Susan Thom

The Truth May Not Be Your Reality


Posted: Saturday, July 12, 2008

by

Let's say one of your friends tells you something disturbing about your new neighbors. Maybe the husband is cheating, maybe the wife, maybe you heard the husband is a cross dresser. Another friend tells you he spends his paychecks on woman's clothes. All the neighbors laugh when they see him putting his trash out, but he just thinks they're saying hi, and smiles and waves hello as he picks up his newspaper and goes back inside. The neighborhood kids hear their parents talking about "Mr. Pantyhose" and start teasing his kids at school. It is relentless, and causes brawls on the schoolyard, and hinders their studies.

They become withdrawn, cry when they have to get on the bus, but neither they nor their parents understand what's going on. They had moved into the neighborhood thinking it would be a safe, happy environment in which to raise their kids. Somewhere, something went wrong. You see, Mabel, who lives at the end of the cul de sac, is home all day, and sees the man bringing women's clothes in and out of the house all day. His wife works, and she knows the kids are in school. SHE decides he must be a cross dresser, and spreads the word across the land. These new neighbors had joined the town church, but no one seemed to welcome them, or even look their way.

After several months, they decide to move. There was no one in their town who had an ounce of hospitality for them. They bought their home in a high market, and overpaid, but they thought it would be worth it. Now, the market has fallen, and they lose a great deal of money. They sell one of their cars, and accept an offer, and high tail it out of the unfriendly town they thought was so beautiful. An older couple move in, with no kids, and are always out in the garden, or planting flowers, and everyone gets together and goes over to welcome them with a nice cake and a lasagna dinner. They feel welcome and safe. They believe they've made a good choice to move to this cozy little town.

One day, Mabel decides to visit and bring an apple pie. She starts talking with them and before long, out comes the news. "Did you know that man who lived here was a cross dresser? No one would bother with them. We really wanted them out of our neighborhood." The couple had spoken with the old owners and knew that the woman worked at the hospital as a nurse and the husband sold clothing for women online. He made daily pickups and sent his merchandise out through an internet business out of his home. They told this to Mabel, and she simply replied, "Oh well, no matter, we like you better, and you have no little kids playing baseball in the street, making all kinds of noise.

This woman had tarnished the other people's reputation, assumed she knew what was going on, and had those poor little kids getting teased and even fighting with other kids. They had shunned a nurse who took excellent care of her patients, and even worked overtime without pay many times. Her kids were intelligent, kind, sweet, and had been hassled for months. She was the direct cause of this family's financial problems, having lost so much on the sale of their home, and all over an assumption she made without any proof. And she didn't even care! She ruined their reputation, made them move, caused them to lose a great deal of money, and had insinuated something that never happened.

She had jumped on the bandwagon without knowing the facts. Luckily, the family found a nice home they could afford, the wife switched hospitals, the kids thrived and made many friends at school, once they were given the chance, and the husband's business flourished. Insinuating that someone has done something wrong or underhanded, is your choice, if you're right! Accusations without any proof whatsoever, by someone like Mabel, are not only wrong, but are tortuous. They are selfish and heavy handed. And all her neighbors believed her! No one even bothered to learn the facts before they listened to her interpretation as to what was going on in her neighbor's home. Although, once everyone learned the truth, which will ALWAYS come out, they paid little to no attention to Mabel, and she spent her last years alone and miserable. What goes around, does come around. And it came around for Mabel.

Things aren't always as they appear, even if you want them to be! Trying to harm other people when they have done nothing to deserve it, is against all nature and God's law. And the negative energy you spent on others, will come back to keep you company when you find yourself alone.



Susan Thom is the mother of three children, two sons, 20 and 23, and a daughter 25. Her older son is in the air force in Germany right now, and her daughter is in the army in Tacoma, Washington.

Writing calms her, and gives her a place to go by herself! Clears the head and gets it out. She lives in a rural area, with a lake and mountains, and her partner, and has loved writing since she was a child.

She has been on a journey of self discovery for twenty years, and has learned many things about the human mind, and how to maintain some semblance of calm and peace within.

If someone reads one of her stories, and relates to her feelings, and gets a suggestion on how she dealt with them in a positive way, that would be the ultimate gift of her writing.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Avis Ward
 3 years 194 days ago.
131 fans.
Good article and advice, Sue. I enjoyed reading your rationale and agree with you. Hope you're having a nice weekend. :)
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» left by sue thom 3 years 194 days ago.
thank you Avis.
experience is the best teacher:)
i hope you're not wearing yourself down too much.
enjoy the weekend and we'll talk soon,
my best,
sue
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