"Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery."
From other sources we have: "Caveat Emptor " - Let the buyer beware.
And from the other side of the spectrum, the more cynical and predatorial, "There's a sucker born every minute." - attributed without verification, to P.T. Barnum.
Whether he said it or not, there are most certainly, in the realm of "confidence men" (a practice that is not exclusive to the male gender ... though my guess is this particular gender biased colloquialism, many women wouldn't be eager to change).... but I do digress.. at any rate, there are certainly those operating in the world, that give just cause, to careful discernment and due diligence.
Again from sources unverified - it is suggested that Mohammed said: "Tie up your camel & trust in Allah."
You may be noticing a pattern forming within these various snippets of wisdom... one of personal responsibility.
Wouldn't it be marvellous if you could count on the integrity of all those you entered into business transactions with. However, it's just not possible. The onus is on myself to do some homework. I do have a recent example of exemplary business integrity. Nearly a couple months after purchasing my motorcycle, I had taken it in to have some modifications. When they completed the installations etc. the bike was taken out for a test ride, to be sure everything was okay. It was through this process, they discovered a very small, "slow leak" in my front brake calliper. The front brakes are immensely important!! Maybe I would have noticed it while cleaning the bike, perhaps if it remained small & slow, eventually; I would have noticed a marked decrease in braking power, hard to say at this point.
However the service department manager informed me, this was something that "should have been detected" when they did the pre-purchase inspection and because it was missed (or didn't show at that time) they ordered and installed a brand new calliper at their expense. I was thrilled with both the show of integrity, and to have my brakes restored, to optimal safety standards.
For me I know enough to "exercise caution" but I don't want to go through life full of fear that I'm always about to get "ripped off.." Truly no matter how much due diligence I exercise at some point there is going to need to be some trust. I can't possibly know everything, therefore I must learn to feel into the interaction with others, and determine; whether I believe I can trust their presentation, of what they would have me believe, is expertise.
Some scams are painfully obvious... like the email "inheritance" of some long lost family member living in some remote part of the world. The document is loaded full of spelling and grammatical errors, and all I need do, is provide my bank account info!!
But you hear of new forms of subterfuge fairly frequently and some are very sophisticated. Of course there are those operating legitimate businesses, in various unscrupulous ways. It certainly can "pay" to get at least, a second opinion.
I truly believe the whole matter comes back to the person responsibility piece. Not even so much with regard to the product or service (quality, warranty, consumer reports etc.) The most important aspect to me, is my learning to believe and trust, in my judgement. Integrally important and frankly (in my view) something that is potentially vulnerable. Despite the various "lessons" life has presented me and the forms they lessons have taken; I can't allow them to drag me down. It seems to me many of my "life lessons" have had a monetary component along with them. I have seen some significant sums of money come and go through my hands, on what turned out to be, fairly dodgy products or services. I literally consider this, "tuition" in the afore mentioned school of life.
Even in this, I am willing to give some, the benefit of the doubt. I suppose there are people who truly believe what they are representing; is a bonafide gift to humanity, until maybe they discover, they too have "drank the kool-aid."
Certainly if one is "victimized" in such a transaction - it doesn't serve to further rub salt in the wounds by beating myself up incessantly. If I find myself in repeating cycles of victimization - I might want to take a good, hard, honest look, at my beliefs about myself, in this regard; and consider what I do, to set myself up, or perpetuate this victim standing/consciousness.
So then there is a balance between my personal responsibility, while at the same time recognizing, there are those that are looking to weave their deceptions, beware. I am responsible (not to blame) for how I walk in the world ... before such an encounter and after.
R. O'Neill (June 22, 2018)
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