I agreed to give a counseling session to one of my long-standing clients on a Sunday morning. I know him well enough that he would only ask for such a thing if he wasn’t in extreme difficulty and so it was. He talked a lot about his work situation and the fact that his boss criticized him in front of a group on a remote call.
There was something else that he needed to talk to me about and that was that a homeless person, apparently homeless person should I say asked him for some money and he gave him 10 pounds for food. This turned out to be the most expensive 10 pounds he has ever given because the man followed him back to his car and gave him a hard luck story about helping him out for a few days because his wife had kicked him out. To cut a long story short over a term of 5 months my client parted with the sum of, wait for it, 20,000 pounds.
I do not know in detail the story he was spun but he promises to pay the money back because he’s going to sell some acres of land in Sri Lanka. My plant also complained that this chap rings him up many times a day without caller ID at he persist until he answers the phone. It takes a lot to shock me but I was in shock when he told me the amount.
The client told me that other people had warned him not to give money but he carried on doing so anyway because he wanted to get back his original investment. I had a duty of care to say that there was no hope that he would ever get his money back. I sent him a link about how to block calls from unknown callers.
I will do my best to help him professionally because he has been a client of mine for a long time but I asked myself and indeed asked him why he didn’t contact me months earlier . I said that the homeless man story was a total scam and people are very good at what they do and that includes sounding convincing.
I could fill a whole book on writing about cases of people who had been conned. The point is that it is very easy for a scammer or con artist to take advantage of the weakness of human nature which in many cases is the feeling of importance through being loved. We have the equivalent of the Honey Trap where someone develops a long-term relationship with someone, normally a single or divorced woman, and gives them the feedback and support and loyalty that they need but it is all fake.
Sooner or later they will start asking for money for some very worthy cause or another. One request will be followed by another request until the victim suddenly feels that all is not well, come up or more likely is advised by friends to consider what they are doing. These type of crimes are very difficult to prove because there is nothing in writing and because the victim gave the money of their own free will. I had a case when I was working in Hong Kong where a clever clairvoyant caused a rich woman to part with her house on the grounds that the vibrations were not helpful to her development.
When people are desperate and lonely they will say anything and believe anything.
I receive wonderful monthly newsletters from Rockawaypark.co.uk. I can thorough recommend this ‘middle of nowhere’ place, an ex-quarry, for left leaning artists and those wanting to see life conducted in a more co-operative way.
‘We’re delighted that xxxx and yyyyy, from the Bristol Climate Café Collective, will be joining us for this free session in the Rockaway Classroom. Open to anyone over 18-years old, this first Rockaway Climate Café will provide a supportive space where people concerned about climate change and the ecological crisis can express their feelings and hear from others’.
I’m always up for anything new and local so I decided to turn up. The Rockaway classroom was distinctly under-heated so we had to sit there in our full regalia, gloves and all. Apart from the two conveners there were four of us. I had an opportunity to see the effect of such pervading fear memes such as ‘climate change’ on ordinary people.
On the table were postcards with various imagery on the front for example ‘The Scream’ by Edward Munch and we were invited to pick them up and say if we felt they were giving a message. What an inexpensive and good idea for a catalyst especially for the shy.
Everyone was invited to speak in turn for up to 10 minutes and the first speaker spoke about the feeling of alienation, not meeting people on the same wavelength, a feeling of sadness and regret for the fate of his children’s generation.
The Second speaker said that because of the situation pertaining she did not want children. For some reason, an image of an ice cream cone sparked this off.
Francoise spoke out saying it’s very important not to be a victim and look at the contribution of science and attempt to understand what is going on from both points of view.
Someone else said they felt helpless and paralyzed especially with all the ecological disasters and the tendency for war.
I said that I was not afraid because I spent energy keeping ahead of the curve of knowledge so I could see what was going on. Forewarned is forearmed.
The final speaker mentioned how she alternated between rejecting society and paralysis. She felt sadness and rage and feared the political scenario with behind the scenes activity was her greatest concern.
I got the impression that most people were having difficulty surviving and finding something to believe In or hold on to and that the climate change narrative was just a catalyst for this, the latest one after covid, and showed how society is breaking down more and serving the people less.
I interjected with my usual combination of jokes and encouragement and reminded everyone that we tend to apologize for our emotions and said that if we needed to demonstrate emotion through crying then we should not apologise for it afterwards. I said that we as Brits tend to self-censor our ideas views and opinions for fear of censure but said that maybe people would like to hear our feedback and candid opinion of what they are doing or saying.
We agreed that the event which lasted just over an hour had been helpful and supportive and that it should happen on a much larger scale.
I said that I didn’t like large numbers of people that I described as football crowds and said that anything up to a dozen is about right where everyone can feel free to express their own opinion. I said that in gatherings of over 12 people there is a danger of the meeting being dominated by one of two more aggressive or forthright people and the rest are left uncomfortably in the shadows not feeling brave enough to express their own opinion.
I include this meme because it appeals to my sense of humour and is also true
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