Like The Thief...

As humans (children and adults alike) we all have instincts which help us differentiate between the acceptable and the unacceptable, by standards of our religion, upbringing, laws of state, occupational ethics or even loyalty. Very often we fall short of these principles and we either hide it or deny our indulgence just like the thief who will run immediately he is made out, no matter how strong he might be or how very armed he might be. It’s a very simple rule and every thief knows that!  You either run to avoid being caught or you hide your booty to show no evidence there was a theft which you were responsible for.

When children are told not to buy sweets with the money given to them, they buy it anyway and secretly enjoy it so their parents don’t see it. When you take money from daddy and you take another one from mummy, you don’t tell either one of them what the other has already being given you or how much. When you bring your friends toy home even though you have been told countless times not to do so, you hide it and play with it when you are alone. No child will disobey his parents and display his unlawfully acquired merchandise (toys, sweets etc)

So the boss says inter office relationship (office romance) is highly prohibited but he his hitting it hard with his secretary, he treats her like any other employee. He pays little or no attention to her in public but it’s a different story once they are alone. Each time they are together in his office and his telephone rings, the giggling between them stops and when there is a knock on the door they quickly separate n straighten out their clothes and its official talk again like, appointments, meetings or deadlines!! (Thieves)  The same story goes for the master and his maid when the madam is not in the house or the madam and the house boy when the master is out of town.

 I don’t have just one sweetheart, there is quite a number of them so I don’t keep those suggestive text messages or emails( I love you, it was nice spending the weekend, my harmattan pawpaw) I receive from any of them to prevent them from knowing about each other’s existence if by any means they chance upon these messages. If two of them will be at the same venue at the same time, I feign sickness and avoid going with either one of them. To help me meet with each of them at different times, I give excuse like I am going to school, or my mother’s sisters husband mother is dead so I am going to the funeral at wale wale, so I will be gone for five days when the actual truth is I am going with another to white sands beach to enjoy ourselves. I tell them to allow me alight a junction before my house because my parents are very strict whereas the truth is I live with another man. If he is an older man I say he is  my uncle or grandfather( depending on  how old he is) and if he is young, he is my elder brother or my friends  boyfriend. I pretend to hate my friend’s husband but truth is, behind her back, her husband is my boyfriend.

I inflate the prices of office supplies I purchase for the office so why the hell will I want to present management with a receipt or even produce the original one for that matter? Now, will the shady accountant buy a bigger car than his employer, throw big parties and spend more than he earns in full glare of his employer? Certainly not! Most especially if he doesn’t have other means of making money but for his lousy accounting job.

We are all perpetrators of one thing or the other and no one is  in the position to justify or condemn but one thing we can do is a clean job so nobody suspects foul play. For example, growing up as a teenager, I used to chew gum a lot in class and whenever I was caught I quickly swallowed it and say I was only chewing the insides of my mouth (which is not a crime). Too bad for you the teacher if you don’t believe me, but you see there is no gum to prove that I was actually chewing one. Its either you live with your actions or defend yourself and very well too. Like the gum chewing in class, I know I could be punished once I am caught but since I know I can easily swallow, I choose to do it anyway. At this moment (now), I am using my working hours to write this blog and I know I am not being paid to write blogs. That is why I will minise or closes the page immediately my boss enters my office. At the same time I will try and make time for the lost hours by working extra smart so I am able to meet my deadlines and not find myself wanting.

There is one thing about doing something wrong and hiding it and another thing by doing something wrong in the presence of your victim. There is a proverb in Akan which says “Eni enhua eny3 tai” which simply means “the eye is not disgusted about what he can’t see” and that is why you will enjoy the meal made from unhygienic farm produce and still say it’s the best you ever had (if only you had seen the maggots that were living inside the garden eggs)

Until you are ready to surrender or live with the consequences of your actions and be prosecuted for it, be the best thief and run whiles you still can!!!