It's everywhere

Good morning. I am sitting here sewing and my mind wanders, as it does. Thinking about what's going on, things that's happening in the world, things that I read about and listen to on the radio. Reading my free copies of the Times is expanding my repertoire of bigger words, and making me think of topics which I might not have been interested in a few years ago. I am not a crafter of words, they usually come from incessant bashing of the keyboard, rather than digging deep into the maze of grey matter within my skull. A thesaurus and dictionary on my desk lend a hand to re arranging a sentence or paragraph into something aesthetically pleasing to read.

Sometimes a word comes into my head which I fall in love with, just saying it out loud in different tones and pitches can give it a life all of it's own. It can then be adapted to many different meanings and circumstances. The word I have in my head at the moment is skullduggery. Go on, say it, it's great isn't it, skullduggery.

It's a word that we should all keep at the forefront of our mind, for there is a lot of skullduggery going on in the world today in all walks of life. The Free Dictionary also offers similar words which are fun, but with an underlying serious message. Hanky panky, hocus-pocus, jiggery pokery, and trickery. Great words. At first glance they seem harmless and fun, like juggling things about for entertainment, such as magic tricks and illusions. Setting someone up for a practical joke seems harmless enough but you have to be careful that the recipient does not take offence at being made to look silly. It's down to knowing their personality and whether they can take a joke.

At the other end of the scale, mass skullduggery can have disasterous consequences, especially for people who are duped by intricate lies and deceit. This is the dark side of skullduggery and it can rear it's ugly head when you are least expecting it. Pulling the wool over someone's eyes may seem like a harmless bit of fun, but one lie can escalate and change the fabric of humanity. I'm thinking big here, the press, especially on the internet, TV, and radio, have the biggest influence on shaping how people behave, yet look at how much skullduggery goes on there. Years ago before the internet, people had only a limited knowledge of what was happening on the other side of the world, now everyone knows every detail, warts and all. That would be fine if everything that was printed, filmed, photographed, or written about, was true, but it isn't. It's up to every consumer to weed out the lies, the skullduggery.

Why am I writing on this topic? Because I want every one of you to protect yourselves from being taken for a mug. Don't be the person who falls for a random stranger on holiday, shells out shed loads of money to get the toyboy/girl a visa allowing him/her to set up home with you. Nine times out of ten, they will bugger off when all the paperwork has gone through.

Don't be the person who hands over their bank details on the phone to someone who has rung you on the off chance that you might be the one daft enough to transfer the whole of your savings into a bogus account, and set them up for life. There are some elaborate scams both on the phone, and web sites, don't believe a bluddy word of it, scam scam scam. Big skullduggery going on there. Best put the phone down on a genuine call than be worrying yourself sick when your bank or credit card statement comes through with huge discrepancies on it. If you need to contact your bank, go into the branch, any branch, or get their genuine phone number from them. Do not ring any other number.

Don't be the one to agree to a loan, buy a car on finance, take on any form of borrowings, without reading the very small print. They want to trick you into agreeing terms that are beneficial to them, and detrimental to your own financial situation. In short, avoid borrowing money at all if you can.

I could go on, but the gist of it is, question everything you read, everything you are told, and everything you see. Skullduggery is everywhere. Have you been taken in, do you take everything at face value, has someone turned out not to be who they say they are? Now you have this knowledge put it into practice and protect yourself.

Have a peaceful and stress free Sunday.
Toodle pip.
PS, I had an enjoyable day yesterday, visiting uncle and aunt, and sister.