It's War.

My xtian friend called me last night. For over forty minutes he complained bitterly about the way another bloke has been treating him. Our ‘discussion’(if you can call it that) was precipitated by the inadequacy of earlier phone messages in conveying the depth of his emotions and his desperate need to fully unburden himself of his frustrations. He was livid that this friend (let’s just call him Mouth) accused him of stealing a colleague’s PSP set. According to my xtian friend, it was almost a case of the pot calling the kettle black, given that Mouth has been bringing food and packets of coffee powder from the gulag’s rest room back home.

This sorry affair was further complicated by my xtian friend’s claims of Mouth siphoning petrol from the fuel store for his personal use. He also said people have been telling him that it was a mistake rehiring Mouth. Things have gone missing since his return and they suspect him of pinching stuff. This is quite astounding if you consider my xtian friend’s poor reputation in his gulag. Out of politeness, people generally restrain themselves from shaking their heads when they talk about him so it is quite inexplicable that they are taking his side. He went on, berating himself for helping Mouth when he was out of a job and at the same time, castigating the guy for not absolutely no respect for him.

I don’t know what exactly am I supposed to do. I have heard both accounts and for the most part they are similar to each other. The only real difference is the intention behind the things they do and unfortunately this aspect carries a disproportionately huge amount of the blame in this relations disaster. People think differently and what is black to one person may be white to another. My xtian friend said Mouth is morally wrong to interfere with his life. Just because he is infatuated with a Thai girl, albeit in a dysfunctional relationship in which he contributes everything, does not give Mouth the right to repeat the story to everyone in their gulag and chiding him publicly over his devotion(read: stupidity). Admittedly Mouth’s behavior is unpalatable but there were instances in which he got his criticism spot on. Chief among these is my xtian friend’s working attitude. My xtian friend takes ‘urgent’ leave every week, resulting in his shift being undermanned. Despite repeated warnings, my xtian friend even sms-es when he is operating machinery and at one time, almost inserted a thumb drive into the gulag’s computer system, which would have activated the security detail. He is hardly a shining example of responsibility.

Still, the other guy has questionable morals too. Divorcing his first wife and being derelict in his role as a father for the express reason of marrying another woman hardly qualifies himself as an upright person. I am not judging him. People do the things they do and they have to admit or deceive themselves and that, in my book, is judgment enough. Now his new wife is expecting and seriously, the money he earns as a military technician may not be sufficient to support alimony, family and child support, his own expenses, and other expenditures. By becoming a parent a second time, he is not being very responsible.

In a nutshell, this case is about two fellows with questionable characters badmouthing each other. My xtian friend said he will confront him in front of the entire shift. I tried to dissuade him from this drastic path but upset as he was, my words fell on deaf ears. Mouth will return from his overseas stint in three weeks time and we shall see if he carries through his threat. There must be something about me that undesirable effects just happen during the course of my existence.