red letter days

[boxofdelights]

This is a year of big deal birthdays for me. My daughter just turned twenty-one. My son will be eighteen in a few months. In between, I'll turn fifty.

Mungo was out late enough that Neal called me to ask if I knew of his whereabouts or his plans. He called back later to say that Mungo was on his way home with a money-making proposition. With a guy with a money-making proposition that Mungo needed parental permission to sign up for, since he is not yet eighteen. Neal asked Mungo to tell him what it was over the phone, but the guy wanted to be the one to make the pitch -- he asked for "just twenty minutes!" -- and Mungo said "Will you trust me?" so of course Neal said yes. Even third-hand, it sounded like an MLM, which is what it turned out to be. WorldVentures Marketing.

Now Mungo doesn't want to talk about it. I want to talk to him about how to recognize scams before you get taken, but he is embarrassed. He will listen if I talk, of course, because he is polite, but I don't want to talk at him while he's being polite. I want him to want to learn what I know.

Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. It's good to learn from other people's bad judgement when you can, but in order to learn from your own experience you have to be able to put aside the veil of shame and look at it.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Personally the shame-shover re not-a-MLM was the "spinach in your teeth" metaphor. Mungo would probably want to know if he had hunks of green stuff dangling between his teeth, right? Can't have a mirror all the time.

Best luck for a red number year!

[boxofdelights]

Thank you!

[kathmandu]

It may take some time for the red heat of shame to fade. The opportunity to discuss field-identification of scams may come up under better circumstances in a year or so. And in the meantime, he's unlikely to fall for another one right away.

[boxofdelights]

That is a good point.

[the_siobhan]

Maybe he would be more comfortable talking to somebody else about it?

[boxofdelights]

I think I am one of the people he finds it easiest to admit to being fallible in front of.