DISHONEST/THE CHEATERS

We live in a world composed of many kinds of people. Some we say have 'made a deal with the Devil'. They seem, to our amazement, to get away without any consequences, no matter how awful their actions and behaviour. 

These are the people who seem to sail through life taking from others, stealing their possessions, and more importantly their trust, preying upon the good qualities of others.

They number among them the Liars, Cheats, Philanderers, Thieves and other dishonest people. 

Calling upon the Dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus, we come upon the opposite of Trustworthiness in dozens of words: Corrupt, Criminal, Fishy, Shady, Deceitful, Unfaithful, Treacherous, Perfidious, Venal and Corruptible. 

The list is a long one and also tells us such people will: play one false, bite the hand that feeds one, break faith, betray, double cross, play dirty pool, and also one we all know, stab one in the back. 

Lots of words, most of which we, or those we know and care about have experienced personally, or had to find a way to recover from. 

Naturally with the number of people I have met, some have turned out to be among people who are less than Honest. In fact, most of us have met a least one Liar and/or some dishonest person who expects to 'get away with' something. 

Liars, Philanderers and other dishonest people have, I think, a lot in common. What I wonder, does the Liar get out of it? I don’t know. Why would someone risk losing your Trust forever? 

The lifetime Liar, makes the Catch Me If You Can Fellow appear tame by comparison. Unfortunately, most of us have had the bad fortune of meeting one of these personally. 

Although most of these Predators will never be portrayed in their own movie as a charming and clever scamp, the real life version is out there working on his next victim.

These are people, who Lie even when they don’t have. In fact, the habitual Liar when caught in the middle of telling a lie, will probably add one or more lies to the original one in an attempt perhaps to avoid ever having to admit the truth.

As I mentioned above, Philanderers, like Liars and other dishonest people have, I think, a lot in common. I have mercifully, so far, been blessed by not having to deal with Philanderers and their excuses, but many people I know have. 

Most of us have heard repeatedly from our Divorced Friends that the Philandering Spouse, pretty consistently when first caught, seems always to tell their Husband or Wife, that it only happened once. This usually proves not to be true. 

The Philanderer is probably shocked and surprised, but more because of being caught than because they feel any remorse or guilt about their actions. Because they are surprised at being caught, they are also unlikely to be ready to terminate the relationship they have just destroyed…yet. Immediate damage control is therefore essential.

The Philanderer therefore usually elaborates further and swears that the circumstances were unfortunate and so unusual that, such a thing will never happen again. Sure it won’t. Not till the next time. 

I have to wonder also whether the person who seems willing to continue trusting a Philanderer, and who seems to believe their excuses, is just buying time to absorb the shock, dismay and disbelief that they feel from this betrayal of their trust.

Are they simply so shocked that they can only cope by continuing as they were until they can find a way to decide what to do, now that their love and trust in this person has been lost forever?

It is possible that, Philanderers and Liars, like lifetime Criminals, also figure out that the odds are good that they will never get caught. In addition, they may also feel that, in the unlikely event that they are caught, they will tell another lie or, find a way to ‘sweet talk’ their way out of it.

Some people, who are often dishonest, probably know what has worked very well in the past for them when caught. They may even reuse whatever excuses seem to have worked for them before. Perhaps they think they have and will always be able to outsmart the rest of us. 

Maybe they feel very confident that they can do what they want and always ‘get away with it’. Perhaps they congratulate themselves about their cleverness.

What inspires and motivates the Liar, the Philanderer, the Thief or any other Cheat? I can’t imagine.