Ghetto Translation: “The persona that you portray is contrary to the actual individual that you are.”
For as long as I can remember I recall my mother telling me that the most important thing I can do with my life is be a person of my word. A person of their word, she said, is someone who can be trusted, a person who will honour their promises and do what they say they will do and believe what they say they believe.
10 year old me heard it and thought nothing more of it, the twenty and some change year old me however hears it, believes it, and advocates for it. Although the exact wording may have changed over the years allowing for my love of gangster rap and slang to re mix it (I see you Wakka Flokka Flame!) the meaning and the message stays as relevant today as ever before.
Someone says they will show up, agrees to help out, promises to get something done, makes plans, and the moment of truth comes…And they don’t come through.They’ve over promised, under-planned, a parents situation arose or worse yet, they’ve just found something more appealing to do and just backed out.
We’ve all experienced it. We all know how frustrating and hurtful it can be and, if we’re honest, at some point…we’ve all done it.It may not seem like that big of a deal. We may not think it’s that important if we are ten minutes late, or cancel plans to see a movie so we can hang out with some other friends, but when that attitude becomes the norm, it communicates something about us.
It says that our words mean nothing.That we don’t care how it will affect others and, worst of all, we can’t be trusted.When we tell someone we’ll show up at a certain time, when we agree to pay someone back, or promise to keep a secret secret we need to follow through. We need to do what we say even if it’s inconvenient.
Fronting
Urban Dictionary: “A facade. Misrepresenting yourself in regards to what you have, how you feel or what you can do.”
If you are like me, you hate those who front. We all know the type of person I’m talking about: you ask them something and they’ll say: “I don’t know, maybe. I’ll find out. We’ll see.” The only thing this person is going to see is my fist. It’s either yes or no.
All I need in this life of sin is me and a little honesty.
