How to Tell You Are in the Presence of a Dangerous Person

How to Tell You Are in the Presence of a Dangerous Person: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” Sir Walter Scott wrote this famous line in his poem titled Marmion about the Battle of Flodden (1808). (Interestingly enough, it is often misattributed to William Shakespeare.) His poem recounts a love story that survives despite a web of deceptions, manipulations, mischaracterizations, lies, and betrayals by two scheming people. It is tragic how people have not changed very much today. Life would be easier if every person with evil or selfish intent was quickly identifiable. But, alas they are not. So the innocent get tangled up in a cobweb of deceit, find themselves in places they never thought they would go, feeling vulnerable and violated, and then left cleaning up the sticky mess of the web. The best way to avoid such a trap is to identify it early. When a person can see the cobweb in front of them, they can walk around it and not have to deal with the consequences of being entangled. What does that look like?