i didn't do it

i hate being blamed for something i didn't do. call it a pet peeve; it isn't. i hate it.

when i was in 2nd or 3rd grade we had inside recess because it was raining. we also had a substitute. the sub took us to the bathroom and let a group of girls in the girls' room. i went in a stall and did what i needed to while the rest of the group ran around like they were in the recess yard.

as i exited the bathroom i was put in a seperate line with the rest of the girls in the group who had been misbehaving in the bathroom. when we went back to our classroom i had to stand in the back with the rest of the girls i had been with. one by one the sub called us up front and asked if there was something we wanted to say to her. i had no idea what she was talking about so i was sent back to the rear of the room to stand while the rest of the class ate their snacks and got to chit chat with one another.

i was called up again... still with nothing to say. when i went back to my spot of punishment a friend whispered to me: "she wants you to say you're sorry."

the next time i was called to the front of the class i apologized.

i said i was sorry for something i hadn't done.

there is no moment in my history (which has been filled with a multitude of mistakes) that i would relive. except this one. if given another chance i would have told her the first time that i had done nothing wrong and then i would have waited for her apology... even if it took all day.

but... i can't go back and that's probably a good thing.

it happened again today, though this time i emphatically denied what i was accused of from the get-go. the landlords, who have been fairly nice people, were outside today planting spring flowers as i was leaving to take the princess kitty to dance class.

we chit chatted about yard work and then the one landlord asked me to do him a favor... "please make sure you clean up after your dog."

i told him i always do.

he told me that other people in the apartment complex had told him that a dog, matching our dog's discription,was leaving piles in an area where the kids were playing outside. people had told him that it was our dog.

nope, not me. i always clean up, i never even take the dog over there. in fact i had noticed that someone had not been cleaning up after their dog and was upset by it. but it wasn't me.

they asked me to keep my eyes open in case i saw who it was, implying that they might believe me. (i doubt it.) the other landlord even said it might be a dog from somewhere else. but it doesn't matter. i have been blamed for something i did not do and it is driving me crazy and put me in a bad mood cancelling out the rest of what had been a good day.

i want to let it go, but i can't. i want to know who tattled on me. especially since it was made to sound as if there were multiple culprits. i want to know if they have dogs (there are a few others here.) i want to make them apologize for blaming me and then to tell the landlords that it wasn't us... that they were mistaken.

but i can't, so instead i will claim my innocence here, vent about it, get the princess kitty out of the tub, and then watch a movie.

God's peace y'all