Femme Fatale in Philly

I don't understand why people who are so well-en...umm, endowed with so much would feel the need to be so dishonest. It's downright pathological. If you follow some of Galley Slaves' links you'll see they were a cute couple with jobs and degrees and supportive families, but even once they (allegedly) stole their money they were incredibly tight about spending it, bargaining down the price of a spa treatment and sneaking popcorn into movie theaters. But apparently the lies were about more than money--it was deception for its own sake:

Although some classmates sensed dishonesty in Kirsch, they still remained friends with her. In fact, some said they either forgave her deceit or were overwhelmed with guilt for treating a friend too harshly.

"She was really fun to go out with, but she was also the most ridiculous person I have ever met," said one former friend in an e-mail. "She has told so many lies over the years that I could never believe anything she said."

"She once tried to convince me her eyes were naturally purple because it's a gene people in Lithuania (that's where she says she is from) have," the classmate wrote. "Then my roommate borrowed her purse and found purple contacts."

For some reason I can't remember, I once read a book of screenplays by William Goldman, one of which was Harper. There's a line in there about a couple of grifters like these who are summed up as "damaged". The line stuck with me as a true description of a lot of people--just moral lemons. That they are 'damaged' implies victimhood, though--that something made them that way. Sometimes, I'm afraid, people are just born that way. It's interesting that a pair of them got hooked up.