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The Trust Thing

    Hey, everyone. There are certain types of movies that bother me. I'll give you a prime example of one. I was watching a movie tonight called Donnie Brasco. It's a movie in which a young Johnny Depp plays an FBI agent who is tasked with infiltrating the Mafia.
   He gets on the inside of the mob by making friends with a 'made man'. This guy is one of those dudes who has killed in the service of his 'family'. This mob guy is played by Al Pacino. What bothers me about this movie is someone pretending to be someone's friend so that they can do grievous harm to them.
    Yes, I know that it's just a movie. Yes, I know that Mafia guys are bad guys. Yes, I'm aware of all the crimes that have been done. That doesn't change the fact that deceit and betrayal damages your soul. There's a corny old saying that two wrongs don't make a right. I don't know if it applies here or not.
    Like police ladies who dress up as prostitutes so that men will proposition them. I don't agree with this sort of entrapment. I think that supervisors don't realize that their people can be damaged on the inside, as well as on the outside.
     I realize that it is hard to deal with people that have no code if you try to live by a code. However, once you start down the slippery slope, how long will it be before you plant evidence and all the rest? I don't envy these people their job, nor do I judge them. I'm just saying it bothers me to watch it. I've tried to watch this movie 5 or 6 times and haven't finished it yet.
    I remember once when I was a teen. A friend told me something in confidence. I repeated it to another friend. That bothers me to this day, every time I think about it.
    I'm told that spies who turn traitor or become double or triple agents are prone to be melancholy and tend to be alcoholics or drug addicts. I suppose for a really dirty job you'd have to be pragmatic. You'd have to focus on the job at hand and think about the greater good and all that. You'd have to repeat the mantra, "I'm doing the right thing".
    As bad as I hate my job, at least I don't have to infiltrate the mob. Nor do I have to betray a friend. I've done it and I don't like it. Of all those precious commodities on this planet, there are few more valuable and fragile than trust. It seldom can be rebuilt. There is the original issue, then there is none. To shatter someone's faith in humanity is pretty hideous.
    From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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