The sadness is what I was most left with, Michelle. Not the sadness of missing a homemade meal, that is, but of having to walk through the world assuming that strangers are scammers and that the unfamiliar is threatening. I don't want that orientation to others.

It's probably a familiar observation, but the Latin words hostis (enemy) and hospes (guest, host) derive from the same Indo-European root. The idea seems to be that any stranger was a potential guest and a potential enemy. I'd rather view strangers as potential guests.

But it's also true that the worst kind of offense in the ancient world was a guest who betrayed the host, i.e. became an enemy. (Paris stealing Helen from Troy comes to mind). It isn't lost on me that this scam is operating with that kind of duplicity: feigning friendship or hospitality to steal from you. Zeus the protector of guests would be furious!

Thanks as always for reading and responding, my friend. I hope all's well with you.