Appearances Are Deceptive

Due to the deception that lies in appearances, more often than not, people find themselves influenced by just what they see. Humans judge things from the superficial outlook, which emanates from the sense, what they see, hear, or past experiences but upon examining closely, we would come to notice some form of packaging in which case, all that remains visible is the outer shell. In all realms of life, we get to interact with people who would try to deceive us by faking what they are not or feigning some unnatural friendship and compassion (Falk 2013). Similarly, we would fins situations where we fins some people very clam and composed from the outside only to learn that, below the laxity, there lies another totally different personality, someone filled with anger, rage, and who may be far too arrogant. Of course, the converse may be true: those we see as cold and repelling at first sight may eventually turn out to be far too warm and welcoming. The same would apply to items as we perceive them. Claudie (2012) gives the example of The Haunted House, which from a distance, seems too attractive and appealing, but a single night in it can ran one mad or even make them die of fright. Like any other person, I have had my own share of experience too.

I had just relocated on a transfer to Middlesbrough, UK. As usual, one would take time to study the environment, study the people around, and get some acquaintances here and there, this is exactly what I did. My whole life, I have always been so selective when it comes to making friends and interacting, which always make me slow to becoming friends. On very rare occasions do I open up, not even to the closest of my friends. On the first evening, I hear a knock on the door. As expected, was hesitant to open the door since I was new here, and did not know anybody. However, I decide to open the door, and what do I find there; a couple with some parcel in their hand. They introduce themselves as the Jonas’s, my next door neighbours. I welcome them in but they insist they would come around during the day being that it was already dark. They hand me the parcel, a homemade cake, as a show of welcoming and friendship, which I gladly accept. Friendship was sealed, and the couple would make visits to my place, sometimes coming over to watch a movie with me since I had better and larger TV than them. We got used to each other, though the visits were one-way, they never invited me over to their place, neither did I ever propose the idea to them since I found it working for me, given my tight schedule. The Jonas’s were very warm, and would come with cooked meals for dinner sometimes, and the wife, in particular, was too amazing since she would even assist with cleaning the house, cutlery, and even offered to help clean my clothes at some point, though I did not accept the last offer. One thing I never wondered was the timing of their visits, they would appear when I am just coming out of work and tired, and I never saw them off due to fatigue. They never made appearances over the weekends. Before a month had elapsed, my friends came over with some bottles of champagne and other stuff, explaining to me that it was Jane’s birthday, and that we would celebrate it at my place since they did not want to disturb the old lady living next to them; of course, I knew the old lady already. The party started off very well and for some time, I knew I was enjoying it. What woke me up were the rays of the sun that had started filtering into my sitting room. I found myself sleeping at a corner of the now clean room, yet which had been full just some hours ago. It took me time to believe I was in my house, then for me to know that I had been robbed. I rushed out, to the house the “couple” had pointed to as theirs, knocked on the door, and it was opened by the “housecleaner”, who later on turned to be the owner of the house. The couple had lied to me that the man was their house-help. Before I told him what had happened to me, he explained everything to me, and told me that such cases were common in the neighbourhood. I was duped. The lovely ‘couple’ cleared my house of everything. I never enjoy sharing the story, but someone has to hear it someday, anyway. Appearances are always deceptive.

Works Cited

1. Falk, U. 2013, Things Are Not Always As They Seem! - Daily Love with Mastin Kipp. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from http://thedailylove.com/things-are-not-always-as-they-seem/
2. Claudie, J. 2012, March 26, My Big Book Of Descriptions And Other Stories. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from https://www.wattpad.com/15355085-my-big-book-of-descriptions-and-other-stories-how