The conman and the napkin
You find yourself in a precarious situation sometimes…- vitally important things happen to you that others fail to notice – or if they notice, they bluntly disregard those inconspicuous details as mere “fantasy”…
“Don´t take things so seriously, you ascribe too much importance to matters of no consequence”, they say.
But these matters of “no consequence” make a life in purpose or a life spent in despondent mediocrity. These very details are sometimes the difference between being dead or alive. Literally and metaphorically.
Those key details are simply overlooked or dismissed, being considered “a waste of time”.
So there you are all by yourself, sensing the gravity of your awkward and disconcerting situation, with no one around you can turn to…
You are on your own. YOU AND YOUR DESTINY.
So, I once knew this guy. He was smart and cheerful, a rather talkative person. Tall, imposing stature, elegant. Very charming. He had a penetrating, lively convincing voice. Seemingly so…- THERE WAS SOMETHING IN HIS LAUGH WHICH WAS FORCED, something spurious, disturbing, for the common ear, a hardly detectable dissonance of sorts.
“Maybe I make this up, it´s all in my head”, I thought.
He was working in a radio station, he had a rather interesting program with philosophical questions. Long story short: He wanted me to join him in this radio show, which I did. I collaborated with him for few months. Anyway, this broadcast showed to be a success. We even did a few very appreciated lectures together. We were to carry on and engage in different other projects.
Once we were in his car going somewhere. “Do you have a napkin?”, I asked him. “Of course, here…” he said THROWING ME A PACK OF NAPKINS.
Here is the point of my story: he threw this napkin to me in such a way that I was dumbfounded: in that simple gesture I could read so much recklessness, arrogance, contempt and terrifying callousness.
It was impossible to misinterpret – in a fraction of a second I got the clear message:
Behind his mannered, well-polished mask, this guy was a treacherous, totally unreliable sham. A conman.
Let´s be honest, how many people would attach any importance to someone throwing a package of napkins?…
Luckily I was shrewd enough to take these inconspicuous warning signals seriously. Right after this incident, I began to look at him with totally dispassionate eyes, and realized that I had seen through him. His humanitarian projects, his interest to promote wisdom, to assist and help people was nothing but hollow phrases. He would trample on corpses in order to fulfill his agenda.
The weird thing is that he was not an entirely bad man. But who knows – his destiny
in his present life is to be an impostor.
So I stopped the collaboration with him. Thanks God I have been gifted with this highly unlikely intuition:
One year after, this man started a construction company and soon after he bankrupted many of his associates. Finding himself with no cash, he managed to persuade a gullible young man I know – one of his broadcast listeners – to lend him 45.000 Euros with 50% interest.
Even to this day, the poor youngster hasn´t retrieved a cent back…
The moral:
LEARN TO “WASTE” YOUR TIME WITH MATTERS OF “NO CONSEQUENCE” – as there is the difference between the loser and the winner!
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Tagged with a package of napkins, arrogance and contempt, common-sense, impossible to misinterpret, intuition, loser and winner, mediocrity, Money, philosophical questions, the conman, things of consequence, things of no consequence, unlikely intuition, unreliable sham
About julienmatei
I feel an inner urge to express what I see, to communicate and share with others all these impressions. Often the things I see are there, not yet manifest, but waiting... to be observed, talked about, and embraced.
These new insights need another approach, a more vivid curiosity...
Due to fear and prejudice we prefer to see only "the official" truth - but THE OFFICIAL TRUTH IS DEAD - being dead, it has nothing to give...
We can continue pretending Death is fascinating or... we can take the trouble to LIVE...
THE NEW has no definition yet...
Again, IT requires another "perception", the courage to apprehend everything differently, from a totally new angle, with new confidence and inquisitive touch. This blog is not about interesting concepts, it is about participation... finding new solutions, inspiration, togetherness.
Mirrors of Encounters 
Oh wow. That’s clever. I don’t think I would have gotten it unless I had seen the look in his eyes perhaps. But I did have a similar experience when I refused all the things a stranger was offering me because I couldn’t see the reasoning behind it. A woman later called my number as she had gone through his phone to warn people that he was full of broken promises. Odd. Maybe I have some intuition also 🙂
Well Emma,
Som jag sa: det handlar om att se…At some point we have to stop seeing what we want to see, or what others want us to see, and objectively and dispassionately accept what is in front of us…
Hi JM.I agree..these small actions done by people with/without awareness of either ones self or the ones around them reflect their true nature..you were aware of him in some capacity..he was unaware/aware of you in any/all capacities ie as a fellow being or a person or as a friend or whatever.. the more intense the relation more will be the awareness..now how this awareness affects your action is a different thing altogether I think.It depends on ones nature.You act on your awareness positively if your nature is positive..Negative is when your awareness tells you not to act in a particular way and you still do..There starts Bad Karma I think..
It is human to conceal our shortcomings.
When it comes to this guy, I don´t know how aware of himself he is… It is very hard, almost impossible to understand the nature of Evil.
I actually saw him again 5 months ago. I confronted him asking him bluntly how on earth he could be so heartless as to cheat that gullible fellow who is now penniless…
“Oh, but you see, he lent money to my former company, not to me personally”…
He almost believed his own hoax…Then I thought that Evil and Madness are kindred. Apparently, in a twisted way of sorts, he didn´t want to admit he had done any harm.
Obvisouly his evil subpersonality had a life of its own which was disconnected from his daily awareness…
The question is: Are the evil-doers aware that they are evil…?
As I said: the modern evil-doers are incredibly astute, indeed, masters of obfuscation. What kind of sharp discernment one needs to have in order to see through them…?
Whose awareness are we talking about…?
What things do you do for a living? You write. What else?
So, are you into body gesture reading, or you solely rely on your “intuition”?
Hi Realityenchanted.
I no longer “do things” for a living. Living does things for me instead. Or better put, the second lives me 🙂
I have no problem in answering your first question, and I will – but first, and more important is, why do you ask me that?… What significance would have for you my answer to “what else”?…What else from what…? Do we need a “something else” in order to understand the “what”…? Let´s take it from there, cause it may be interesting.
This are not random sophistry I am throwing at you.
No, I am not into body gesture reading, although I can easily read people and their gestures. In fact, in an ineffable way I can almost hear people´s thoughts in a dialogue.
Do I rely solely on my intuition?…No. I don´t rely on anything – but usually the second shows me what to “rely on”.
Let me put it like that – instead of relying on any kind of knowing, I feel I am being “known”, and that knowledge is my very breath. And every breath is different.
Regards,
Julien
I know what You are talking about and the feeling You have had when this guy threw the napkin over to You. It also could have been an attempt to be funny. Like a slapstick. But there are a few “ingredients” which let You know if it was just for being funny or if it shows the real character behind his facade.
Richard
No, he didn´t try not funny in the least – it was only disregard and harsh indifference…
It is funny how certain incsonspicuous details etch themselves in our memory.
Well, so this man is captured within himself. Poor being.
So what you say may be quite enlightening:
Is Evil ultimately just an Illusion? – insofar as to be captured within oneself, is the main illusion…the actual evil…
What do you think?
Interesting question. You’ll find my comment at https://julienmatei.com/2012/11/06/a-difficult-question/
Thanks, Richard
I can´t see any comment
Hey, hey, hey …… wait a minute. The only thing where I’m fast is to be slow 🙂
Hey, two of my favourite bloggers in the one conversation. Hi guys. Sorry to interrupt. I get so excited by this virtual world of great ‘friends’. You have both broken free from the illusion of oneself. Emma
I smile…now it makes three of us in a double conversation 🙂
I think Illusions are just tired of me – I don´t feed them so they´re also free 🙂
Reblogged this on Mirrors of Encounters and commented:
This is undobtedly interesting reading.
This piece speaks to me on many levels. We all find our self at one point in these types of situations. No two are the same. Though like you said you will see and feel the wrong-ness. I can connect with both you and the boy. Evil in and of itself is a two sided state I think. They know or don’t know as they are still in the “illusion”. Obviously this person knew what they were doing. And the other side could be an associate that knew something was possibly wrong and did nothing.
Right now I find myself in a situation, I don’t know if I should voice make legal, Or turn the other cheek.
nice
Glad you liked it 😉
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