So, I came across this phrase today, ‘highschool slut’. Didn’t sit right, you know? Just kicked off a whole train of thought about back then, about how things stick to you.
It’s funny, not funny haha, but funny weird, how quick people were to throw words around in high school. Like tossing pebbles, but sometimes those pebbles felt like rocks. Didn’t really matter if it was true, did it? Once someone said it, it kinda floated around you for a while.
Made me think about my first part-time job, actually. Totally different thing, but stick with me. Worked at this little corner store. My boss, old Mr. Henderson, was super strict about the till. Had to be perfect, down to the penny, every single shift.
That First Job Vibe
Anyway, one week, the till was short. Not by much, maybe five bucks. But Mr. Henderson, he just looks at me. Doesn’t say anything, just gives me this look. You know the one? Like he’d already decided it was me.
Man, that felt awful. I knew I hadn’t taken anything. I was meticulous, double-checking everything, ’cause I was scared stiff of messing up precisely because he was so strict.
- Checked the counts.
- Re-checked the receipts.
- Even went through the trash for dropped coins, seriously.
Turns out, a few days later, he found the mistake. Someone had punched in the wrong price for a pack of smokes, keyed it in lower than it should’ve been. Simple human error. He mumbled an apology, kinda brushed it off.
But I never forgot that feeling. That feeling of being judged, having that label kinda hovering over me for those few days, even if it was just for five bucks in a dusty corner store. It’s not the same scale, not at all, but that core feeling? Yeah, that phrase today just brought that memory right back up. People just jump to conclusions, slap on a label, and sometimes they don’t even think twice about the weight of it.
