14. 3 Eggs for $100
I get a lot of emails from Scam School fans. A LOT. But one of my all-time favorites comes from a fan who should have known better:
Hey Brian,
It’s been a while! Good to see you’re still hard at it with Scam School.
As you say, most of these scams come round again and again in different forms.
Here’s a cool twist on an old scam. I paid the messy price (on video) the other day when my uncles laid out the following proposal:
‘If we can crack open three eggs on your head, we will pay you $100 EACH. You can either agree or refuse the bet - but if you agree, and then hesitate or back out, you pay us $10 each. Deal?’
Have a think about that for a minute… $100, for three eggs? They even said they’d allow me a change of clothes nearby, and a hosing down outside to remove the egg afterwards. Easy money!
This one had me hooked, as I’d never heard anything like it before, and I know a LOT of bar scams, mainly through Scam School and The Real Hustle UK. I knew there had to be a catch. I remembered the old cider in the ear quotation. I know that there’s a sucker born every minute. I know that if it looks (or sounds) too good to be true, then it probably is. But I had to know the answer! After a minute’s frantic deliberation, I agreed to the deal, knowing that, somehow, I would soon be no better off financially AND covered in egg, to boot.
The conclusion: After agreeing and taking my seat outside, my uncles each cracked open an egg on my head with a big smile, and let it dribble down my face and chin. After holding the third egg and contemplating it for a moment, the first uncle then handed me the final egg, and wandered off. ‘That was FUN!’ I heard him saying to his brother as they walked away. I threw the final egg at him, but it bounced off, still whole, and broke on the ground at his feet. Bastards!
Another cool idea for a Scam School episode maybe?
When I recover the clip from my camcorder (I lent it to a friend) I’ll stick it up on Facebook and give you a heads-up.
Take it easy,
Cowboy
That “cider quote” he mentioned? It’s a classic from “Guys & Dolls:”
“One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken. Then this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this brand-new deck of cards and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not accept this bet, because as sure as you stand there, you’re going to wind up with an ear full of cider.” – Sky Masterson