Liars and How to Spot them in Person – Develop your Spider Sense

I was in Banco do Brasil waiting to pick up my automatic teller card.  They do not have you stand in line when waiting for this non-teller type of assistance.  The do not have you take a number either.   Thus you are stuck sitting there concentrating on who got there ahead of you.

In walked a girl.  She was not attractive. She was not wildly ugly.   However she just looked a little weird.  Somehow I knew that she was going to try to cut in the erstwhile waiting que. She had 2 books.  I could see both were on astrology.  In the set of waiting chairs there were 2 americans.  I was the 2nd.    

She waited until it was the 1st Americans turn and starting walking up pretending like it was her turn.  I knew it was not and therefore went up and said to the guy handling the customer issues that it was not her turn and in fact it was Josh, the 1st Americans turn.   In addition I added that how could she not be a fraud???…she has 2 books on astrology for the love of Christmas!!   Josh agreed and was served.  She then commenced to swear up and down that she was there before me in spite of having looked directly at all 250 lbs with shaved head.  

The people in the bank probably did not know who to believe.  She probably thought 2 americans would not risk offending in a different country.  She did not count on me being as offensive as I am.   It was probably not worth irritating the nice people in the bank.  I just have a problem with liars and cheats.  She looked like both.

The takeaway on this is that if you hone your senses and your mind you will be able to spot people and know what to expect from them.  I did not pay nearly as close attention to ANY of the other people as I paid to her.  Thus this is not a hindsight is 20/20 set of circumstances.  From the time she walked in I was hawking on her to make sure she did not cut in front of anybody….let alone me.  

What is my regimen to develop this spider sense?  I am constantly watching people.  I am constantly trying to guess the outcome of situations.  It does not matter what it is.  I will make a guess and then register it in my memory for later when the true outcome is known to me.  By doing this I repeatedly bit by bit improve my skills of observation and prediction.

You may ask why? 

Because it can make you richer.  It can help save your life. It can make you healthier.  Last of all its one of the most fun games I have ever played.