Con-artists are often very handsome or pretty. Beware!
When you don't have to work hard to get ahead, you start to expect others to do your bidding. Oddly enough, others will often go along with this idea. We tend to make accommodations for attractive folks that we would never dream of doing for lesser ilk. If you are handsome or beautiful, you will find yourself offered a better table at a restaurant or a better seat at the theater. There is something in our DNA that makes us suck-up to the beautiful people. It sucks to be ugly.
I think in earlier eons, this is how someone became tribal leader, or king. Everyone looked up to the handsome leader of the tribe, and thus elevated him above themselves. I noted before that it seems to be a part of human nature to raise one of us above ourselves. At least that way, someone has a good life. It is like that Monty Python bit from The Holy Grail: "There goes the King!" "How do you know he's the King?" "He's the only one here not covered in shit!"
Clothes make the man.
The problem, of course, is since the rest of us fawn over the gorgeous set, they tend to start believing they are entitled to a certain form of treatment. The rich and famous show up at an event or a restaurant and then leave without paying. They just expect the bill to be comp'ed - after all, they did the restaurant a favor just by showing up!
And I guess if Lisa Minnelli or Cher comes to your restaurant, you might feel honored - or some might, anyway. But sadly, today, we people who have no real accomplishments other than to look pretty, expecting VIP treatment, often as "influencers." In a weird twist on the theme, some of these "influencers" are actually quite ugly - but use Instagram or Smap-chat type filters to make themselves look artificially beautiful. I guess this way everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame.
On a personal level,though, attractive people can be a pain-in-the-ass, as they rarely pull their own weight and think that just showing up and looking good is somehow contributing. These are the kinds of people who are the darlings of management, because like everyone else, management gives good-looking people a pass on a lot of transgressions. But without some ugly guy behind the scenes doing the actual work, nothing gets done.
The stereotype of the con artist or scammer is often of someone who is ugly-looking. And Police mugshots often give that impression. But the reality is, the guy with his hand on your wallet is more likely to be handsome and good-looking, which distracts you from his pick-pocketing. Surely a handsome person has no real reason to steal, right?
I am not sure what got me started on this, other than seeing an Instagram "Star" influencer revealed to be nothing more than a Snapchat filter. In reality, she was quite plain looking, even "ugly" by human standards. But as this false computer-generated image,she had hundreds of thousands of followers, willing to buy products she promoted.
Same person, different look. But no one was about to buy a product endorsed by Edna Ugly, were they? So why would they listen to a pretty face, instead? It is an interesting conundrum. Again, we are innately attracted to attractive people and will bend over backwards (or forwards!) for a handsome face without even thinking about it.
On the other hand, maybe this is one of those "Police Tape" deals - when you see something promoted by an attractive person, you should use this as mental Police Tape surrounding a crime scene. It is warning you, "Danger! Raw Deal Ahead!" Yet so many are taken in by slick promoters with expensive haircuts, or businesses with fancy facades. They are drawn to it, like a moth to the flame.
It is not a flawless "tell" of course - there are good deals out there promoted by good looking people. And there are raw deals promoted by ugly ones. But when they put a pretty face in front of a questionable proposition, it should make you wonder!
And hey, people tell me I look handsome.... from a certain angle!
