Knowing who your friends are (and who’s just trying to scam you).

Last week I saw what looked like an innocent Facebook post. An old acquaintance (I’m talking elementary school) posted that her goal was to get in shape in time for the holidays and inquired if there were any like minded people out there. For those of you following along at home, you know that ‘lose weight’ is on my (rather long) to-do list so I clicked on her status and commented as such. What resulted was a tiresome game of keep away centered around yet another ponzi scheme. You know the drill, ‘Oh, you’re looking to lose weight? You should check out this awesome program I found. I just joined yesterday and already I’ve lost 100 pounds! By the way, their hosting this awesome party on Saturday, it’s in North Dakota but everyone there is amazing, the head guru is going to personally transform the lives of everyone there. Totally worth giving up your entire weekend.’ Sigh. Really? People my age are still doing this? Seriously?? The ‘get rich by scamming your friends’ thing is for your late teens, when your only options are retail, food service, or cut-co. By 30 you should have a real job. Or at least pretend you have a real job. When people ask what you do it SHOULD NOT involve the buzz words ‘life changing’, ‘mentor’, or ‘low introductory rate.’ In fact, the only ‘buzz words’ you should be using at 30 are ‘lifestyle’, starter home’, or ‘family planning’. And if you are re-connecting on facebook you should probably avoid topics that involve attempting to talk people out of their hard earned money. There are a wealth of theories on how to make friends and influence people; but doing your impression of a snake oil salesmen? Dislike.