Are you suspicious or trusting? and why? (milk, relationship, boy)
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I sometimes see news reports about sweepstakes scams, romance scammers, etc. and I wonder how people fall for it. I have always been very suspicious of things like that. I'm not sure why - I've never been scammed, mostly hung out with nice, trustworthy people. I understand that people who have a good heart tend to believe others also have good hearts. I'm a nice person (I think) and yet I do not blindly trust what I hear from strangers. So how would you classify yourself?
I don't trust anyone or anything until I can verify it. Taken for a ride too many times in my tender years to be otherwise.
I'm both: suspicious of authorities and government and "experts," but trusting of people (and especially those who should NOT be trusted). There's nothing I can do about it (the trusting of people who shouldn't be trusted) because I disassociate and go into denial because of trauma. I can try to be more aware, but it's really difficult because the defense mechanisms are deeply entrenched.
I think I learned early on ( after some sad experience), that those with the most pathetic sob stories are most likely those that should be distrusted the most. They can spot a gullible person a mile away, and they are experts at piling it on.
I grew up in two states where graft and corruption abound. My mother's family was poor but not always hardworking and known for trying to con others. As kids, we were warned to be cautious as it was likely that someone was trying to take advantage of us and only suckers get fooled. And as others suggested, maybe being Scots-Irish and having older brothers encouraged my suspiciousness. My older brothers were always trying to make deals with their younger siblings in which we did their chores or traded them something and got the worst end of the bargain and then they laughed at us for being so gullible. My mom was usually at work so there was not much parental monitoring.
Reading the names of "popular" childhood priests on that clergy abuse database.
Online dating; the Nigerian scammer emails and scanning the profile of the charming "widower" which reads like
a Lifetime Movie of The Week. Complete with a heart framed photo of his attractive late wife holding their newborn.
Car shopping as a woman - anytime or anywhere!!! Pandemic or no Pandemic - need I say more?
Make that any big ticket item purchase or repair as a woman!
Early in life I learned "Everybody wants something" from me. It started in elementary school, with classmates wanting test or homework answers to later in life with co-workers wanting me to punch their time cards. Lets just say I learned to be cautious.
LOL, this reminded me of my late husband, who used to tell this story - in the first grade, he would buy a pack of 10 pencils for 5 cents (1940's) and sell them to his class mates for 1 cent each. Got scammed by a pretty little girl who got one on credit and never paid him. Made him into a cynic for life!!
I am not blindly trusting but I also am not always immediately suspicious of everyone. It all depends on the circumstance.
My mother was one who always suspected the worst of everyone. Even when someone would try to do something nice for her in her later years, she was always looking for the dark side. I'm glad that I did not inherit that trait from her.
I wouldn't say I'm suspicious, rather cautious. There's a difference. The latter suggests examining the nitty gritty before committing to something new, not rejecting it out of hand. I do tend to be trusting at least initially but that doesn't mean I'm not cautious. My dad was horribly suspicious of everyone and AFAIK no one ever cheated him in any meaningful way. My mother was trusting. Again, AFAIK no one ever cheated her either. Growing up observing the influence of both of them, guess I turned out a 50/50 dilution.
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