unfairness

Unfairness

“John, your father and I are going to Hong Kong to visit your aunt who is ill. Here is four hundred dollars for you to spend while we were away for the whole week, my mother said while handing some money to me. I placed the money in my wallet and left the house for school. I was thinking about how I could spend the money when I was on the way to school. I decided to survive on bread and butter the whole week, leaving about three hundred dollars for me to buy myself some computer games.

It was such a grueling time for me during the PE lesson. I trudged back wearily back to my class after the PE lesson, I heard a loud commotion when I when into the classroom. My classmates were crowding around Tommy’s table. He was searching his bag, books and wallet frantically. Curiosity surged through me. I approached one of my friends and asked him what had happened; he told me that Tommy had lost all the money that he had brought as a donation to the welfare home which we were visiting in the afternoon. Understanding the situation, I suggested a thorough search in the classroom and inform our class teacher immediately. Taking my suggestion seriously, the class took action. Our class teacher, Miss Tan, rushed to the class to take control of the situation. She wanted to check everyone’s bags. We emptied our belongings from the bags and placed them on the table. Everyone stood by their table and waited for their turn patiently. When it was my turn, I showed her my things and the last item to be checked was my wallet. From there, Miss Tan took four hundred dollars from there and the class fell into hushed shock. Adrenaline pumped through my entire system. I stood rooted to the ground.

Miss Tan’s was triumphant –pleased that her efforts for flushing out the thief had borne fruit. I was really unaware that the amount lost was actually four hundred dollars. “Where did you take the money from?” she demanded for an answer. “This amount of money was given by my mother. My parents were going to Hong Kong to visit my aunt,” I explained. “Let me ask you one last time. Did you steal this sum of money from Tommy?” she bellowed. Her face turned into a dark shade of red, turning to the colour of the molten lava. “I did not steal anything,” I answered truthfully. She proclaimed that I was caught red handed for stealing Tommy’s money, dismissing my story in view of the fact that my family was not well off and could not simply give me four hundred dollars which was considered a large sum of money for my family. Torrents of tears trickled down from my cheeks. It was so unfair.

My classmates were shaking their heads in disbelief. The principal was called in and conformed that I had stolen the sum of money from Tommy to the evidence they had. Even a phone call to my parents was considered too much trouble for the school. Instead of thinking about the matter, they concentrated on consoling Tommy. I knew that my average background was the main reason why the truth weighs less than the distress of Tommy.

I was lonely for the whole day, even my best friend left me alone. Obviously, the stink of being a thief was more powerful than that of friendship. I was struggling to survive for the day with the loose change in my house. At night, I called my parents to tell them about the incident in school. “All my classmates accused ma of stealing Tommy’s money. They left me alone. The teacher confiscated the money you gave me and I have to use the loose change in the house. It is so unfair……” I sobbed. “Don’t cry, we will complain to the school. We will come back immediately,” my mother comforted.

The following day, my parents came back and went to school. However, the principal insisted that I did not put across the situation clearly. Feeling furious, they wrote a long complaint to the school. The matter was solved when Miss Tan and the principal was criticized for mishandling the matter. Finally, I was cleared of all charges.

From this incident, I learnt that wealth spoke louder than truth.

14 September 2008