Cape Cod Driver Wants You to Pay His Student Loans

It was the first official summer weekend of 2022, and the weather was exactly what you dream of when you book a getaway at the end of June.

Cape Cod traffic on Route 6 was as you might expect. It was crawling in some spots as the weekend warriors tried to make their way off Cape.

As the late afternoon traffic shuffled along, a strange sight was seen in the back window of a silver Ford Fusion.

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"Help me," said the first line of the message.

"Help me pay off my student loans!"

The driver then generously offered his fellow drivers two convenient ways to give him money.

1.  Cashapp: $EddieBoyle

2.  Venmo: @Eddiepboyle

A Facebook friend of mine, Matt Pitta, snapped a photo and posted it to his page.  "Are you kidding me????" Matt asked.  "Is this a joke?"

It's not. It's part of a growing trend that you'll find on social media.

When Maddie, Gazelle and I were on Martha's Vineyard over Memorial Day weekend, we saw a similar message written with window markers.  It was a bride-to-be on her bachelorette party asking islanders to chip in to help pay for the weekend's festivities.

Maddie thought the idea was pretty good.  "Not only could this potentially save the bridesmaids some money," she said, "but it’s also a unique way to show love to their engaged friend."

So the question is this. Is this idea from Eddie Boyle brilliant? Or is it pathetic?

On the one hand, why not? No one is forcing anyone to give up their money to Eddie. If sending Mr. Boyle a few bucks via Venmo is going to make them feel good, then it's a win-win. In fact, one person wrote on social media that it's sad people think it's wrong to help others.

It's funny how people have been tricked into believing that it's wrong to just help whoever, whenever. Why would it be so bad to help pay someone's tuition, or mortgage, or electric bill? People have been played so bad by the greed and cruelty of the few who hoard it so well that we see each other as enemies it's what they would like you to believe so that if people aren't suffering somehow they aren't trying hard enough, meanwhile you're all being laughed at, but at least you didn't help anyone get ahead, because no one did it for you either, right?  --David Dewees

On the other hand, some might say, "Man up, nd pay for your own tuition."

Or, better yet, really shoot your shot:

"Can someone pay off my mortgage?" wrote Ann in a social media comment.  "That'd be great. I have Venmo."

Here are some other Facebook reactions to the solicitation.