Elderly people being swindled in old-time, and modern Phoenix


Since I do most of my time-traveling in and around Phoenix, I thought that I would stay there, but elderly people being swindled isn't limited to a particular time, or a particular place. And if you're already getting huffy about my using the term "elderly", I feel comfortable using it, since I turned 65 this year, and if you don't like it I'll go find one of 45 records and smack you over the head with it! I might even be able to find a couple of 78s!

Where was I? Oh yeah, elderly people being swindled. And I use that term, but I could also use the term "conned", or maybe "convinced to give up their money and get nothing in return". But waitaminute, just because young people can't see a value doesn't mean that there's no value to elderly people. If a restaurant wanted me to give them good money for some raw fish wrapped in seaweed, I wouldn't even consider it, but I know a lot of people like that, and to each his own. By the way, there were a lot of raw fish wrapped in seaweed on the beaches in Santa Barbara, where I lived in my twenties, and you had to watch your step, especially if you were barefoot!

Nowadays I live in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix not far from Sun City, and there are a LOT of elderly people around here (including me, remember?). And while I would hate to see some kind-hearted little old lady swindled out of her life savings and have to go live on the street, if she wants to give away some of it, or a lot of it, personally I'm OK with that, especially if the swindle is done like a real con, which means that "the mark" (the person who loses the money) really never knows.

If you time-travel back to old-time Phoenix, you can rest assured that these people will live and die never knowing that they've been had. Long before fake emails requesting money, there were people figuring out ways to convince soft-hearted people to part with some cash. And whether or not it's really a con isn't for me to say. It could be giving money to a group of people who promise eternal salvation (and who can check on that?), which could be a good investment in peace of mind for some elderly people.

I'm an old marketing guy, and I know that often it's a very fine line between creating "added value" to a product, and downright swindling people. I often think about how lobsters were marketed as luxury items at a time when they were considered as appetizing as eels. Con or great marketing? I will let you decide, and I will respect your decision.

Like so many things that I see going on nowadays, my fascination with history shows that it's nothing new. Elderly people get swindled, and if they're lucky they'll get satisfaction out of it, and never realize that it was a con.

Thank you for the encouragement! If you want to see daily pics of my adventures on my recumbent trike in suburban Phoenix (just for fun, of course!) you can follow me on buymeacoffee.com/bradhall, and you can buy me a coffee if you'd like to!

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