Whoa.
I don't know this guy, or anything call center-related, nor any of the people posting here (except for Beatrice... who took his CAT!?!?! Haha!! You're awesome!) -- I try to stay sooooo far away from the Expat world, and BAexpats on sleepless nights is my one vice -- but I just want to say: I am irrationally, utterly enthralled by this thread. It is captivating. I keep on reloading the page, wanting more.
It's like a movie: where is this guy going next? Will he be caught? He's so here, in plain sight (someone posted a screenshot from his facebook page!)... yet so elusive. He's in front of our eyes, he's on our Facebook, but yet he keeps on doing this over and over, and will do it again. He's probably reading this right now!
This is fascinating in so many ways, I don't even know where to begin. Here's one angle: This whole story raises seriously existential questions: Just HOW in G-d's name did he manage to rip off sooo many people? He has a talent of some sort!!!! You need talent to rip off that many people. Look at the symbolism here: we complain about the "chamuyo" of the Argies, but the ultimate chamuyo, who is chamuyando seemingly everyone, isn't an Argie but a Yanqui!
But not just that, the questions this raises get harder for us to answer, if we ask ourselves about the implications of this honestly, if we look deep inside ourselves, there are subtle implications, and they are difficult for us to admit the ugly truth: why did so many people, *fully admitting in this thread that they knew he was so sketchy* (that he lied so much etc), why did they still befriend him, work for him, live with him? It's weirdly funny, all the people saying, "yeah, I knew he lied (or he stole or he did all these other bad things)... but I didn't think he was a bad guy... I was friends with him anyway (or I went to work for him or lived with him)... and then he stole from me, so now I hate him". Yes: that is the subconscious conversation in your head. Is anyone else's brain exploding as they try to make sense of this, and its historical and future implications?
This movie we're watching unfold here, this movie is the most ancient tale, all wrapped up in the clothing of modernity: men and women have been seduced by charm, or money, ever since Zeus transformed himself into a charming swan just to seduce Leda!!!! The ancient method for preventing people from falling for such seduction was by instilling the virtue (in the Roman sense; literally: manliness!) of HONOR. But honor is constantly under attack, for centuries, from the competing value of NON-CRITICISM (aka, open-mindedness) -- and yes, there is a trade-off between the two fundamentally because definitionally you will always be close minded towards something that violates your own sense of honor. These days, the non-criticism is winning the war against honor, although I wouldn't be surprised if the tides turn as all the non-religious people continue their current reproductive trends towards demographically removing themselves from the gene pool (ie, having few kids). So, we have people, losing the sense of honor but instead feeling good about themselves because they so open-minded, then some scam artist comes in and seduces them in some way -- the oldest tricks in the book, literally, these have been fooling humans for centuries, that we've spent centuries fighting against. Zeus pretended to be a swan so he could XXX with Leda, didn't anyone else have to read the Greek myths when they were kids? Or study the Wiemar Republic in your European History 101 class in college? How did that one turn out? Or did your parents at least read you some really cheesy Niemoller poem?
But it gets even more interesting. Expats complain constantly about the immorality of the Argies... so this makes us *even more trusting amongst other fellow expats*, creating a bond of solidarity of sorts between us (hey I've never met steveInBsas but I instinctively feel like I like him!) but then... but then.... but then, yet *one of our own* -- wanted by our own government back 'home' -- comes here and *does this shit to US*!!! One of our very own betrays us!
I AM GOING TO MAKE SOME POPCORN AND WATCH THE SHOW NOW -- ACT II IS ABOUT TO START, AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK!
What makes this story so great are *the details you couldn't make up*. His roommate posting in effect, "yeah, I knew what he was doing, but I didn't do anything about it, sorry... oh when he escaped, he left his cat, does anyone want it" and Beatrice taking it! (You're awesome Beatrice! Note on my point about honor above: I'm a good person who values honor, but I'm not a saint... but Beatrice -- she is giving me faith that there are saints out there, and she's a better person than I am: I didn't offer to take in these cats!!). Here's another great detail: our mysterious admin founder, who for years I'm still wondering who he is (do I know him in real life?!?! Oh an exciting mystery! Every expat I meet, I wonder, "Is he the one?"), he himself posts to comment!!! I haven't seen this before, but to get him out posting himself--wow!! Oh here's another detail that is incredible: his name is Willilam Buckley -- yes he has the same name as the man who (again, for better or worse) was among the most important creators of the American conservative moment in the 20th century! Ha!!!!!! Take that, You Republicans!!!!!! The irony!!!
Kudos to Steve and everyone helping out. I would help, of course, if I had anything to contribute. So I can't help out so instead I will just have some more popcorn. But I'd have a beer with this guy, I'd even buy him one, just to see what he is actually like. It would be unbelievably interesting to me.
And then there's this angle: is it me or does anyone else see a Shakespearean tragedy unraveling in front of our eyes? I mean, he's the Iago whose charm has seduced the well-meaning Othellos of the Expat community. No, no, no: it is too much of an honor to compare him to Iago (as evil as Iago is), Iago, for all his horribleness, had a very subtle understanding of the human mind that deserves our respect. Oh I know, this guy reminds me more of Edmund from King Lear -- a minor player, the son of Gloucester who is sooo jealous of his brother Edmund that he makes up these little lies to try to get his father to turn against the other son. Oh it gets exciting--Goneril leaves her husband for him, but then he's exposed--and he fights with his brother until one of them dies!!! How does Buckley's saga end? Read King Lear and you'll know it all!!! This is a time to whip out the classics, they'll predict the future!
But then again... maybe not. It is a tragedy if everyone dies in the end. A comedy if they get married. Maybe the great seducer will be seduced by a hot girl in Rosario (and I've been on that awesome beach on that 5 minute boat ride across from downtown, I actually go there on summer weekends, one of my favorite spots in the world: and the girls there are indeed hot!), and maybe, having found love (or at least, sincerely convincing himself he is in love, since perhaps his own egoism will prevent him from truly loving), he will repent for his ways. After all.... all's well that ends well.
Yes, this is what happens to me when I have two cups of coffee at 11pm [it's now like 6am!]
-morgan