When You Know, You Know ...

Call it fate, call it intuition, but I have done this job for ten years now and 9/10 times I am right about people's intentions whether it be over the phone or in person and sometimes over the phone it's easier to tell. This might sound strange, but I believe because I can't see them face to face, my other senses are forced to work harder.

Like a blind person listening to a cup of tea being poured. They can tell if the water is boiling or not. I heard this on a tour round Granada studios once and for some reason it's stuck with me. I don't like boiling drinks, so I always knock the kettle off before the boil and yes, the sound is different between boiling water hitting a cup in comparison to colder water.

It might help that I am genuinely interested in psychology anyway and only yesterday watched a programme all about people's tone of voice, facial expression and body language.

I am not going to give away how I tell whether a person is safe to see or not or whether they are going to waste my time or be trouble. But there's more to it than appears on the surface.

What's the saying? 'Sometimes you have to play the fool to fool the fool who thinks they're fooling you.'

Obviously my methods don't work 100% of the time and there's been people whom I am almost certain were timewasters who have turned out genuine, so it works both ways.