Promises-What Are They?

Good afternoon, my lovely kittens.  We need to talk.  So pour yourself some tea and get cozy.  This one has the potential to be long.

What are promises?
 Promises are statements that you say. Statement that you remain true to. They are oaths that you make. When you make a promise, you are expected to keep that promise.  when you make a promise to someone, no matter who that person is, or what the promise is, you should try to go out of your way to keep that promise.  That means that if you are at a sleepover with your friends, and they ask you questions about who's dating who, what's the hot new topic, etc., if you promised someone else that you wouldn't tell anyone else what they told you, then you don't say anything about it.

Pie-crust Promises
As Mary Poppins says, pie-crust promises are easily made, easily broken.  Don't make pie-crust promises.  You never know, the person you made the pie-crust promise to could get super-duper disappointed.  Scenario time!  What if you had a suicidal friend, and you were the only thing keeping them from, ah, committing suicide, and you promised to always be there for them.  That's a pie-crust promise.  If you are out partying, or at graduation, or at some once-in-a-life-time event, and the suicidal person needed you, unless you were a very dedicated best friend, you wouldn't be able to be there for them, and you might end up attending you're friend's funeral the next week.  So, as you can see from this scenario, it's pretty much never a good thing to make pie-crust promises.

False Promises
There are many definitions of false promises.  Mostly, they say the same thing, more or less.  One way that I like to put it is: A promise you don't intend to keep.  In this definition, the promise is usually to get the person to trust you enough to either tell you a secret, or stop nagging you about something, or something else like that.  False promises revolve around building up trust.  The only way I would find a false promise acceptable is if it was a literal life-or-death matter, or dealt with medical emergencies.  Like, if your friend and you are playing around at a park, and your friend gets into some poison ivy/oak, or your friend gets cut badly, or gets cut at all, or falls and hits his or her head, or something else like that, and they ask you not to tell, you would promise not too.  This is a false promise because you intend on telling a responsible adult.  This is fine, because you are concerned for your friend's health.  Or, false promises are also acceptable if you do something with a friend that you know could get you in big trouble and promise not to tell, or your friend does something that could get them in big trouble and you promise not to tell.  Like consuming drugs or alcohol.  In this case, telling a responsible adult is fine.  Again, it deals with health.  See a pattern?  Here's your rule of thumb:  If the false promise is about someone else's health and you are truly worried or concerned, the false promise is acceptable.

And that concludes my talk about promises.  Please, take this into consideration.  Next time someone spills the secret they promised not to spill, think about how it feels.  Would you want to bring the same feeling of betrayal to someone else?

Arevoi, kittens.  Until you read again....