Shocking Revelation

A great philosopher once said, “People are hell”. I may have quoted this verse hundreds of times, yet each time human nature takes me to a weird place, it is usually my “go to” phrase.

The word  “friends” is a very delicate word. I do not use that word in my vocabulary unless I truly mean it, and my “friends” have proven themselves to be loyal and faithful.

In my younger years, I oftentimes do not know what I was thinking when I cultivated certain friendships. As time passed, it seemed the friendships I had nursed were deceptive traps to bring me down

For instance, during my first year in college I had invited a friend of mine to join me for the day since she was off from her university. We were both psyched about the idea and had a great day planned. Whilst going to my various classes, I decided to stop by the Rathkskeller to refuel with sweet treats.

As I was perusing the selection, I happened to notice “my friend” helping herself to the candy and tucking them into her bag without paying. I was mortified. In that split second I was not sure how to react. However, I knew what she did was wrong so I quickly asked the vendor what was the price of the candy in the container next to her. She quoted me a price. Luckily, I had enough money on me to cover my purchase and the candy she had taken.

I quickly paid for the merchandise never saying a word to “my friend”. It was an awkward moment for me. I was stunned, startled and shocked. I wondered what would have possessed her to do such a thing. I did what I have always done, pretend that everything was alright and wished the event away from my mind.

I had the good sense to know, I could never invite her anywhere again because the next time I may not have the money to cover her butter fingers and I would be guilty due to mere association.

Despite my best efforts to block the experience from my thoughts, many years later the event still haunted me. I wanted to know why she chose to pull off a daring act such as that around me. My parents were very strict, and no matter how I would have tried to explain a dilemma such as that, they would have discredited me as dishonoring the family.

After many years of research and introspection, I now know, that the joke was on me. You see, there is a subculture amongst certain teenagers in America which make shoplifting a right of passage. I had disagreements with my peers many times because they knew inherently I was not like them.

When a certain girl-friend would tell me she paid $1.98 for Givenchy clothing, I was so naive thinking, “What a great sale!” When in fact, it was a pricing error and she should have gone to the clerk to verify the amount of the purchase. Looking back, her actions were a form of stealing. Since then, I have realized, there was a ring of butterfingers being formulated around me , and I was too naive to even figure out what was going on.

If G-d had not intervened, I would have spent a great portion of my life paying for things other people lifted just to protect my own good name.