Same words, Different meaning

_{photo by Hana Lopez}

If anyone had the kind of upbringing that I had, then you would know that one thing I value the most is my word. I always try to make sure that my yes is my yes and my no is my no...this is why whenever I'm not entirely sure about something, I always try my best to make it clear to whoever it is I'm talking to that my answer on that topic isn't certain...that way, if the true answer comes out in the future and it contradicts whatever response I had given to that person, I can easily remind them that I had earlier told them that I wasn't sure about my answer.

And due to the fact that I was brought up that way, I've always thought that everyone else was the same when it came to that aspect. I remember this one time that I had a misunderstanding with a friend of mine due to the fact that I had asked for his help and he had given me some terms and conditions that I had to adhere to for him to render that help to me.

I had immediately refused his help because his terms and conditions weren't one that I could handle, especially seeing how I had considered him a close friend. But then I had gone ahead to complain about it to another friend of mine who had told me that I made a mistake refusing his terms.

According to that friend of mine, I should have accepted his offer and then when he was done rendering the assistance that I needed, I would immediately go against our agreement, afterall there was nothing he could do about it.

Based on how desperate I was for that help, I probably would have followed that advise and tricked my friend into helping me, while knowing fully well that I wasn't going to keep to my end of the bargain. But then I couldn't bring myself to do it because that wasn't how I was trained as a child.

Unfortunately, not a lot of people see things the way I do. I've had multiple encounters with people who say one thing and then end up doing another thing without even thinking twice about it. And although that has affected our relationships in many ways, they don't seem to care about it.

This is probably one of the many things being in school has taught me, and although it makes it really hard for me to trust anyone, it also has opened my eyes in ways that has helped me avoid becoming a victim based on what someone else says.