I acted on some information without checking if it was true, and it led to a tough lesson.
During first year in school, I shared a room with five other guys, each having our own wardrobe. I was meticulous about my stuff, which included cornflakes, milk, Milo, and sardine cans. I kept these items locked in my wardrobe with a padlock to keep them safe.
I was especially close with three of the guys in the room. We always share things and we hung out together a lot, both in and out of school. But then, there were reports of things going missing, and rumors started flying.
One of my friends was being accused of stealing, and another friend, who had a grudge against him, spread lies saying he had seen him stealing before, and that he was behind the missing items. This fueled a lot of distrust and turned alot of people against him and made several people tag him as a thief behind his back.
Because of these rumors, I started avoiding the accused friend, believing he was guilty and also for the facts that i wouldnt want to have any relationship with a thief.
One day, i went out to the school mall and I forgot to lock my wardrobe. When I came back, i met it open . I initially thought i locked it so i was worried and decided to check if anything was missing in my wardrobe.
Upon checking, i realised one of my sardine can was missing. With my suspicions running high, I jumped to the conclusion that he was the thief.
I confronted him and accused him for my stolen item, he was shocked and denied it, but I was too angry to listen. This led to a heated argument and even a physical fight between us.
Eventually, I realized that I had actually eaten the sardine the previous day and felt a deep sense of embarrassment and regret , i couldnt even look him in the eye.
Later on, I approached him to apologize, explaining that my actions were based on false information and personal grudges . It turned out that the rumors were entirely untrue, and our mutual friend had spread them due to a personal issue involving a girl.
This incident broke our friendship, and we never regained our previous closeness. It taught me the importance of verifying information before acting on it.
Thanks for reading.