Resting Con Face — A Mug Not Even a Mother Could Trust

There are those among us who are so personable, so magnetic, that they inspire a completely unwarranted level of trust in those with whom they come into contact. The people around them practically trip over themselves to support them, to aid them, and to believe them when all other evidence points to the contrary.

I’m the exact opposite of those people.

Apparently, I have what I would now like to coin as “Resting Con Face.” That is, people never believe or trust me ever, about anything, even when they have virtually every reason to.

“For whatever reason, that particular brand of distrust was reserved just for me.”

The Cut recently published a story about Anna “Delvey”, a young woman who has been convicted of bilking pretty much the entirety of the New York City social scene out of a staggering amount of money, services, and hospitality. There was no complex financial scheme, no conspiratorial cast of crooks working behind the scenes. She simply told everyone in New York that she had access to money, and they believed her.

For months, she racked up massive tabs and borrowed ridiculous sums from social contacts and seasoned professionals. At one point, according to the story, she racked up over $30,000 in hotel charges at one hotel simply on the promise that at some point she would have some money wired to them.

Meanwhile, I had to provide two forms of identification (because “one” was not a sufficient number of forms of photo ID) the other day in order to cash a check for a few hundred dollars at the bank that issued the valid check.

That’s not so unreasonable of them, right? They were just doing their jobs. Oh, but it goes far beyond that. I don’t know what it is about me, but everyone is always suspicious of me, and my word is never just taken as truth. I could be kindheartedly offering free ice water in hell, and the tortured souls there would wave me off with an uncomfortable “Yeah,… umm… no thanks,… I’ll wait.”

Think I’m exaggerating? Let’s discuss.

A couple of years ago, I suffered untreated for weeks with a very serious case of acute pancreatitis. I visited a number of…