I was in the MRT on my way home from work. The carriage I was in was not that crowded though it was already past 7pm. On my left were two ladies in their early twenties - from the way they dressed and each carrying a notebook, they should be undergraduates.
Anyway, that was not what caught my attention. It was more their conversation. I did not mean to eavesdrop - I tried not to but they were loud enough for those around to hear what they were talking about.
It was about another friend of theirs who got pregnant. Actually one of the ladies did not know about it. It was the other who told her. Apparently, she heard about it from another source.
What struck me was this one sentence - "Hey! Cecilia asked me to keep this a secret because shot-gun case so please do not let anyone know, yah?"
I was that close to telling the two ladies off! Why did I want to do that? Well, because of that one word "secret"! Did they not know the meaning of that word? 'Secret' - 'kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged'. Which part of this did they not understand?
It is sad that such a serious matter whom the affected party has confided in her friend has now spread to those who are not supposed to be in the know. In fact, I should not even use the word "friend". A synonym for 'friend' is 'confidant'. Where was the confidence? If that 'friend' of the affected party is genuine, he or she would have kept it to himself or herself. Even if he or she wants to find help for the affected party, he or she still needs to seek approval first.
Is it that hard nowadays to find a friend whom one can trust? Am I a friend to another? I sure hope I am. I also desire that my friends are truly my friends.
Anyway, I learnt from the above incident that once someone has confided in me about something, I am no more at liberty to use my discretion to do what I want about it. To me, it is now binding between my friend and I. Whatever was shared to me will be left as they were. Should anything else needs to be done, I need to consult my friend first.
Well, I have been betrayed before but it is not going to stop me from trusting my friends. We are all humans and we do err but as much as we can, let us try our best to prevent incidents or insensitive acts which may hurt another especially if that person is our friend.
Food for thought, I guess.
I prayed for the two ladies, for their friend who is now with child and also for that friend of the pregnant girl whom she confided in. I sensed something bad happening should words of this pregnancy go one round.
I shall stop here - I need to clean my camera. I used it this afternoon to take some photos for a presentation on Friday. While doing the photo-shoot, I learnt a couple of new stuff with the camera functions. :) Loving my camera even more now! Haha!
Sleep tigh, everyone!
"He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." Proverbs 17:9
Anyway, that was not what caught my attention. It was more their conversation. I did not mean to eavesdrop - I tried not to but they were loud enough for those around to hear what they were talking about.
It was about another friend of theirs who got pregnant. Actually one of the ladies did not know about it. It was the other who told her. Apparently, she heard about it from another source.
What struck me was this one sentence - "Hey! Cecilia asked me to keep this a secret because shot-gun case so please do not let anyone know, yah?"
I was that close to telling the two ladies off! Why did I want to do that? Well, because of that one word "secret"! Did they not know the meaning of that word? 'Secret' - 'kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged'. Which part of this did they not understand?
It is sad that such a serious matter whom the affected party has confided in her friend has now spread to those who are not supposed to be in the know. In fact, I should not even use the word "friend". A synonym for 'friend' is 'confidant'. Where was the confidence? If that 'friend' of the affected party is genuine, he or she would have kept it to himself or herself. Even if he or she wants to find help for the affected party, he or she still needs to seek approval first.
Is it that hard nowadays to find a friend whom one can trust? Am I a friend to another? I sure hope I am. I also desire that my friends are truly my friends.
Anyway, I learnt from the above incident that once someone has confided in me about something, I am no more at liberty to use my discretion to do what I want about it. To me, it is now binding between my friend and I. Whatever was shared to me will be left as they were. Should anything else needs to be done, I need to consult my friend first.
Well, I have been betrayed before but it is not going to stop me from trusting my friends. We are all humans and we do err but as much as we can, let us try our best to prevent incidents or insensitive acts which may hurt another especially if that person is our friend.
Food for thought, I guess.
I prayed for the two ladies, for their friend who is now with child and also for that friend of the pregnant girl whom she confided in. I sensed something bad happening should words of this pregnancy go one round.
I shall stop here - I need to clean my camera. I used it this afternoon to take some photos for a presentation on Friday. While doing the photo-shoot, I learnt a couple of new stuff with the camera functions. :) Loving my camera even more now! Haha!
Sleep tigh, everyone!
"He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." Proverbs 17:9
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