True Story : Answer

Is your friend telling you the truth or a lie? Not sure what I am speaking about? Read this first!

This is a true story that was told to a member of my family a little over a year ago. When the story was relayed to me, it just didn’t sit right. Mind you, I didn’t hear the story being told by the story originator (we don’t even know who that is), so with that, I didn’t get to see facial expressions, or body language clues that could assist me in making the determination if this was the truth or a lie. I discovered the facts, here, simply by applying logic.

Read more As I sat contemplating how I’d have to change my lifestyle if, in fact, two thieves were running around my neighborhood, I kept hearing my family member relay the story to me. In particular, I kept hearing them say, “It takes ten days to get published in the newspaper.” As I looked out the kitchen window, those words kept playing through my mind like a bad song you can’t purge from your memory.

After I stopped thinking about all the ways this would affect me and my life, the broken record finally got through to me, and I realized this was pure bull dust! We live in the information age. Ten days? No way! Maybe back in the stone age, but as long as I have been alive, the morning headlines have always been up to date. I knew this was pure, and dirty hogwash.

Another thing that immediately bothered me was the word “robberies”. People weren’t being held up with a gun. These were burglaries. If the cops knew about this, and were perhaps at the association meeting, this would have been stated accurately. And frankly, you don’t call an association meeting and tell people this horrifying news without police support and guidance to (a) help catch the bastards (b) give safety advice to the neighbors/neighborhood. While the words could get mixed up, it was just another flag that I filed in my list of concerns.

Furthermore, I started to question the fact that these guys were black. How do we know these guys are black? Did someone’s security camera get them taped? Did someone see them? If so, then where are the artist renditions or video footage or black and white photos?? Why aren’t there WANTED signs posted around? Furthermore, why weren’t they handed out at this supposed association meeting?

Another signal to me was why would one neighbor know about this from the association meeting and not the other? The likelihood is that both neighbors live in the same association. If this information was going to be told at an association meeting, wouldn’t there have been a flier put out, perhaps? Maybe, maybe not, but if the police were involved, and wanted to catch this guy, you can pretty much be sure they would want to let everyone know, so people could help spot these guys, and solve the crime spree. So, likely there would have been a flier, and a flier with faces of these guys on it. It’s not a certainty, but certainly likely. Another potential red flag.

Also, the details were spooky. Who was dreaming this up? A hat and gloves? They’d only take jewelry, drugs and cash. What, these guys didn’t care about TVs, DVDs, or computers? That’s unusual. People who steal for drugs want money!! Anything valuable is worth money.

And they didn’t break anything, but took these specific valuables. Twenty four homes had open windows and doors, in a matter of a couple of weeks, that were left unlocked when no one was home. What are the odds??

This story was smelling really rotten to me so I got online and browsed the local papers. Nothing. Zip. Nadda.

Then I asked my husband to call the local police and ask about it. I wasn’t buying it, and furthermore, I wanted this demon of monsters roaming the neighborhood stopped. We don’t have many black people in this town, and I can’t imagine how a rumor of this proportion would affect them, unfairly!

On our way home from my relatives house, we saw a black family fishing and my heart sunk. How many people looked at them with fear? Unfairly. Unjustly. How many people treated them rudely out of pure ignorance?? It was vile and wrong.

My husband made the call. The police said they weren’t aware of any break-ins in the past couple of weeks. When my husband said he had heard there were 24, they said they would absolutely know about them, and that there were none reported, rest assured.

My relative called her friend and told her the news. She was relieved. I personally don’t believe she was invested in any security company, or had any ulterior motives. I think she was truly afraid. Someone started a false rumor for one reason or another and at least I stopped it. Being a new widow is enough for any person to deal with–forget adding on the fear of “robbers” in the neighborhood. No, thanks!

Be vigilant. Look over the facts–think about them. Ask yourself are the facts logical? Question them and then, if possible, verify what you can. While your friend may not be knowingly telling a lie, someone is and has passed it on to her, and you have the power to stop it — dead in its tracks.