The disease

I'm starting to think that REI, or any of these "systems" out there promising fast riches, destroys the rational person's immunity to scams. I vaguely remember, not so long ago, having a robust defense against anything I found in my inbox promising me "tens of thousands of dollars a month for just a few hours of my time." When I bought Steve Cook's course for $300 (a reasonable sum, I thought) it felt like defeat, like I'd sold out and became another one of those suckers you find in hotel conference halls ready to shell out a thousand bucks for access to "free government loans." I wondered, have I become that desperate?

(Heh. Back then I didn't know what desperate was. NOW I know desperate, and let me tell you, depending on how you deal with desperation, it can either purify you or bring you down.)

Nowadays, I give any piece of mail, snail or electronic, that promises some new "system" at least a cursory glance. I don't buy any of them, but I at least hear them out. It's like an obsession, a disease.

Another manifestation of the disease is when I give second chances to people who have been otherwise useless or users. Case in point:

I've mentioned a mortgage guy who promised to help us out either with selling/leasing our condo, or finding a new place for us to move into. He took all of our information, called us a few times, and then...disappeared. I was miffed, but not totally surprised. Any guy who's that friendly is either a guardian angel or a snake oil salesman. And I happen to know that my guardian angel isn't into real estate.

I had to track him down for something, and he was very apologetic. It took him a minute or two to remember our case, (clearly he had realized we weren't going to help him in any way, and he'd promptly removed us from his radar screen). He basically said that we're screwed, and he wished there was more he could do. It was the last I thought I'd hear from him.

But then he called out of the blue last night. I was shocked, and partly because I had one of those blue martinis in me, and partly because I knew that he must need something from me, I was...ah..."blunt" with him. Not in a mean way. I don't think I was an asshat, but I definitely wasn't going to sit through a pitch.

Long story short, he needs somebody with writing/editing experience. He's got a new business idea, you see, and he plans to be pulling in $150,000 per month in the next three years. He needs somebody with communications experience to make it happen...

I can't help it--the guy's very likeable. So, I said I'd have a sit-down with him and we'd chat it out.

This entreprenurial stuff is like a disease. Or, maybe its more like a vaccine--just enough virus to heal you, but maybe just enough to kill you, too...