I have a friend who has been an extremely successful business woman for many years. However, when I recently called her, I was surprised when she told me that she had made a mistake, and felt very naive, because she had trusted the wrong people.
I comforted her by saying, “Hey! You are just like Julius Caesar.  He trusted his pal Brutus. However, you can pull the knife out of your back, and live for another day.”

She said, “Oh, Esther!” That did not stop me!  I replied, “Think of all of those smart people who placed their blind faith, and money, in the hands of a man who had a reputation that inspired nothing but trust.  Bernie Madoff was sent to jail—- when he confessed to a $65 billion Ponzi Scheme.  His investors should have read their coins before sending them to him.”
My friend cheered up a bit when she replied, “Luckily I didn’t lose that kind of money, and my business is still intact.”

So, how does one know who to trust? All of us, at one time or another have placed our trust in the wrong person. In business, a handshake used to be good enough when your word was your bond. Unfortunately, times have changed, and now you need an attorney to read the fine print.

I told my friend that she shouldn’t be so hard on herself. After all, her boo-boo wasn’t as bad as the one by Neville Chamberlin, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1937-1940) who adopted a policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany. After a brief visit with Adolph Hitler,
He came home and assured his constituents of “Peace in our time.” Obviously, he had trusted the wrong person, when in less than a year Poland was over-run and it marked the  beginning of World War II.

I guess there are only two reasons not to trust people because either:

 You don’t know them, or
  You know them.

“Fool me once shame on you!  Fool me twice, I should have seen it coming!”

If all else fails, the best advice is written on the small change in your wallet.  Take a look!

Esther Blumenfeld