Reflecting upon some of the most striking situations in my life, l have found the one that deserves to be shared. Before l begin , a quick disclaimer goes that the description will be conveyed in an objective fashion as much as possible, so do not be quick to judge that it is contrived in an exaggerated subjective manner. It was cold that day, and every school boy or girl was in the mood for discovering something new –it did not necessarily have to be academic knowledge. That was a 5-minute recess in which fellow students were engaged in different activities : some ,who are considered to be attached to the blackboard , were getting prepared to the next class; some, who are mostly boisterous gangs , were on the way to concoct another amusing prank ; the rest were outliers , being engrossed in rather unconvential actions. Among those aforementioned types, there was one type whose members were limited to one spoiled girl ,Safiya. She was the luckiest mass upon whom both wealth and beauty were bestowed by God. She had another special quality whereby she employed in manipulating people easily ; her unusual beauty , financial power ,and the canniness made all the mates in class be what she wanted them to be . Coming to the event itself , extensively described character Safiya entered the classroom , with some trivial yet kill-the-time delicacies in hand , and abruptly went into rage with Sara, one whose self-esteem would beg for strength . Safiya threw an invective of profane words at Sara without even giving her a chance to say a mere word. In that instant , the rest of the class were paralyzed doing nothing other than staring at the one-sided quarrel , which led Safiya to slap Sara in the face by availing herself of the meek prey's dormant state.( Well, you may say that 5- minute break can not tolerate such a thing to occur , but with the belated presence of the proceeding lesson's teacher , the conditions were conducive).Contrary to everybody's expectations, Sara did not even blink ; instead, she stood still and said, “l did not say anything about you”.Time gave the abuser to continue no longer when a sound of someone's foot stepping came to ear: perfect timing was it to sense the stepping for Safia to prepare to play a role of an abused martyr. The teacher came and yelled, “ who is so daring to break my rules by loudly betraying offensive words ?” Safiya instantaneously turned into a meek, feeble victim who feigned to have been slapped by Sara. The whole class, authentic witnesses of the case, were stuck and did not tell the truth about what actually happened.The teacher then gave Sara a punishment that was to mop all the floors at school .So humiliating and barbaric it was , no soul dared to say a word since students were equally afraid of Safiya as of the teacher. I was one of the eyewitnesses who could not do anything but waiting for someone else to speak up. Throughout the whole lesson, l could not concentrate because of that morally dismissive situation l happened to witness. For several days after the very day, l scolded myself inside for letting the innocent clean the entire floors of the school.One day, l even begged Sara's pardon for making all these happen to her: she forgave. Still ,l could not forgive myself since Safia is enjoying from her tricks and all-freely-dispensed wealth , even though she put someone else into a mired state. However , since then, l decided to garner confidence , and l started to reveal all the tricks she was playing with the kids .That revealing and standing up for honesty turned me into her enemy , but l genuinely embraced that. So the moral of the story is that becoming an onlooker can mean something , and telling the true record of the situation could even save someone's life ( in my case, it was more of a smaller punishment : mopping floors). From that horrible situation onwards, I have been striving to be honest , outspoken , and most importantly a good eyewitness . In the coming years, I hope not to be a reticent person and try to bolster my capability to be brutally honest towards people and not make any other innocent person be a victim of maliciously cunning masses.

A few weeks ago, I made the difficult decision to keep a secret. Now, several of my friends won't speak to me. Keeping secrets is something I always thought was a part of good character - something that people would find worthy to respect. While my friends now ignore me, I still feel that I made the right decision. A few of us stopped at a local bar for happy hour. Not long after sitting at a table I noticed a familiar face at the bar. So did my other three friends. “Isn't that Mike?” Linda asked in a horrified tone of voice. “Sure looks likes him,” Margie answered. “What do we do?” Terri queried. “Nothing,” I replied trying to sound blasé. Mike was the fiancé of Rena, another of our friends but he wasn't with Rena. He was sitting at the bar, openly flirting with another woman. Although we tried to enjoy the rest of the hour, seeing Rena's fiancé with another woman dampened our mood and before our pitcher of beer was finished, we began saying our goodbyes for the night. “Remember to call Rena,” Margie urged. “You have to tell her,” Linda persisted. “I'll go with you if you plan to visit her,” Terri offered. I stood determined not to do anything to hurt our friend. “Why me? And why are you all so insistent that we hurt Rena and rip apart the relationship she has with Mike? Before we do anything, we should find out how much she knows.” Margie said that since I knew Rena longer, it was not just my job but my obligation to tell her. “You're right,” I said quietly. “I have known her longer and we are closer. It's for that reason, I won't say anything.” Linda gave me a look of disgust and waved her hand in dismissal. As she walked away, I heard her say in what I deemed contempt, “So much for friendships. Glad to know we can all rely on you to watch our backs.” As I stood there in dismay, Terry and Margie said their quick goodbyes and walked to their cars. Here it is, three weeks later and my so-called friends haven't said a word to me. At least not yet! They will call, however, and I'm sure it will be in the next day or two. You see, I didn't have to say anything to Rena about her fiancé. She suspected him of seeing other women for a long time and without telling anyone, was at the same bar that same night and saw him. She visited me three days later and between coffee, wine and a lot of soothing ice cream, poured her heart out. She didn't want her friends involved since this was between her and Mike. Rena felt the more people that knew, the more embarrassing the situation would be. Being a strong woman, she wanted to handle matters in her own way and appreciated me taking a step back. She said it was only a matter of time, anyway, until Mike slipped up. After all, you can't cheat forever and not get caught. That's why she kept putting off arranging a wedding date. Smart girl! I thought as she hugged me before falling asleep on my couch. As I pulled a coverlet over my friend, I realized that no secret is safe. Eventually, the one who starts it, will break it - whether by word or action. Another thing I realized is that there is no need to go running to your best friend with every small detail that might cause hurt. It's more important to be around to pick up the pieces and lend a strong yet comforting shoulder. I also realized that my integrity was still intact and to me, that's something to be proud of. I smile as I think back. A few weeks ago, I made the difficult decision to keep a secret. Now, several friends ignore me like the plague. They still refuse to speak to me. However, once Rena makes known her own discovery, my so-called friends will call again. It's now up to me to deice if I should answer their calls. Friendships work both ways. You can't be a friend only when it's convenient to you and when it's on your terms. A true friend will be there for you, in thick and thin and stand with you rather than turn against you when times get rough. Rena and I are still close and each week to out to dinner to celebrate her new-found freedom. I celebrate my friend and the fact that I took a stand that didn't hurt anyone. There are times when honesty can be hurtful. We must always think twice before we speak. I am ever grateful that I did.