There is no free lunch

There is no free lunch... and if its too good to be true, it probably isn't. Everybody wants something, and sometimes they offer you what you want so that they can get what they want, only they don't always say so, do they?

I've always maintained that I'm naive, but I will say that I've a healthy amount of suspicion. If someone offers me something on a platter, I want to know where the catch is: I peep under the napkin, as it were, and look for the suspicious ingredients. (Eyeballs are a dead give away, but given that this is a metaphor, one's never sure what's metaphorical offal and what's metaphorical meat).

When I can't see the price for something, I don't imagine that that its not there: I mean, anything without a price tag in the shops is sodding expensive, not free. The more they hide the price, the more it costs, its like seeing 'SQ' on menu's.

Just because one can't see the 'catch', doesn't mean it doesn't exist, so I always ask myself: 'What's in this for me?' and more importantly: 'What's in this for them.' and even then, I often don't see the 'catch', so I just assume its there and that the less I can see it, the bigger it probably is. I mean, one doesn't notice the universe unless people point it out, and that's the biggest thing there is, really.

Sometimes, very occasionally, people do things for altruistic reasons, which is to say they're doing it because A) it'll make them feel good, or B) superior, or C) they expect you to be grateful. I'm not sure I trust that either - how about you?

There's something that's bothering me here: Am I cynical, and does that mean I have to stop saying I'm naive?

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Finding a picture of something I really want to illustrate this with, was pretty difficult, but I'll settle for that, alright!