24. Swindling a Swindler
“A local mall had a portable climbing wall with a ‘make it to the top and win $100’ sign. The route was actually pretty challenging. As I walked by, the guy asked me if I’d like to try ‘nobody has made it to the top, you think you can do it buddy?’
At the time, I was ranked a top-12 climber in my age group and kind of laughed to myself.
After taking my $100 from the guy, I then proceeded to call the rest of my climbing team. One by one, they went to the mall and claimed their $100.
After the fourth person, the guy got suspicious and took the sign down. We later told him we were all nationally-ranked competition climbers and he got a good laugh. The company who owned the rentals was the one who lost the money, he just worked the booth and wasn’t the one who lost the prize money.”
