“That makes sense.”
“People can be wrong without deserving to be humiliated. Remember that, especially when you’re angry.”
She nodded slowly.
Then she reached into her handbag.
“Oh, no.”
“What is it?”
She pulled out the hundred-dollar bill.
“Is this yours?”
I looked at it.
“I believe it is.”
Her face turned red.
“I thought you dropped it for me.”
“I did say you had dropped something. I never said it belonged to you.”
She covered her face with one hand.
“Oh, my God. I actually picked it up and put it in my bag.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I thought you were giving it to me.”
“Why would I give you a hundred dollars?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
“I don’t know.”
I held out my hand.
She returned the bill immediately.
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“Good,” I said, then softened my voice. “Not because I want you to suffer. Because sometimes embarrassment reminds us to think before we act.”
