This Wasn't the First Time
As I stood there looking at her charging cable, I suddenly remembered several other incidents.
They had seemed insignificant at the time.
But now they looked very different.
Once, Monica had walked into my garage without asking and borrowed my lawn mower.
She never actually asked whether she could use it.
She simply took it.
When I confronted her afterward, she said she thought I “wouldn't mind.”
Another time, one of my garden decorations disappeared.
It was a small ceramic gnome that had been sitting beside my flower bed for years.
I eventually discovered it in Monica's yard.
When I asked her about it, she laughed and said:
“It looked better over here.”
I had been irritated, but I didn't want a neighborhood feud.
So I let those incidents go.
Maybe that had been my mistake.
Because people sometimes interpret kindness as permission.
