Amy's Lie

Recently some friends had a very disappointing experience with someone with whom they had put their trust and friendship. Hearing of this experience brought back a memory of a very similar experience I had several years ago.

I was a manager at a pizzaria in Allendale back in the late 1980's. I had hired a young girl who was 17 years old. She had dropped out of school and had convinced me that if given the chance she would be a great employee. Being the kind of person who totally believes in giving people a chance and the benefit of the doubt, I hired her. She was proving to be a pretty good employee in the first few weeks. She was confiding in me some of her history. She was a single mom of a little boy named Eli. She showed me pictures of the adorable littl boy whose father lived in Chicago. She requested every other weekend off so that she could take her son to see his father. How could I deny that? I began to develop a sort of big sister feeling towards this young girl. I wanted to help her get out of the spot she was in. Then one day she did not show up for work on the Monday after her weekend off. She did not show up on Tuesday either, but she did call. She was just about sobbing when she told me that her son and his father had been in a pretty serious car accident on the freeways in Chicago. They did not know if her son was going to make it. I told her to take whatever time she needed and to please give me a call to keep me updated on his condition. I went home that night and cried for her son and for her. The next day she called and let me know that her son had passed on. I just felt so awful for her. I did not have any children at that time and just could only imagine the pain she must have been feeling. The next day the other employees and I wanted to send flowers to wherever the funeral/visitation was going to be so I tried to get ahold of her. People did not have cell phones back then so I left a message on her home phone. When I did not get an answer back that evening I gave her mother a call. I told the mother who I was and that I was hoping to find out the name of the funeral home where Eli's service was going to be. There was silence for several seconds.

"Who's Eli?" the mother asked.
I was speechless...did the mother not even know her daughter had a child, I wondered??
"Isn't that Amy's son's name?" I thought perhaps I had gotten the name wrong.
"Amy does not have a baby", the mom said.
Okay, now I was completely confused. And I told the mother so. I told the mother what Amy had told me about the accident and subsequent passing of the little boy.
The mother was silent on her end for a moment. Then she asked me a question. "Did your restaurant have a fire last week? Amy told me that she was not working because there had been a fire." When I told her no, that had definitely not happened, the mother apologized for her daughter saying that she would definitely get to the bottom of the situation and even mentioned something about some serious counseling.
I hung up the phone not knowing whether to cry or to scream and throw the pizza across the room. I felt so betrayed. I felt so angry. I had been taken hook, line, and sinker by this very messed up young lady. I was embarrassed for being so gullible. I was physically sick to my stomach for a long time about the whole situation. I even second guessed my belief in giving people the benefit of the doubt. Eventually I realized that I could not let this one girl make me second guess myself. There are so many more good things that come out of trusting people.
Amy never even came in to the restaurant to pick up her last paycheck. I ended up mailing it to her a week later. I never saw nor heard from her again. I hope that she got the help that she needed.
Since then I have had numerous opportunities to help out people who needed a second chance and more times than not they are grateful for the opportunities. Sometimes the person rises to the occasion, sometimes they don't. But I know that in my heart I am doing what I am supposed to do and the outcome is totally out of my hands.