Hypocrisy

It was February, 21st the day of my so long-awaited 18th birthday. It would be the last birthday I shared with my family. I was so tired of living in that way, surrounded by nothing but superficial happiness…
We were wealthy landowners and more than once people talked about us as the potential future government. “You shouldn’t give a bad impression Susan, so please, smile,” my mother repeated to me as a child. She never let me play with other children, because she said, “You are different Susan, you must be where your parents are,” and to my disgust, my parents were always attending ceremonies held by high-society. My birthday was not the exception: it was not a small party, on the contrary, a lot of people (most of whom I didn’t know) were invited. Every year was the same, every party was the same. Everything was so false, so artificial. I wondered why they kept on gathering together if they couldn’t tolerate each other. But of course the answer was clear, keep up appearances is important for some people, especially to the rich.
The large hose was divided into “different sections” during the party, each opf which had as its main goal criticizing the other one. Tall women in long tight-fitting dresses drank champagne and laughed ironically as if they were ladies, when they were no more than opportunists who had married old men trying to reach their dreams of richness; not knowing that they were wasting their priceless treasure: their youth. Men in elegant suits pretended to be loyal husbands to their wives, who were just shields behind which they hid their affairs. Their wives were not faithful either, but both of them preferred being tied to each other to lower the prestige they so much enjoyed.
“Poor people,” I thought, “they think the world revolves around them, but ambition and deceit are written all over their faces.”
“Come on Susan!” my mother shouted at me, “we are going to take a photograph.” “Another lie, another curtain hiding the truth,” I thought. I kept on wondering whether the camera could catch the real essence of the moment. Some people say that one image is worth more than a thousand words, however, appearances can be deceptive. “Smile!” someone shouted. It was enough to make us grin from ear to ear. Nobody was pleased about being there, but the family photo must have been a very good one to add to their “collection of hypocrisy.” I have never seen it because I left home the following day thirty years ago.