My first job out of college ended being for a married grifter couple. It was almost immediately obvious and only became more so as I learned they were not paying the employees, the server lease company, their auto leases or their home lease. Despite all of this, after 5 minutes talking with them it felt like a spell of confusion had been cast on you. What they said about the future made sense. The road map was all there. Gonna be a founder. GONNA BE RICH! Ah shit they did it again. lol. It was surreal the web they could weave. I’ve dealt with scammers and chronic liers and this was something other. For any one that has done acid or shrooms, talking with them felt like when the drug just starts to kick in and everything familiar looks the same but feels alien. It was a weird chapter in my life.
I don’t know if Trump has the same grifter skills as the people I knew. Based on the number of people that continue to jump feet first into his wood chipper I suspect he does. I don’t pity the marks, ultimately each person has to choose to face some hard reality and let go of imagined future gains to walk away. I was pretty pleased that I finished my 30 day contract with the grifter couple and managed to out maneuver them into paying me. No one else had been paid in 6 months.