Tanya: A soccer player on the fields adjacent to the tennis club reached out to me through the website and said that last week he kicked a ball that went over the fence onto the courts during a time when the club was closed and the gates were locked. I heard you might have been involved.
Me: Yes, the other day I found a neon yellow soccer ball inside our fence, and so the next evening when we were at the club and soccer practice was going on I yelled out to the coach through the fence and asked him if they had lost a ball at the last practice. He said they did and he sent a young player in to retrieve it, who seemed to be the owner of the ball. I got the ball out of the shed and gave it to the player.
Tanya: But the player who reached out to me hoping to retrieve the ball (I’ve heard it was a really nice ball) has NOT received it.
Me: The coach was the same guy who I see at all the practices. I returned the ball to who I thought was the rightful owner.
Tanya: It is disheartening to hear that a coach would take a ball that was not his.
Me: Sounds like we need to replace the ball based on this misunderstanding.
Tanya: I agree it would be a nice gesture to gift a ball to this player.
Me: Unless there is something more sinister at work here. Maybe they have a scam going to get free new soccer balls: a player kicks a ball over the fence, waits a day, asks us if we have it, then someone comes to retrieve it. And the next day, the person who contacted us about kicking the ball over the fence says they didn’t receive the ball, and that we must have given it to the wrong person. So we have to buy them another new one.
Tanya: I really don’t think that’s a likely situation. These are just kids and their coaches playing soccer on the fields next to us.
David: You’re right, I was only kidding.
. . .
Tanya: I just got another email from someone saying they kicked their ball over the fence when the club was closed.
David: The scam is real!
