Here is an example of
how the convolutions of the human mind cause suspicion and distrust between
individuals.
I go to my local village post office and buy an expensive tin of chocolate biscuits for Xmas. It's his last
one, so I pay for it but offer to leave it on display while he orders
more. He writes down my order in his little book. I ask him to make sure he remembers I've paid.
Two weeks later in the shop
he tells me the biscuits have arrived. He hands me the tin and asks for the
money. I tell him I've paid. He says he doesn't remember me paying. He doesn't
accuse me directly of not paying, but to me it could translate to 'I would have
remembered if you'd paid.' I tell him I remember and I know I paid. He then
says he never wrote anything down. This could translate to 'I would have
written it down if you'd paid.' By now other customers are interested and there
is a nasty whiff of suspicion in the air that one of us is trying it on. My
hackles have risen and I tell him to stuff his biscuits and everything else and that I'm withdrawing my custom. He asks
me if I’ve taken offence What do you
think I reply.
The point is that everything he said may have
been entirely innocent and it may be me that has the suspicious mind. They
say pride comes before a fall. I hope I haven't fallen onto the hole in my face
where my nose was.
