Grade: CP
School: Chandai
Friends: Felix
Homework is difficult! What’s even more difficult is listening to ensuing panic while you are trying to finish your work. That is exactly what happened to me on a fateful day that would test my honesty with one of my closest friends.
I was a great kid. If something went wrong, it wasn’t assumed to be me. However, I was also a bit of a menace. A silent menace. I was good at seeing opportunity and striking. Particularly good at taking what wasn’t mine.
All is quiet in the classroom. I am busy working on some “devoir”. I wasn’t the brightest student. Math was especially frustrating. My friend Felix, was proud of a new Zinedine Zidane coin he had just acquired. It was a nice silver-looking coin, although I’m sure of far less value. He either was showing the coin off during recess or near me in the classroom. Nonetheless, it didn’t take long for him to lose it. All of a sudden, I hear panic and loud pleading in the back of the classroom. Felix lost his coin! I was surprised he lost it so quickly! A better friend would have probably stood up to help him, however, I all too quickly spotted the coin. Felix is asking everyone in the back of the classroom if they had seen his coin. For some reason, that is where everyone was. I was alone near the middle front, right side when entering. I begin looking around for the coin. First on the floor on my left side, and then on my right side. Sure enough, there’s the coin. All alone and as far from Felix as can be. At this moment, I remember feeling conflicted about what to do about this coin. Do I tell him or pocket this potentially valuable coin? I pocketed the coin and continued my homework. Soon enough, Felix made his way up to me and asked me if I had seen the coin. To which I promptly said no and I pretended to look around. The silent menace gets away with it again!
To this day, I still have that coin. It is a funny reminder of a conflict and a lesson I learned so long ago. Material matter is not worth breaking your values for. Friendship is what is valuable. Although he never found out where it went and our friendship wasn’t hurt, this is about the principle of the matter. That was his coin and not mine. I clearly valued my own material gain over his own. Although admittingly, subconsciously. I didn’t take the matter as seriously because I was a kid unlike now as an adult.
I have always dreamed of returning the coin to him someday. We have kept in little touch over the years. Currently, he is living in Japan. Perhaps someday I will visit and make right for my action all of those years ago.
Link of the coin: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia168688.html
Jeremie Grandemange 