I WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR MONEY

Here is a brief postscript to my recent message "ARE YOU TOO LAID-BACK". There, I advised you to engage your critical faculties when taking advice, and warned you about charlatans and misguided advice-givers on the internet.

One of the many ways in which the charlatan sullies the pure waters of advice-giving is by asking for remuneration for "advice" given.

I will never ask you for money.

My regular employment affords me a sufficient income, and I find myself quite able to meet my material wants, which in any case, are modest. It is an honour for me to be able to touch so many lives in a positive way, and I seek no recompense other than the acknowledgement of a job well done.

So let me repeat:

I will never ask you for money.

A corollary of this is that if you receive a request from a "hognogger" asking you for money, you can be sure that the issuer of this request is not my good self, but rather, an impostor. Under no circumstance should you release personal or financial information to this person, because he or she is undoubtedly a scammer. And if this person tries to sell you some sob-story, then he or she is a confidence trickster to boot.

However, I should note that I do not say this quite without reservation. There is one, and only one, circumstance in which you should relent. If the "hognogger" contacting you claims to be in dire straits, and needs money not for his own purposes, but to fulfil the wish of his dying son who wants to visit Disneyland, then you should help out. Such a person, although an impostor, is a decent person at bottom, and the story given to you should be believed. You should give every spare penny you have to this person.