Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello. There have been a number of situations in the past, where, in retrospect, I think that I've been tricked because people can work out that I'm guileless and so easier to manipulate in a personal setting. In other instances, people act unexpectedly, and I'm unsure whether it's as a result of something that I've done wrong, or whether the behaviour is peculiar to them.
What would be really useful for me is to have an occasional 'personal assistant', for want of a better term, or a helpline where I could explain the circumstances of the situation I find myself in, and ask a trusted person whether they think anything unusual is going on, or that I'm being exploited. I don't require any help with day to day tasks.
Does such a service exist?
Well in general I know I can be too trustworthy, and if something seems off, I've learned to just take a moment to think of the situation in 3rd person and list out the facts of the situation in my head, and if I were to try and retell the story, would the story make sense to someone else, or would it immediately sound kind of "suspicious," and that's what helped me see when people are trying to manipulate me or trick me, so that I can get myself out of it, usually by saying no and being assertive has gotten me out of those types of situations.
I mean, there's enough scam artists out there to know that some people have the predisposition to try and trick you, and although many people are not as bad as a scam artist would be, they might try to manipulate you in smaller ways in order to benefit themselves.