Character Checkpoint

I read through this week’s weekend engagement prompts and one thing was common among them – they all seemed to be some sort of test of character. I’m not sure I do great at things like that, but I try my best to make the right decisions.

The questions for this week are so interesting that I’m attempting them all in one post. So this post will be a multiple responses to all the prompts of this weekend. Read here to understand what each of the prompts are about.

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Doing it or not

Boys are heavy on trust. On the belief that no matter what happens, we stay solid and have each other’s backs. At least my friend group does. As tempting as the offer sounds, even if my best friend won’t find out, I have a very stubborn conscience and it just won’t leave me alone if I tried something like this. The only way I’d be able to even consider something like this would be if I got stripped of a conscience.

Keeping secrets

I’m down to keeping secrets, but once I see proof of the secret I’m keeping hurting someone, I’m most likely going to tell for the same I reason I passed on that one night stand – a conscience. However, I probably wouldn’t tell on my own until whoever the secret is hurting asks me. My loyalty to whoever I’m keeping the secret for will prevent me from telling on them by my own, unless I’m confronted about it. Also whether I’ll tell or not will depend on what kind of backlash I’m seeing the secret cause. If it’s pushing someone to say suicide for instance, then out of question, my new name is snitch.

You know, anyone that is honestly family or friend wouldn’t burden you with keeping secrets for them that could be damaging to another person you love. That is not fair and if you put me in that position, I don’t think I can keep my mouth shut for long.

Confront, report or ignore

This one is not so black and white for me. I’ll definitely confront though. It’s what I find after my confrontation that’ll determine whether I’ll report the case or simply stay silent. Some times what we see is not enough to make a judgement call. Asking provides more information.

What did they steal? Why are they stealing? Do they have a history of stealing? For me, these are questions that will help me decide if I’m reporting them or staying silent. If they stole say about a million dollars for instance (hypothetical), and have a history of theft, I’d know that they probably are stealing to get by for the day, but with very selfish motives. But if it’s something as simple as say a loaf of bread and are not designated thieves, then they’re probably out of options and probably were compelled to it to eat. Although stealing isn’t the ideal resort even in this case, I’d just turn a blind eye and not report them, but have a word with them about it privately.

Now chances are that I might be lied to and let a thief leave with something without any sort of accountability and they might do it again somewhere else. On the other hand, I might’ve just saved someone desperately trying to take care of his starving family from going to jail over a first-time offence that probably won’t repeat itself.

Honesty or not

The truth sets you free

The situation presented here has actually happened to me a number of times irl. To the best of my knowledge, I’ve returned the extra thing that slipped into my bag every time when I cand. I’m saying when I can because there’s been situations where I bought some things from roadside sellers who are constantly on the move and have either gotten given extra change or had an extra item slip into my bag. I’ve had to hold on to them for cases like this because it was almost impossible to find them again. There were also situations from back in childhood when I tried to hold on to what belonged to Caesar. Lol you know. But that was a long time ago and were just childish crimes.

For returning stuff, I’ve gotten rewarded a couple of times in some sort for my honesty, or in some cases a simple thank you, which I guess is reward enough as it is for basic human decency. So in this case, I wouldn’t be turning to pay for it, but simply to return it back to the store because if it wasn’t on my receipt, chances are that I don’t want to buy it at all.

I’ll be lying if I say the thought of keeping some things like that haven’t crossed my mind over the years though. But I’m someone that places serious belief in karma, so I’m of the conviction that I’ll get repaid in kind if I waver in my character.

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No one is perfect. Even the most revered people have in one way or the other had trying times where their character has been tested. I liked this week’s prompts because imo, they’re helping us reassess our values and characters as they call on our ability to be honest and true to ourselves.

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All images here are mine