Guilty By Association

There are hundreds of millions of people. The bad far out way the good. The good have character, ethics, reasonable intelligence and discipline. The good in society learn at an early age to work toward goals and earn what they achieve and own in life. The bad look for the easy way to do everything. They will lie, cheat and steal to get what they want. They will use and exploit people. They take advantage of trust. They hide behind the façade of being like the rest of us. They look like us, talk like us and walk like us. They use promises to seduce us. They use flattery to make us feel important and appreciated. They pretend to take us into their confidence by talking discreetly with us in order to steal our trust in them.

How do we recognize them?

The old saying, that if, “it seems too good to be true…it is”, is true wisdom.

If the job they offer is easier to get than others or, the amount of money they offer or the perks – make them put it in writing. If they mean what they say they will. Most people should respect you for this. If they try to avoid this or outright refuse to do so – get up and walk away and do not waste anymore of your valuable time with them.

If they become your best friend over night – they are not. As Shakespeare said through the character Polonius;

those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried – grapple to thy soul with hoops of steel – but, do not dull thy palm with vagaries of a new found acquaintance