table scrap

What are we not allowed to say? As a kid were told that honesty is the best policy, and with all the court shows out there we are programmed to believe that we should always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Its true that a good friend will tell you the truth even when it is not asked for. For instance

"Emily, don't wear that. Trust me, just don't"

"Emily, you have something in your teeth"

"hey bitch, youre skirts up, we can all see your ass"

Etc

But there are other things, that while, yes, they are the truth, and they are probably the whole truth you are not, or SHOULD not be at liberty to say. You may not speak freely on some subjects. I dare you.

Do you ever tell somebody that you 'settled' ?

That you regretted either staying with them or regretted leaving them?

Do you ever tell somebody the same tale you told somebody else while you were with them?

Even disclosing infidelity can be incredibly self serving. My many times you find that it really only relieves your conscious yet it will weigh so heavily on the others that its just crippling at times. Granted infidelity is by far the trickiest of the bunch and is all too subjective for anybody to make that call for anybody but themselves, and it really has no place in this tangent other than to serve as an example.

Where love, fondness, and favour are concerned, the truth can be just as, if not more self serving than a lie.

The word love bothers me. There are too many of them, either as nouns, or adjectives.

There are first loves, epic loves, star crossed loves, lost loves, the love of your life, comforting loves, a dangerous love, forbidden loves, and strange loves. Theres platonic love, and worst of all there are loves that never quite got to be LOVE. Those are the ones we always questioned. These are things that if realized, or even fabricated out of broken memories can haunt you.

I think that as a person we are dealt the unfortunate hand of being doomed to fall in love with love, or something that we are told to be love. We become a kennel full of strays staring out of our cages to all of the people who walk by with big hopeful eyes hoping that well be picked to be taken home, play in their yard and sleep at the foot of their bed. Sure, some of us are runts, mutts, show dogs and designer cross breeds, but a dog is a dog. A show dog doesn't give any more love to its master than a stray, both can snip at your fingers if over eager for a treat or if they feel their territory is threatened, both will occasionally take a shit on your carpet. Yet all kinds of dogs, all sizes, colors, shapes and breeds are depicted in timeless paintings of honour, nostalgia, friendship and compassion. From portraits of the wealthy to the poverty stricken resuce missions.

Sadly, not all owners are fit. Weve all been left at a doorstep, run away from our own yard, gotten things blamed on us that was never our fault, and have probably wondered if wed ever make it out of the pound alive.

Metaphors aside, I know that my dog loves me. Of course she lies to me. When shes doing something shes not supposed to be doing I hear a scurring and a knocking over of numerous things and magically find her across the room, with food on her face, or gum stuck to her ear. This does not mean that she does not love me. She has no reason to lie either. Not about the big things anyway. Hell, she could hate me, and there would still be my father, or any number of people who I know are just dying to get their hands on my dog. But after the initial excitement of a new face, and a new scent, she always comes back to sit in my lap, put her chin on my knee, and try to sneeze in my food in hopes of getting it.

You probably think that I, like every other dog owner (usually female) give my dog too much credit. And I probably do. But lola has never pretended to lick my face or snuggle up against me just for the brief pleasure of a tummy rub or a game of tag every couple of months, when her schedule allows for it or when every other pair of hands is busy playing with other dogs. Sure she whores herself out, but not like that, and not with me.

I don't expect any of these qualities really from a person. I don't expect the same exact qualities from any other dog either for that matter. All of my dogs have been very different from one another, yet the one thing that remained consistant was that they all had my best interest at heart. Even when she does misbehave, as with all loves, sometimes you need to accept that maybe they just cant help it. Nurture all you want, some things will never be able to get past their nature