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Monday, May 21, 2007
Retiree helps elderly wipe out their vulnerability
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He was a young man on a date at a carnival with one of the prettiest girls in town. She wanted to have her palm read for $1. She went into one tent. Bill York went into the other. Suddenly a palmist opened the tent flap and told York his date wanted the $30 reading. He only had $18. The palmist said that would do.
It wasn’t until the couple emerged from the readings that reality struck.
“Why did you want me to have the $30 reading,” York’s date wanted to know. He tried unsuccessfully to get his money back. The truth set in.
“I’d been scammed,” said York, who shared the 1946 personal story with residents of Lake Lucerne last Thursday.
“And I promised it would never happen to me again.”
I’d heard the carnival story before.
York and I play ping pong sometimes at the Gwinnett Senior Center off Bethesda Road. Safety’s his bailiwick.
For the past year or so he’s been giving a free presentation throughout the community, to whomever will listen. He’s taken it upon himself to educate residents, particularly senior citizens, about swindlers, safety, crime prevention. He hopes they apply the researched tips to their homes and when they are out and about.
The 81-year-old retired furrier, who lives in Stone Mountain, isn’t paranoid about crime or victim hood. He doesn’t want senior citizens, considered to be prime targets for scammers, to stop living, either.
He wants to help wipe out their vulnerability, not only for scams, but robberies, thefts and carjackings. And you must admit we seem to have more than our share of all of the above in Gwinnett.
“I want them to be prepared and to use the Boy Scout motto: ‘Be prepared for any eventuality,’ ” he told me. “Don’t act the way the crooks want you to act.”
The Lake Lucerne neighborhood, a community of 168 homes, sits off U.S. Highway 78 between Snellville and Stone Mountain. It’s been the site of three break-ins, and worried residents say that’s three too many. They asked York to give his presentation Thursday night. He showed up with a friend, Lilburn Police Chief John Davidson.
The duo offered simple, smart, safety tips, among them: keep one credit card and one blank check in your wallet or purse; in fact, carry a fanny pack, not a wallet or purse; don’t carry too much cash; befriend the elderly in your neighborhood and help them make decisions about house repairs; survey your home and eliminate vulnerable spots.
And, just as important, don’t stop enjoying life.
“You don’t want to become a prisoner, be afraid to go to the store or go on walks,” Davidson told the group. “That diminishes the quality of life.”
Three years ago, York graduated from the Gwinnett citizens police academy. He went out with the SWAT Team and rode with patrol officers to get a sense of the criminal mind. He believes the message of safety has to be repeated over and over till it sinks in.
“It’s the lack of reality or the acceptance of reality,” he told me. “People need to be told the third, fourth and fifth time to get it. It doesn’t strike them unless they become victims.”
Then it’s too late.
To contact Bill York about scheduling a presentation, contact him at 770-921-3655 or e-mail sioux2222@gmail.com. Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
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