A Shilling Tale of Deception

A small crowd of people huddled together at dusk on Alexander Platz in East Berlin staring at the ground watching intently. A few were scanning the passersby looking for police. Every so often there would be a small groan, or an excited yelp to declare triumph! It was illegal, of course. These con-men stole money from the innocent just as surely as if they'd put a knife to your throat, except that their theft was non-violent...usually. I mean, if someone got upset enough and attacked, then the con-man was sure to have his back up within easy reach. They always worked in groups, but I didn't know that at the time. Who was who? Hard to tell. But you can be sure the man with three hats had a lot of friends, even if he didn't use hats.

When I saw them, they always used match stick boxes and the ball was always just a little wad of paper or a rolled up candy wrapper, but it worked plenty well anyway. I'd never seen someone work that game so well before. Surely you have seen it at one time or another.  In cartoons, they always use big cups or bowls. The person working the bowls has three of them and only one ball and is supposed to move the bowls around so quickly that the onlooker loses track of where the ball is. When asked to choose, the onlooker gets it wrong because the three bowls moved around so quickly. It is always drawn in the cartoons as though the bowls are just a blur, but no one can move bowls so quickly that they become a blur.

The funny thing about the three hat game is that the bowls don't move quickly at all, and they don't have to be moved around very many times, either...because the trick isn't in the speed of the bowls. The beauty of using matchboxes and a little wad of paper is that the paper is small. When I first saw them playing, I had thought that the whole trick was in that they used cups with velcro in them, or that the game was played on a table and the ball was dropped out from under the cups by being moved over the edge of the table. But in Berlin, they play on the ground, and they'll let you inspect the match boxes to show you that there isn't any velcro. There is no trick (as far as you can see). And, sometimes people win! So, it must be an honest game, right?

That's where the shill's come in. The guy moving the boxes takes the ball out from under the box when he first puts the box down. Then he puts it back when he lifts up the box he wants the ball to be under. The speed comes in how quickly he sweeps his finger under the box to get the ball out, or in the angles. I'm not sure. I've never been able to do it convincingly (although I’ve never been interested in putting a lot of time into getting good at it). All I know is that if you watch them play for a while, the people who lose look like they must be complete morons. And, when the people win, it doesn't look like they're any geniuses, either. The boxes and ball are just not moving that quickly. So, it looks like a piece of cake. But, somehow, when I tried it, even though I was sure I knew where the ball was, it wasn't there when the guy turned the box over. One of the onlookers shook his head and told me I needed to step on the box with the ball under it and turn it over myself so that the con-man couldn't pull the ball out when he turned the box over. But, even though I was sure I had the right box, the ball still wasn't there. What about the people who won? Those are the shills. And the people who lose who look like complete morons? Those are often shills, too. The con-men work in groups: they have the spotters, the bodyguards, the people who are designated to lose and those chosen to win. Of course, it is all fixed ahead of time so that the innocent onlooker thinks only stupid people lose and you don't have to be that smart to win. So, playing should be easy money...except that it isn't.

Now, if you were brought up being taught about all the ways people can con each other, then maybe you'll think people like me are just really stupid. Anyone who doesn't already know how that type of game is played deserves to lose their money. But, that isn't the point. In college, I earned two degrees with three majors in four years. Two of those majors are in natural sciences with lots of math. I'm not stupid.

A few years ago, I was bitten by a dog. It didn't take my arm off or anything drastic like that, but it did leave a scar. The funny thing about it was that I saw the dog coming at me. I had been in a stand off with the dog for several minutes and it didn't attack until after I thought it had lost interest in me and I started to back away. If you've read enough of my other blog posts, you might know that I spent several years practicing Aikido (a Japanese martial art) when I was younger. Before that, I had spent several years learning western style fencing. Before that, I had spent several years as a wrestler. I've had my fair share of fights between the three of those sports. I'm used to things coming at me quickly. I don't say any of that to brag, but rather to emphasize that until you've seen how quickly a strong dog can move when it wants to, it is hard to even imagine how fast it is. I saw the dog coming at me. I pushed it away to try to protect myself. I never saw or felt it bite me. But after I pushed it away, I was bleeding.

The human eye can only see things that take longer than about 1/20th of a second. That's it. Any faster than that and things just disappear: a finger under a matchbox or a dog snapping its mouth shut.

2Cr 5:7    (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Hab 2:4    ... the just shall live by his faith.
Pro 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.
Prov 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

What counselors are you listening to in your life? Is there someone by you telling you to just step on the match box and you’ll win, or do you work harder than that to figure out who to trust? Do you trust your eyes as the final arbiter of truth? Is seeing believing, or is there more to it? I'd love to hear your comments.

Earning an Escape from the Flames

"What you are asking for, I cannot sell you," said the old man.

Rufus replied, "If I'm not offering enough, I'll pay more. How much do you want?" They walked steadily and quickly, but calmly through the city as others ran past frantically.

But the old man answered, "There is no price. I'm sorry."

Amidst angry shouts around him, Rufus persisted. "But, you've offered it to me hundreds of times before...I just wasn't ready."

"You weren't ready? Are you sure you weren't just unwilling?"

The old man had volunteered at the orphanage for years. He told all the children wonderful stories whenever he came. But he also told the children to follow him and that doing so would be both extremely difficult and more fun than anything they'd ever done before.

"Well, I don't know. The things you said didn't make any sense to me. How was I supposed to know that the things you were saying were true?" The old man had also told them what would happen to their city. The old man had told of the problems the city had: the rising tensions and the unwillingness of the people who lived there to do what was right. The people who lived there always wanted more and more: even after they’d been given as much as they could use without hurting themselves.

"I know and understand that. But, they didn't make sense to Jimmy, either, and yet he is now coming with me."

"Why does he get to go and I have to stay? He doesn't have anything to give you! Look how much money I've offered you and he hasn't offered you anything!"

"He loves me. He is a child. Jimmy trusted me and came when I called him. He has no other parents. He needs me. You have said over and over again that you don't need my help. You are all grown now. Your father came to claim you years ago and you willingly went with him. Don't you remember the story of the soup kitchen?"

Rufus knew it well. The old man had explained to him and the other orphans using a story about how strange people could be. He said that he had run a soup kitchen for a time and that one night a proud man came in who had lost his home. He was still well dressed, in spite of being homeless. The man had no more money because of legal difficulties and problems with his own business. The proud man had wanted to earn his soup. The old man told him that he couldn't do that.

"But, I don't want a hand out. I don't want to take anything for free. Let me work for my food."

The old man could only reply, "You are welcome to work. You are welcome to eat. But the food is free, whether you work or not. You cannot earn it. All the ingredients have been donated. I promise all donors that I will never charge for what they have freely given. Should I put a price tag on it now? I cannot."

The proud man hadn't eaten in days and began to weep because he didn't want to take charity.

"But what does the soup kitchen have to do with us...here and now?" asked Rufus. Meanwhile, as they had walked, they had come to the docks and the old man began to board a ship, little Jimmy running quietly alongside him to keep up. The old man gave the fare for himself and Jimmy and continued to explain to Rufus, "When I told you not to steal, you did it anyway. Others punished you. I could not. I was just a volunteer. When I told you to tell me about your homework and let me help you with it, you would not. Your grades suffered for it. You didn't trust me in the little things. Jimmy did and does. Jimmy is clearly willing to be my son. You didn't seek me early. We haven't spoken in years. But now, when the things I told you would happen have finally come to pass, now you claim to want to be my son, but you aren't." By this time, everyone had boarded the ship except the old man and Jimmy. Then, they walked up the gang plank, too. The ship began to pull away.

Rufus looked out at the large ship as it kept pulling further from the dock. He had to speak ever louder in order for the old man to hear him.

"But I'll work for you. I'll do anything you say. Whatever you ask me, I'll do."

"Rufus, you've said that before, but you never keep your word. You have always lied to me. And anyway, I can't turn the ship around. The gap is now so large, you couldn't leap it if you tried. And, remember the soup kitchen."

Looking back, Rufus could see the city on fire. With all the noise in the background and the growing distance to the ship, Rufus was now yelling so loud it was hurting his throat.

He said, "I was only in the orphanage because I thought my father was dead, but he wasn't. Now I know my father is an evil man. But you were always kind to me. Even though I didn't do what you said, the things you told me...I see now that you always only gave me good advice. Please take me with you. And why do you keep bringing up the soup kitchen?"

Rufus began to sweat from the heat of the burning city. He was also sobbing by this time. The buildings in that city were made mostly of wood and it had been dry lately. The fires were spreading quickly, even while the people rioted instead of trying to put them out.

The old man yelled, "You don't really love me. You haven't ever loved me. You are only saying those things now to try to escape the flames. Immigrations would never allow it. You have no more time to make those decisions. You are too old now. I can't bring a grown man home and claim to have adopted him. This is your city. This is where you belong. I keep bringing up the soup kitchen to remind you that there are some things you just can't 'earn'."

The fires were close enough now that Rufus could feel pain from the flames, and he could no longer see the ship because of the smoke. It was so thick he was in complete darkness. As he tried to watch the ship sail away, Rufus gnashed his teeth in agony from the heat, but there was no way to earn a place aboard the ship. He couldn't buy a ticket any more now than he could pay the old man to adopt him. His wicked, natural father had deserted him again at the first sign of danger and his chance to go with his savior was gone. The last words Rufus heard were, "There are some things you just can't 'earn'."

Jimmy and the old man watched from the ship as the smoke flooded over the docks and absorbed Rufus but were unable to do anything to help him. Jimmy asked the old man, “Daddy, what is Rufus doing now?” He answered, “I don’t know, Jimmy. I can’t see him any longer.” With that, they sailed on to the old man’s home land. There were, of course, times when Jimmy did things he wasn’t supposed to. But, he kept learning. When he was punished for something, he would learn not to do that thing again and he stopped doing it. His relationship with the old man continued until the old man’s death many years later. Then, he went on to teach other children how to live uprightly as well. And yet, he always knew that his relationship with the old man did not exist because Jimmy was “better” than Rufus. They had both lied. They had both stolen things. But Jimmy never left the old man for long. And if he did something wrong, he came back and apologized. The relationship didn’t exist because Jimmy paid the old man anything. It wasn’t there because Jimmy “worked” for the old man, but because they were both willing to maintain a relationship.

There is an old man who wants to adopt you, too. Are you willing to be his child? If you wait too long, one day, there won’t be any more time for you to decide to change, either. If you decided once that you wanted him to adopt you, have you kept up the relationship? Or have you walked away and only return when you are in trouble? What kind of a relationship is that if you only show up when you want something from him?

If you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear what you think. Thank you for reading.