I think intuition can be very misleading, at least as far as I'm concerned.
About five years ago, I was working at a home for young males between the age of 17 and 25 (instead of doing military service, which is still compulsory in Germany). Most of these guys were homeless, for a lot of reasons, others were brought there by their parents. Since I've grown up in a rural area and my family has always supported me, I've never really had any closer contact with that kind of people (I don't want it to sound prejudiced, but I think you know what I mean - it was me who applied for the job there).
Most of them were really nice, and I got along with them very well. But one guy really screwed me. From the first day he showed up there, he was really popular with everybody (among the carers and residents alike) and we really liked to help him because he was such a nice guy. He was really talented at influencing people to get what he wanted. I don't know if anyone has ever known such a person, but as I said, it now seems uncanny in retrospect.
I had to work on Christmas Eve, and as I left he accompanied me to the station, he asked me if I could give him some money because he wanted to visit his sister in Belgium. Since I thought it was a nice gesture of his, I'd received a Christmas bonus and also because I was in a bit of a hurry, I gave him the money.
When I came back after Christmas, he pulled me to the side when he saw me and asked me if I could lend him some more. He promised me that I would get it back, and with a profit, and I grew a little suspicious and asked him why he needed it (and I wasn't so sure anymore whether he made up that whole story with his sister). At first he told me that it was none of my business (yeah right, my money :rolli
, but then he told me that it had to do with smuggling drugs. I didn't give him the money and didn't tell anyone about it - not because I'm some sort of moralist, but simply because I didn't want to get involved. After that, things started to go downhill. The nice guy turned into some of the worst jerks in the entire home, started to put up fights with other residents, shouted at the people working there, failed to show up at appointments, and once even threatened me physically. I got some lukewarm apology from him and considered for a while if it wasn't better if I left. Everyone just wanted to get rid of him, but being the sneaky fella he was, he didn't make it easy. He left eventually, so I decided to stay. And if I never have to see him again, the money he promised to give me back but never did is well spent.
I wouldn't say that I've become any more suspicious since then, but at least it's a shining example of how first impressions can be horribly misleading.