OnlySunshine Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 (edited) A few months ago, we got a really suspicious looking guy hanging around our house. My dad had been working outdoors and came in to get something, and he left the garage door open for a minute. Suddenly, my dog starts barking her head off, but I don't hear any doorbell, but she's using that bark that is like someone is at the door. I look out the window, and sure enough, there is a guy in grey sweatpants and a sweatshirt walking down our sidewalk and standing in our driveway. He never once rang the doorbell, but I bet my dog scared him off. The strange thing is, he hung around my driveway and pulled out a cell phone. I start getting all nervous and I worry that he is casing our house for a future burglary because we have had this happen before (before we had an alarm). I call my mom to the window and show her the guy and she immediately calls my dad to the window to ask if he left the garage door open. He said he did and my mom told him to shut it now. We watch the guy walk down our driveway and over to our neighbor's house (who was having a garage sale that day) and he picked up one thing, set it down and left (he went in their garage; our neighbor told us that when he picked up the item, he asked if it was for sale ). My dad and mom walk outside with their cell phone and I stay in the house with our dog ready to call the cops. I guess all of us are a little on edge about what happened in the past since it was a very scary experience. About an hour goes by and we don't see the guy anymore after he walks down the street. He really acted like he was on drugs because he was walking crooked. My mom and I decided to go to the store. When we got halfway down the side street, we noticed that a white pickup truck with a freezer was parked and a cop was behind it. The guy from our street was in the truck messing around with boxes. The freezer had steaks and seafood pictures on it but the truck was unmarked and guys in the truck looked extremely sloppy and high. Apparently, they had been hanging around other houses with garage doors open and one of our neighbors called the cops on them. My mom saw the cop and rolled down her window to tell him that they had been hanging around our house as well but didn't make their presence known by knocking or ringing the bell. When she asked the guy what he was doing at our house, he lied by saying that he had rang our bell and he knew we had a "big dog." The cop escorted them out of our neighborhood and told them never to come back since we live in a "no soliciting" neighborhood. Tonight, I went to the window to shut the blinds and notice that both guys were back and were across the street talking to our neighbor and trying to sell him steaks from the back of their truck. I told my mom that we needed to call the cops again since they were back AGAIN at a house where the garage was open. I called the police and they said they would send someone to our neighborhood to check it out. We never saw a cop, but the truck went to the street behind ours, and I told the dispatcher that we would prefer that they not come to our house since our neighbor always thinks that a cop showing up means we called it on him (he's a bit paranoid and acts crazy). Have any of you experienced anything similar? I googled "selling steaks out of the back of a truck" and it's apparently going on in several neighborhoods with reports that suspicious characters have backed their trucks up to the open garage. One of the guys goes to the door and the other is messing around in the back of the truck. I really think this is a scam to case houses for burglaries. Edited March 3, 2011 by MaterMisericordiae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 My former roommate bought some steaks and shrimp off the back of a truck once. It was pretty aged. It practically tasted like venison, but not quite. Who in their right mind would buy shrimp off a truck a thousand miles from the nearest ocean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1299120954' post='2217350'] My former roommate bought some steaks and shrimp off the back of a truck once. It was pretty aged. It practically tasted like venison, but not quite. Who in their right mind would buy shrimp off a truck a thousand miles from the nearest ocean? [/quote] That is my thought. When I saw them over at our neighbor's, the thought popped into my head, "What if they are poisoned or something?" I don't know if he bought anything, but if he did, I hope, for his sake, that nothing is wrong with it. I'd hate to see an ambulance there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil'Monster Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 yeah some guy did that to us before! they are crooks do not get meat from pickup trucks! dont trust those kind of people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='Lil'Monster' timestamp='1299121977' post='2217353'] yeah some guy did that to us before! they are crooks do not get meat from pickup trucks! dont trust those kind of people! [/quote] You can bet that I will NEVER buy meat or any other food item from the back of a pickup truck. Especially one that is not marked and the "salespeople" look sloppy and act suspicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Normile Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Yeah, there are good and bad in all businesses, these guys as described sound very shady. There are of course others who are just trying to make a living, they usually have business cards and pick up the meat at wholesale distributors and provide a very good sevice by cutting out the middleman, which is the local big box grocery store, which of course has to add to their shelf price, delivery, their stores advertising costs and their employees wages and insurance as well as stocking charges, union dues etc. The guys who are honestly doing this are just like the guys who sell produce, vegetables etc. at road side stands. Buying seafood out of the back of a truck hundreds of miles from the ocean is just about the same as buying it from your local grocery store or seafood restaurant, it all comes from the local ditributor, who in turn buys it from an out of state distributor, the very same one these guys get it from, and then they sell it to the various outlets mentioned above. It all gets shipped in from a seafood wholesaler that buys it from those who procure it, or catch it, from the sea or lake, depending on what type of fish it is. In Florida there are several wholesalers who buy their offering such as Tilapia and catfish, locally caught in local freshwater lakes by local net fisherman, or shrimp, lobster and other seafood caught by local saltwater net fishermen and delivered fresh to the seafood companies who wholesale it to distributors who sell it to grocery stores and restaurants as well as the private entrepeneur who offers it out of a freezer from his truck. We also have the guys who sell hand chosen Plant City strawberries along side the road, as well as Zellwood Florida sweetcorn along with local green beans and potatoes etc.. There are also those who park their large trucks carrying many vairieties of produce or meats or seafoods offering it for sale to passerbys. Sometimes the local net fisherman will miss a shipping deadline and offer their wares out of a truck or even out of their boat alongside the road rather than let it spoil. These honest merchants are a staple of american economy, they are the small businessman which drives the economy. Much like the local painter or roofer or home repairman or handyman. Yes there are good or bad examples in all these professions, but come on people you are capable of sound judgement, aren't you? The ones mentioned here did seem to be bad examples and were dealt with accordingly, but give a break to the honest merchant, his livelihood, the ability to feed his family and pay his bills is in the back of that truck and he relies on the kind people that trust his business practises who in turn are his most valuable asset, and one that he would never let down or abuse as he needs return customers. ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Normile Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Yeah, there are good and bad in all businesses, these guys as described sound very shady. There are of course others who are just trying to make a living, they usually have business cards and pick up the meat at wholesale distributors and provide a very good sevice by cutting out the middleman, which is the local big box grocery store, which of course has to add to their shelf price, delivery, their stores advertising costs and their employees wages and insurance as well as stocking charges, union dues etc. The guys who are honestly doing this are just like the guys who sell produce, vegetables etc. at road side stands. Buying seafood out of the back of a truck hundreds of miles from the ocean is just about the same as buying it from your local grocery store or seafood restaurant, it all comes from the local ditributor, who in turn buys it from an out of state distributor, the very same one these guys get it from, and then they sell it to the various outlets mentioned above. It all gets shipped in from a seafood wholesaler that buys it from those who procure it, or catch it, from the sea or lake, depending on what type of fish it is. In Florida there are several wholesalers who buy their offering such as Tilapia and catfish, locally caught in local freshwater lakes by local net fisherman, or shrimp, lobster and other seafood caught by local saltwater net fishermen and delivered fresh to the seafood companies who wholesale it to distributors who sell it to grocery stores and restaurants as well as the private entrepeneur who offers it out of a freezer from his truck. We also have the guys who sell hand chosen Plant City strawberries along side the road, as well as Zellwood Florida sweetcorn along with local green beans and potatoes etc.. There are also those who park their large trucks carrying many vairieties of produce or meats or seafoods offering it for sale to passerbys. Sometimes the local net fisherman will miss a shipping deadline and offer their wares out of a truck or even out of their boat alongside the road rather than let it spoil. These honest merchants are a staple of american economy, they are the small businessman which drives the economy. Much like the local painter or roofer or home repairman or handyman. Yes there are good or bad examples in all these professions, but come on people you are capable of sound judgement, aren't you? The ones mentioned here did seem to be bad examples and were dealt with accordingly, but give a break to the honest merchant, his livelihood, the ability to feed his family and pay his bills is in the back of that truck and he relies on the kind people that trust his business practises who in turn are his most valuable asset, and one that he would never let down or abuse as he needs return customers. ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I miss the Plant City strawberry festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Stand in your front doorway holding guns. Should be legal, since it's still your property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1299133554' post='2217396'] Stand in your front doorway holding guns. Should be legal, since it's still your property. [/quote] LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1299135082' post='2217400'] LOL [/quote] I'm only joking a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 We've had them stop by-- not shading looking ones. But yeah, the idea of buying meat from the back of a truck going door to door? Um, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papist Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 [left]Many people have refrigerators and freezers in their garage. And there are many people in my own neighborhood that keeps their garage door open for hours during the day during nice weather. It is very likely that the guy was waiting for an opportunity to get into your garage, which might be how he is getting the meat to sell. Last summer here there was an outbreak of teens stealing beer out of garage refrigerators. In my parts, stealing beer is a capital offence.[/left] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='Papist' timestamp='1299158987' post='2217419'] [left]Many people have refrigerators and freezers in their garage. And there are many people in my own neighborhood that keeps their garage door open for hours during the day during nice weather. It is very likely that the guy was waiting for an opportunity to get into your garage, which might be how he is getting the meat to sell. Last summer here there was an outbreak of teens stealing beer out of garage refrigerators. In my parts, stealing beer is a capital offence.[/left] [/quote] I'm not sure that was the reason. Neither I nor my two neighbors have refrigerators or freezers in our garage. I think he was looking for things that were expensive, like TVs or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papist Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1299170775' post='2217465'] I'm not sure that was the reason. Neither I nor my two neighbors have refrigerators or freezers in our garage. I think he was looking for things that were expensive, like TVs or something. [/quote] I think he was definitely looking for something. Pretty creepy. Makes me want to assess my house for its safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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