John Salley once said, “I believe half of what I read, and half of what I see” when Jackie Christie attempted to defend herself on TV. In this specific case I believe Christie was responding to gossip blogs written about her. She described herself as a victim who genuinely cared about people. However, her actions painted a two-faced lunatic that didn’t give a fuck about her castmates. While he might have been referring to the train wreck better known as Basketball Wives, I was still able to apply what he said to “real life.”
In real life, you are innocent until proven guilty. So if you’re dating one of my friends I’ll give you the side-eye if you have a past. But even then I will still give you a chance to either affirm or disprove whatever rumors I’ve heard. If your slate is clean then consider it an advantage and take advantage, because I’ll believe half of what I hear (if it’s from a reliable source) and half of what I see.
Friends tell each other practically everything. So if my friend tells me about the time you planned her 25th birthday sunrise ’til sunset, I’m going to assume you’re extremely thoughtful. And if she tells me you beat her because she hugged her homeboy three seconds too long, I’m going to call the cops on your insecure ass. If I have an opinion about you, it’s not because I pulled it out a magic hat or conjured it out of thin air – it’s because of what he or she has told me (it works both ways too, loose lips sink friendShips too). Now you can call me a hater OR you can just stop doing the same bitch-ass shit my friend tells me about, which in return causes me to think you’re a bitch-ass person *Kanye shrug*.
It’s true we shouldn’t believe everything we hear, even if we do hear it from our friends. But it doesn’t help when the guilty act guilty. Because the other half that we actually see has us convinced that some of you are the WORST self-promoters.
