Jack Kukoda

Because my family got swindled again. This is about the umpteenth time my father has been taken in a Ponzi scheme. What’s interesting about it this time is that the guy who swindled my father was actually named Ponzi. Pete Ponzi. I cannot believe my father did not see that one coming.

But this isn’t the first time the Kukodas have been swindled. The Kukodas are, in general, a likable and good-natured bunch, but we are too quick and willing to trust people. When I was a kid, this guy came to our house and said he had been robbed and just wanted to use our phone to make a phone call. He tried to call, but said the line was busy, and asked if he could wait in our living room for a few minutes and then try again. We said okay. That man ended up living in our house for eight years. Most families, after an hour or so, would have asked the guy to leave. Not the Kukodas. True story.

Another time, my parents were driving me to baseball practice, and this guy on a mountain bike pulled up next to our car at a red light. He told us that he was from the car company, and needed to do a routine inspection of our car. We should have known something was up when he just used the term “car company” instead of the specific manufacturer of our car. Hindsight is 20/20. Anyway, we all got out of the car like he asked so he could perform the inspection. He got in and drove away. My dad drove me to practice on the mountain bike the guy left behind. Another true story.

Oh, and just last year, my father lost our house in that carnival game where you throw darts at balloons to try and win a poster of Jessica Simpson. I have no idea how that happened. True story, though.