Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDLV

Leon was a non-smoker. He was quick to let everyone know it too. If you had any kind of halfway lengthy conversation with him, he would touch on the topic of how bad smoking is, and how he didn't believe in it. His son, GW, was a different story, however. He went through about a pack a day, and he didn't care who knew it. He was in his late teens, still living in the house with his parents, and apparently they allowed him to smoke at home. I was in high school at the time, also working part time in a little country convenience store, and Leon would often stop by and pick up a couple packs of cigarettes for "that boy." So many times, "that boy" would come by a couple hours later and buy his own cigarettes.....a different brand than what Leon had bought. If I can insert a word of wisdom here, "Smoking in secret doesn't fool many people for long." Although Leon didn't realize it, most everyone in the community knew the truth: Leon was a smoker. Angie & I lived in Crowley, LA for seven years, and during that time we made quite a few friends in that area. One of them was a lady named Gloria, and her husband, Clifton. Gloria had a prestigious job in town, and was well known in the community. She was one of those we could call a "good friend." Eventually, we moved away and over time I began my current career, which requires a lot of business travel. One trip took me to Lafayette, which is near Crowley. I finished up my day's work fairly early, so I was able to check into my hotel by 4:00 pm. When I got in my room, I noticed a gap in my curtains, so I walked over to try to pull them together a little better....just in time to see Gloria pull into a parking slot at the hotel. At first I thought, "What is she doing here?" Then I saw her meet a man, who was not her husband, and they entered a room together. After about an hour, they both left. Well, it was none of my business, so I kept that information to myself, but I never forgot it. The two stories I just told you happened a long time ago, but I'm a little more kind hearted than a typical news reporter might be, so although they are true, I changed the names of the characters...for more than one reason. First of all, it's not my place to spread unsavory information about anyone, and secondly, how many of us have our own little secrets from our past that we don't want published? The point I want to make, however, is that our secrets may not be as secret as we think. No doubt, what Leon thought he was hiding was known by a multitude of people, but I have no way of knowing who all knew about Gloria's indiscretions. I may be the only one. One thing for sure, she has no idea that I know. Even though her secret is safe with me, I'm certain she would prefer I didn't know. The things you and I want to keep hidden may or may not be different from those of Leon and Gloria, yet we still want to protect them from becoming public knowledge. It would serve us all well, though, to recall the words of Abraham Lincoln, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." Yes, we all have our little secrets that we hope no ever finds out about, but chances are, the word is already out. Preston Sent from my iPad