What would you say is the most clear-cut predictor of how someone will behave in the future? If you said "past behavior," you've hit the nail on the head.  Sure, people can surprise us by radically deviating from prior behavior, but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule. For example, if your friend routinely exhibits a noticeable aversion toward silly comedies, chances are he will continue to loathe such movies. If your sister displays an acute dislike of seafood, she's bound to avoid lobster, crab, and all manner of sea creatures for the foreseeable future. When it's hard to decode a person's true intentions, you have only two tools you can leverage: your gut and, you guessed it, the person's track record. If you lure someone away from a competing firm to come work for you, rest assured they can be coaxed into bolting from yours. If someone cheats on their spouse with you, who's to say they won't cheat on you with som...

Some people are simply the epitome of hypocrisy . They don't tolerate certain behaviors from their partner -- cheating, wasteful spending, getting drunk -- and yet they carry out those very behaviors themselves in disguise. It's because of this double standard that so many relationships go down the drain. People who have certain expectations of their partner that they themselves can't live up to -- those who don't practice what they preach -- shouldn't commit to anyone in the first place. It demonstrates selfishness, a lack of maturity, and the inability to consider their partner's feelings. The golden rule of relationships is to treat your partner the way you want to be treated. If you don't want your partner to cheat on you, remain faithful. If you don't want your partner running up credit card debt, spend responsibly. If you don't want your partner making a fool of herself after having one too many drinks, drink in moderation yourself. The...

Jasper Fiorenza, 24, was arrested after the owner of the home he was trying to burglarize in Florida caught him in the act. When the victim awoke to find Fiorenza standing at the foot of her bed, she yelled for him to get out of her house, but he didn’t run. Instead, he crouched at the end of her bed and pet her cat! The victim again yelled at Fiorenza to get out of her house. He stood up, said “Hey” and started to amble out of her house. Undercover detectives followed Fiorenza as he went back to the victim’s property on Wednesday, when he was arrested. Detectives identified Fiorenza by a fingerprint on the victim’s bedroom door. He told police that he “must have been drunk." He was arrested and charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling and resisting arrest without violence. As a condition of his bond, the judge required that Fiorenza refrain from contacting the victim and wear a GPS tracking device. I'm glad the lady who spotted the intrepid thief in her h...

What would you do if you worked as a waitress at a restaurant and received a $1,000 tip one day? Would you think it was a mistake and try to track down the person who left the exorbitant sum? Or would you pocket the money and go about your business? Skye Seumptewa found herself in such a conundrum when she opened the ticket book left by a customer and noticed it contained more than $1,000. She assumed right out of the gate that he'd made a blunder, and her suspicions were confirmed when the individual returned the next day to get his money back. The man was eating at Thailicious, a restaurant in Edgewater, Colorado. The story goes that he ordered a meal and a few glasses of wine at the bar. Shortly after he made his way out of the restaurant, Seumptewa noticed the wad of bills left inside. Some of the restaurant employees got excited, recalling stories of people who have left generous tips at restaurants. Even so, it seemed a tad too generous; the employees agreed that the ...

Everyone knows that getting wasted on Cinco de Mayo (May 5) is an enduring tradition for many in the United States. But most people don't know the stats -- specifically,  how much people actually drink. Here are a few fun facts that put this in perspective: Tequila sales typically double in bars and restaurants on Cinco de Mayo, making it one of their most profitable days of the year. In 2014, Americans bought over 12 million cases of tequila. That's a lot of booze! Margaritas accounted for nearly half of all cocktails sold on Cinco de Mayo in 2011 and 2012. Consumers spend over $2.9 billion on margaritas annually, which accounts for roughly 14 percent of all cocktail sales! 30 percent of the margaritas sold are flavored. The United States sells twice as much tequila as Mexico, the country where it originated. On another note, more than 81 million avocados are consumed by Americans on Cinco de Mayo, which are used in guacamole. Tortillas are also widely consumed i...