George was a pirate, but he wasn’t a very good pirate.
His captives would ransom themselves with checks, and then stop payment right after they were freed.
Or they’d give George their credit card number, and then cancel the card the moment they reached a phone.
“I’ll PayPal you,” one said. “What’s your email address?”
Eventually, George put his foot down, and wouldn’t accept anything but cash.
So when his captives would open their wallets and show they only have five or ten bucks, he’d take it and let them go.
“You know they have families, right?” said the captain.