Random Yardman Strikes Again....

Ok....I am struggling a little...well, a lot, with all things relating to Random Yardman. Let me clue some of you in to the past few days.
First of all, this new guy is really Random Yardman number 2 (RY2). The other one hasn't been back since last spring. Maybe they rotate neighborhoods. Anyway...he showed up at 3pm two days before Christmas and asked for $100 to rake our yard. A. That is OUTRAGEOUS for our yard. We don't live on 5 acres. Most of the leaves have already been taken care of, and he expected us to provide the bags. B. Do you really plan on starting a yard at 3pm? C. That is OUTRAGEOUS. So...after he gives Mom some long sap story...she agrees to let him work. THEN, after working 2 hours, and ringing the doorbell no less than 3 times in the 2 hours, he asks for an advance. Again with the sap story and a promise to return to finish. Mom said she told him that she trusted the Lord, because when He sent someone to help her, He always made sure they finished. His reply, "That's right; that's right. The Lord sent me."
So...on Christmas Eve, he returned...this time, he was brought by a policeman. To make a long story short, the policeman told him that if he didn't finish our yard in a time he (the policeman) thought was appropriate, that he would be coming after RY2. Mom said, "Well...I guess the Lord wanted to make sure that he came back to finish the job."
He came back today. He got very upset when he found out that Mom was not there to get him some garbage bags and to pay him. He began to give me the sap story and demanded I call her. So...I called her, and we determined that I would get the bags and his money, and since I had to leave shortly, Will would look over the work when RY2 was finished and pay him, if it was complete. When I left, there were open bags of leaves everywhere. When I arrived home...there were open bags of leaves everywhere. When I called my brother to ask what happened, he told me that RY2 was finished. I asked about the open bags, and Will said that RY2 promised that he'd close them and put them on the side of the road. So he paid him and left. So...I closed the bags and put them on the side of the road.
I have spent much of today ranting and raving about being conned and taken and how irate it makes me. Maybe it's a result of getting robbed at knifepoint in my car for accidentally cutting someone off. Maybe it's a result of being harassed in Subway by someone asking for money and then making comments about cutting someone up for crossing his path. Maybe it's a result of working over 40 hours a week, cleaning house, etc. in my spare time, and being taught that everything you do should be as if doing it for the Lord.
And it is this last statement that causes me trouble. It makes me really mad to feel taken advantage of. I've really considered putting up a sign at both doors: "NO SOLICITING!!! This means for yardwork, Girl Scout cookies, hand-outs, etc." However...when I think that what that really says is, "If you're looking for grace, you'll not find it here," that upsets me. I mean, Mom, and even my brother, has this soft place for people out to do a very little work for an unreasonable amount of money. I think our house is well known. I'm sure they say to each other, "Try to avoid going if the little white car is there. Look for the silver one." Mom and I have gone round and round over this kind of thing. I find it very easy to say "no." She says yes, tries to hide it from me, and then inevitably I find out, and we have a discussion about being suckered. I hate it.
And I really hate thinking that I have no mercy. Where is my compassion? And then I wonder...well, does having compassion mean being blind to being suckered? I mean, shouldn't we be able to expect to give what is due when it is due, and not until then? That guy had no intention of returning to our yard. At least, not until he needed the rest of the money. Had that policeman not told him that he would be seeking him out, RY2 would not have come back. And now...since I would rather have a yard free of open leaf-bags, when that policeman drives by, he will think that the job was done and go on about his way.
I haven't thought about myself as a heartless tight-wad. I like to think that I'm a generous, big-hearted, softy. HA !!!! One can dream. Anyway...It's times like these that I'm aware of the cynicism that is growing within me. There has to be a balance to it. Surely, there is a balance. I don't think that compassion is blind. I think compassion sees exactly what is there and still has pity. But it is not blind. Lord, help me to see what You see, and to act as You would want me to. Help me to not let the anger that wells up within me to govern my actions if You say to act otherwise. Show me what the balance is. I want it to be obvious that You, O Lord, are responsible for the grace being given and received. I don't want people to look at me and question my love for You. If being suckered is what it's going to take, then Lord let it be.