… I burn inside. Its been five years in a city as large as Mumbai and I’ve been duped only twice. I fended off real crazies on my Rajasthan trip, but this was really something I hadn’t bargained for. I keep hunting for Red October now… glad I got a 100 back without a fight!
This could have been alternatively entitled as my “Sweet Marie…”experience… the ache though, is worse in this case…
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