How can people live their lives thinking everyone is out to rip them off?

[golfgal]

I was just reading another board and someone posted about a phone company and what "vultures" they are and someone else posting about was a "scam" health insurance is, then another post about getting 'ripped off' at the bank because they bounced some checks, got hit with overdraft charges and the bank makes too much money anyway so they shouldn't have to pay them . How do people live with such negative attitudes about things.

 

[Quiksilvr]

Because everything that goes wrong in their lives is someone else's fault.

 

[Jennasis]

Because there are a great many charlatans around. I'm not talking about corporations. I am talking about PEOPLE. Individuals who would steal from and cheat their own mothers to make a buck.

 

[golfgal]

Because there are a great many charlatans around. I'm not talking about corporations. I am talking about PEOPLE. Individuals who would steal from and cheat their own mothers to make a buck.

So because of that one assumes EVERYONE is like that? What a sad way to live your life---think positive and positive things will happen I think.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

See, I look at it the other way around. Expect the worst of people and you're never disappointed, sometimes you're actually pleasantly surprised.

Regardless, banks, health insurance providers and phone companies are not people. They are businesses. If they were not out to get your buck, they would not exist. Anyone who thinks a corporation sees them as anything more than a means to a profit is missing the point.

 

[FINFAN]

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best....it has become a more common way of thinking in my life lately..but if one borders on paranoia, that can be debilating, I agree.

 

[Jennasis]

So because of that one assumes EVERYONE is like that? What a sad way to live your life---think positive and positive things will happen I think.

It sure is. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. I still get burned A LOT. BUt I try not to hold that against the next person.

BTW, you made a pretty big leap there. The OP asked a question, I offered a possibility. I in no way intimated that I or anyone should assume that everyone is out to get them.

 

[golfgal]

It sure is. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. I still get burned A LOT. BUt I try not to hold that against the next person.

BTW, you made a pretty big leap there. The OP asked a question, I offered a possibility. I in no way intimated that I or anyone should assume that everyone is out to get them.

I am the OP, I was just commenting on their excuse of one bad person so they are all bad--the whole question is why people live like everyone is out to get them.

 

[kathie859]

I'm generally a "cup half full" sort of person. I refuse to live my life thinking that I am a victim of organizations' evil intents. If I bouce a check or pay a bill late and have a fee or a late charge, it's MY fault--not the evil organization that charges it.

The same way dealing with people. If you treat people well and with respect, generally that's what you'll get in return. Now I am no Pollyanna--there are some real JERKS out there and, heaven knows, they may annoy me, try to take advantage of me, whatever--that's on them.

I thinks it's a more pleasant existence when you choose to be optimistic and kind. And it IS a choice.

 

[happygirl]

I'm very leary of people until I get to know them.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Tinfoil hats.

Seriously--for an entire category of people to be bad, it just defies statistical odds.

Being a cautious consumer and knowing what you are getting into is a lot different than the folks who feel that everyone everyday is scamming them.

It's an unfortunate way to live if one chooses the latter.

 

[Sparx]

People don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. I've heard someone who's overdrafted more than 10 times BLAME THE BANK because they kept getting overdraft fees.

We're a society of people who want to beat the system in every aspect of our life.

 

[portocall]

When it comes to my health insurance company... I can be like that, but when it is actually my fault for getting a fee, or not reading the fine print, I take full responsibility. As far as my health insurance company, they are fine taking my $500 a month but as soon as they have to pay, they come up with all kinds of excuses. My favorite was their refusal to pay for fetal non-stress test because they had nothing to do with a baby. That denial cost me a fortune, and yes, I actually needed the tests as my baby nearly died as did I.

 

[bicker]

Entitlement mentality is rampant.

 

[DawnCt1]

Just because one is paranoid, doesn't mean they are not out to get you. On a serious note, I think that some people just donot learn to trust and they have had those trust issues reinforced by a few bad experiences, and then they assume everything and everyone is like that. They could also be reflecting their own poor character. That if they were in the opposite situation, they would rip off who ever they could.

 

[agnes!]

Tinfoil hats.

Seriously--for an entire category of people to be bad, it just defies statistical odds.

Being a cautious consumer and knowing what you are getting into is a lot different than the folks who feel that everyone everyday is scamming them.

It's an unfortunate way to live if one chooses the latter.

People don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. I've heard someone who's overdrafted more than 10 times BLAME THE BANK because they kept getting overdraft fees.

We're a society of people who want to beat the system in every aspect of our life.

I agree with both these posts.

agnes!

 

[C.Ann]

I try to give everyone - and everything - the benefit of the doubt.. But seriously, there are people and things out there that just scream "Scam!!"

A person can be cautious - without being "paranoid"..

I know someone that refuses to have windows in their garage - or on their garage doors.. Why? Because someone will "see" something in there and break in to steal it.. That's paranoid..

 

[ElliePeters]

If you have been burned once, you have a hard time looking at the same situation with a clear head sometimes.

 

[allison k]

My friend chewed out the mailman because she received someone else's mail. To her, it was just unbelievable that the post office will make mistakes. Her fear was that she receives 2 rent checks monthly in the mail, and they might end up in the wrong mailbox. I told her that most people will just put it back in the box with the flag up. But, she said that she just couldn't accept that. People are dishonest and would steal it, and then went into a tirade that the post office needs to fix this! Like it's a new problem...

Unfortunately, she tends to be someone who thinks she's allowed to make mistakes (at work) with no one allowed to correct her, yet it's unacceptable for anyone at anytime in any business to make any kind of mistake.

Me, I tend to try and think the best of people. Have I been burned? A few times, but nothing that ruined my life. Do I accept responsibility for misplacing that trust? Yep. It's too tiring for me to be so distrustful of people, companies, the world, etc...