52 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
52 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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created_at: '2013-11-14T19:04:16.000Z'
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title: How I became a con artist (2010)
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url: http://www.salon.com/2010/11/30/life_as_an_amateur_con/
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author: gscott
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points: 83
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 65
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1384455856
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_gscott
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- story_6734607
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objectID: '6734607'
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year: 2010
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---
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I discovered just how susceptible people were to the right persona when,
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for over a year, I attended my local gym in California without becoming
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a member. I never knew what I was going to say to the worker at the
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front desk. This is because when you're conning someone, you must always
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give the illusion that your mind is on something else. Affable
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indifference works well. For the gym, I used athletic focus. Never once
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did I approach the front desk walking. I was always running, always in
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the zone, always pumped. I'd have my earphones in, music blaring, and
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say that I'd just taken a run around the block (interval training); I'd
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have my basketball shoes in hand and feign anxiety as I approached: Did
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the game start already? I'd shake my head impatiently and say that I had
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to feed the parking meter, briefly criticizing the city's parking
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regulations, and every time, the worker would sympathize, hand me a
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towel and tell me to have a good workout.
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Yes, it was all about persona, and every encounter enabled me to tweak
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my persona -- a regimen of creation and re-creation, a perpetual
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self-sharpening: Hi, I bought this book the other day and I got it home
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and found that there was writing inside\! (Of course, beforehand, I'd go
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hide the remaining copies of said book so the cashier would be forced to
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give me a store credit); hi, I bought this shirt the other day and the
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cashier said that it wouldn't shrink if I washed it, but it shrunk; hi,
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you know, I'm not really sure, I'm just making this return for my wife …
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my mother … my sister … my sick grandmother; hi, I got this as a
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graduation gift … a christening gift … a shower gift ... a birthday
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gift; hi, I forgot my key card upstairs in my room, is it possible to
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get another one to get into the fitness center?; hi, no, I'm sorry, but
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I don't have my receipt; hi, well I would like to speak to the manager,
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please.
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