Have you ever worked for or known someone that you thought was a snake in the grass?

Only after the fact and by that time, the damage was done.

Yes, the last company I worked for. It was always about their bottom line, all employees are replaceable. They just needed warm bodies and treated us as such.

I remember one year they didn't give anyone raises, not even cost of living. But the owner showed up with a new Audi. It was the Audi that was in that James Bond movie. He would park it right in front of the business, next to the employee entrance. So we got our noses rubbed in the fact multiple times a day. He and his minions were douches.

Yep. Years ago I had a back stabbing boss that everyone detested, he thought he was above everyone else. His son beat him to death with a baseball bat, while he was sleeping.

Oh come on i worked at car dealerships they are all snakes

You are kind using the term, "Snake in the Grass". But I know what you are getting at. I have had to deal with people so awful I first wondered why no one actually put a bullet in their heads. Then I would avoid them as much as possible thinking I did not want to be around when someone actually did it. These people did not have any morals, did not respect life, and enjoyed making others miserable. On a positive note most of those I had the displeasure of meeting eventually went down in flames. But nor before they ruined many lives.

90% of the people I worked with at the Bank😝.

Thieves, liars, backstabbers, cons, spammers, mega liars. From tellers to vice bank presidents and presidents. Same with car dealerships, mechanics, finance, salesmen and owners.😝😝😝.

You would not believe the sheer numbers of scams and there was no age limit on who they would scam.

Yes, all too often people can take on many "faces", trying to lull someone into believing that they are honest, or trustworthy, or whatever, when all the time they are not. It is a sad state of affairs that people play games like this, because eventually, it will all backfire in their face.  A lesson in humility seems in order.

Dear Rooster,

Yes...and I will say the power these folks can have over the rest of us, even the idea of that was extremely distressing to me...life almost not worth living...

What helped me was the Buddhist concept of dukkha - 'suffering' is approximate translation but Buddhists say the "snake-in-grass" person is him/herself deeply suffering, very unhappy.

* * *

So I begin with compassion for the perpetrator, and from that foundation thread my way to the best choices I can to be free.

One or two. The worst of them was an Australian director employed by my last Japanese company. I once came upon him throwing his weight around with a young Chinese woman and as he walked away she murmured something in Mandarin. I asked what it meant and she said, "Just down from the trees." It was very appropriate.

The government.