Stranded in Istanbul

"You can't do anything for a person who is stuck between being happy and being miserable.

All you can do is get trapped in the middle,

and anyone in the middle just gets squished.' - Grandma"

Jack Gantos

This morning I received a brief email from a friend I had not heard from in a long time.  It simply said she needed help if I possibly could make myself available to her.  My immediate thought was concern for her and regardless of how much time had passed, she was still a friend.  

As I began my responding email, something was niggling in the back of my brain.  I recalled a year ago when another friend was desperate in Italy needing money.  Except, I knew this friend was at Barnes while her husband had surgery.  

I decided to delete the message as surely it was a scam, right?  My morning continued on and so did my concern for my friend.  If she really were in dire straits, I would not turn my back.  I felt myself being pulled into a drama where I did not belong.

Later in the morning, I received a second email from my friend.  It stated that she had impulsively fled to Istanbul and it was not accepting her debit card and needed financial help.  Actually $2400 in help if I could.  

Laughing out loud, I deleted this message as well, imagining how embarrassed my friend must be with this nonsense speeding through her email addresses.  Indeed, if I had stayed a willing player in the middle of this disguised game, my good intentions would have been squished!