Lonely people need to get a grip. I'm looking at you, gay men. Also single women. Looking for love is okay, but trusting strangers on the Internet is not. Let me tell you the first rule about strangers. Everything they say is a lie until verified by ten different pieces of evidence, at which point it can advance from lie to simple exaggeration. Never do human beings utter truth. Truth is elusive, not something that can be spoken.

If you are browsing matchmaker-for-gullible-people.com, and the web site shows you a beautiful person, age 18, Christian, romantic, loving, and eager for a first experience, wanting to get it on with someone older, then that's a fantasy. What that means is that a 50 year-old felon wants to come over to your house, beat you unconscious, and steal everything you have. How does that sound? That's reality.

Or maybe a cybercriminal from Russia wants to steal every last dollar from your online bank account. Hey, he needs surgery for his sick grandma. Have a heart, give him your bank password. Give him your email password. Help him out just this one time. Come on, be a pal.

I have seen such scenarios unfold with otherwise intelligent folks getting victimized by the most transparent criminal schemes. Don't fall victim! Think with your big head, not your little head. Always evaluate people and situations with ice-cold objectivity. Insist upon perceiving reality as it is, not as how you would prefer it to be. Reject delusion! Only then will you be able to remain master of your money and your heart. Stay strong and stay cool, and reserve your love for those that prove worthy of trust, not beautiful strangers that fit into your fantasies of lust. Trust, not lust, is the way of friendship.