Borderline Post Reading Blog

"Rumors are way more exciting than the truth, so they're what people believe."

In Borderline the main character, Sami  is faced with a many obstacles. Sami and his family are from Muslim heritage and are discriminated by their community. Sami also doesn't fit in at his school and is being bullied. All of these issues  dwindle in meaning as his father is arrested  for terrorism.

The news begins to spread all around the town. Sami begins to deal with the people around him speaking negatively of is family and his father. The interesting thing about the whole situation is that many people don't stop to question if any of it is true or not. Most people see it easy to believe that a man of Muslim heritage is capable of being a terrorist. Also something I know is that people love drama most people find it entertaining    or exhilarating to see it played out. Many people aside from Sami and his mother saw the whole scandal as truth due to these factors. Eddy, Sami's bully is one of his many peers who finds the news of Sami's family true. Sami is mocked by the accusations of his father and even when they turn out to be false everyone's still suspicious. Rumors like these, are created by stereotypes and while they may seem invalid they happen everyday.

In my everyday I hear rumors, as do many people. I'm a quiet person and I happen to hear many things around my peers. While I wish that I didn't find gossip to be entertaining it is one of my many flaws. I can personally speak upon myself when I say that humans sometimes succumb things like drama. Humans often look past the truth because seeing a rumor as the truth is much more fun to believe. I hear things in the hallways and see fights and for some reason I find it easier to watch or listen than to leave. We also find comfort in seeing that someone else's life isn't as bad as ours. I believe that it comes with being a person that we have certain weaknesses and we've been subjects of listening or even being apart of gossip.  While these things are harsh they are some of the darker sides to being a human.

"Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

-Benjamin Franklin

Borderline Pre-Reading Post

Write a blog post that defines the difference between the "truth" and the "whole truth."

I believe in the truth. Honesty can sometimes be hard to admit. When people want to avoid lying but they don't want to tell the whole truth they usually tell bits of the truth. The whole truth I believe is when you tell truth from beginning to end almost like a summary. In life I believe that the difference between which option you pick depends on the circumstances.

For me I have told the truth but not the whole truth before. My thought process was that if I don't lie and tell parts of the truth I would be able to get by with things I've done. I personally I don't believe in lies I feel that they're one of the most distrustful things a person can do. However it's in our human nature to lie as well. People usually don't tell the whole truth because they know it could hurt someone or it could get them out of trouble. I try to keep my hands clean of anything that is even close to this concept because it can get messy at times. From my own experience I've found it difficult to tell the whole truth about grades. By doing this it  comes back to bite me when progress reports are released and my grades aren't bad but not as well as I've  portrayed them to be. By not telling the complete truth it taught me that even though I didn't lie I still messed up and that instigated a sticky situation.

The whole truth is the concept of telling events that have truly happened  from beginning to end. Telling the actual truth sometimes takes a lot of courage and strength because it's not always the easiest thing to do. I feel that when you tell someone something that is true it's almost as if you're free from guilt and self conscience. When you lie or don't tell the complete truth you could be put in bad place with the people around you and could become resentful towards your actions. In my life I have always been tought and have learned through my own experiences  that honesty may not always be easy but it is always the right thing to do.

" It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one."
-George Washington