Puppies and Processes

Running into that mirror

If a con artist bilked you out of a thousand pounds, what would you do? Chase them down if you could, alert others to their villainous activities, issue descriptions and warnings, curse yourself for a fool, and be less trusting and naive next time.

Here’s what you would not do. Seek the same con artist out. Ask—wallet gaping open—if they had any other foolproof schemes to invest in, any more bridges spanning the East River for sale, any gilt-edged, blue-chip bonds and stocks on offer, any secret processes that might turn base metal into gold, any elixirs guaranteed to bestow eternal youth, any more drums of that miraculous snake oil, good for whatever ails you.

Of course you wouldn’t.

And yet you would, you know. It’s just what you would do. We all would. And do.