Cover story

On a motorhome club site a lady recently published a post saying that she had purchased a motorhome from a man who is a headmaster of a prestigious private school.  She explained that following a habitation check of the vehicle which was made shortly after the purchase, the motorhome was proven to have 95% damp ingress.  She had effectively been sold a rotted vehicle, because she had trusted the man who sold it to her.  He had appeared honest when she met him, and she simply did not believe that someone in his position would 'pull a fast one'.  As a result of the vehicles condition the lady, who could ill afford it, lost £10,000.

I, along with others, have also trusted and similarly become the subject of deception in one way or another.

This is because when we first meet people we form an opinion of them in a very short period of time and we may overly trust this judgement.  Our initial opinion is based upon many things.  Personal general physical appearance, social aptitude and confidence and warmth within voice tone all play a part.  We might also consider nationality, age, physical cleanliness and, in this ladies case, the employment status of the man privately selling a motorhome. 
What we seem to forget is that a stranger is a stranger.  We don't know them and therefore cannot reasonably put our trust in them until their trustworthiness has become demonstrated and proven over time.  If we overly trust someone based only upon our initial assessment, we have only ourselves to blame when our judgement becomes proven misguided.
So, whilst there is no need to form social barriers, it is important when committing to a high priced purchase, or offering commitment within a business, to have gathered more information that that offered within our initial assessment. 

We can, perhaps, instinctively and sensitively feel warmth towards someone, or conversely we may feel wary of someone.  But this 'instinct' may be just as unreliable as our initial assessment of other attributes as much of the time the two are intermixed.  I have personally met people that I've felt uncertain of at first, who in time have proven to be totally trustworthy people and the salt of the earth.  I have also felt warmth towards people who have 'done the dirty' later on.  We all have.  I guess that's where this historic advice comes into play...