No Fool Like An Old Fool

I recently was able to visit a place that I have read and studied about extensively for the last almost 40 years....Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. For those reading this who are saying what is Dealey Plaza, it's where President Kennedy was assassinated n 1963. I have been fascinated with the whole assassination  thing ever since the day it happened. Like so many other big events in my life it's a day that is etched in my memory.
So I can't tell you how excited I was when I heard we were having a work meeting in Dallas and that 2 of my co-workers were interested in taking a tour of the Dealey Plaza area, perhaps even going into the Texas School Book Depository building, from where JFK was shot.

The excitement was really building as my coworkers and  I parked the car in a lot adjacent to the area and began walking towards The Texas School Book Depository and Dealey Plaza. As we were crossing the street against the red light, a pedestrian who was walking in our direction said we better be careful against walking against red lights in Dallas, as the police were known to issue tickets against lawbreakers like ourselves. We thanked him and he continued the conversation asking us if we were from out of town and if we were here to see the assassination site. We enthusiastically said yes.
He said his name was Sherman and he was on his lunch break from his job as a repairman for The Texas School Book Depository! He said he would be hapy to give us a quick tour ...on his lunch break. He had previously given official tours for the museum, but was let go, as the museum did not appreciate him giving the unofficial version of events to the tourists.
Let me tell you, Sherman knew his stuff...in more ways than one. He knew about every conspiracy theory there was and he kept us spellbound with his vast knowledge and obvious obsession with the JFK assassination, taking us to the book depository building, showing us the motorcade route and all the other fascinating sights we all knew so well.

Before you knew it, THE  grassy knoll was upon us...I mean the one and only grassy knoll that has become a word in and of itself. Although  world changing history happened here, the actual grassy knoll is a small little area.
It had almost been an hour since Sherman started his unofficial tour with us and he asked if we wanted a picture taken of us with the assassination scene as a backdrop.
It all then suddenly  hit me...what did I know about this guy Sherman? I just met him less than an hour ago . What if he ran off with my Blackberry? And come to think of it, wasn't all of what happened in the last hour just a tad bit convenient?  He really worked in the book depository building? He really was on his lunch break and just kindly warned us about going against the red light? Did I just fall off the turnip truck?
I still gave him my Blackberry as I knew my 2  co-workers were a lot younger then Sherman and could catch him easily if he decided to run away with it.He snapped our picture and handed me back my Blackberry.
Right after Sherman snapped the pictures, his  real motivation for just running into us became apparent.
"Well guys", he said," it's been about an hour and the official tour you would have taken would have cost you $15- $20 each. A donation in that amount would be most appreciated"  One of my co-workers handed him a twenty and with that our friendly tour guide abruptly turned around and walked off in a huff. Within 5 minutes, he spotted another bunch of rubes like ourselves and latched onto them.
The three of us felt dumb for being so easily taken in by Sherman who misrepresented himself and his real motivation. He was an excellent confidence man and we fell for his story hook, line and sinker. Here were three city boys who should have been more suspicious and a lot less gullible. But the more we thought of it, we realized he had given us a great tour and that actually,it was well worth the  $20 we gave him!