Echt Ben.

So this girl I know has been sharing tidbits of information with me about another girl. Girl #2 is described as "really Christian" and a "good girl" who's choosing to remain a virgin (until marriage, one assumes). A couple pictures reveal that she is actually quite attractive so the virginity thing is most likely a choice. I'm pleased to discover that there really do seem to be attractive, good girls left in the world, even though most evidence tends to point to the contrary. A few weeks later Girl #1 shares with me new pictures of Girl #2, which are most unlike what I would expect from a person who has been described as above. Instead of the big smiles and intriguing beauty from earlier shots, we now have short skirts, no shirt, and sultry poses. Surely anyone I went to school with has witnessed a similar kind of dichotomous behavior in girls, most likely between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Still, I don't actually know this person. I don't know her intentions. It's possible she's just trying to have a little fun with the camera and mess with guys' heads (as girls are prone to do). Then again, it's possible she's turned the corner and has abandoned the good-girl persona. Which conclusion are we to draw? I can't say. Still, I'm reminded of Dave Chappelle's comments on girls who dress like hos and how they get upset if you assume they actually are hos. He says, "You may not be a whore, but you're certainly wearing their uniform." So while the cross ring on her finger is straight out of the James Avery catalog her shirt isn't. Oh wait, what shirt? Well, I'm sure the bra didn't come from there either. Given the angle of one of the shots, the bra provides an excellent view of some fabulous cleavage. Still, it does cover the "off-limits areas" so the pictures are still modest enough for Maxim.

Now, it's not that this girl is committing some egregious crime against humanity or anything of the sort. It's simply that I'm detecting a pattern. As I said, I'm sure anyone I went to school with is all too familiar with these sort of contrasting behaviors existing in good girls. I still believe that there are girls who aren't freak-hos at heart and really do mean what they say, but the evidence is really starting to pile up in opposition to that belief. I have met a few girls who do seem to be who they purport to be; but how long before I'm proven wrong about them too? Is it just a matter of time and/or opportunity? That remains to be seen.

What I do know is that we're all hypocrites. We all do things that contradict our intentions and past proclamations. It happens. But I remember what my good friend CB used to tell our pledges during induction. "Be real," he would say. Again and again he would stress it. He couldn't have been more right. The only way to truly connect with others is to be open with them. We all have our faults and our vices. We aren't perfect and we're not the same as everyone else. If you are ashamed of or have regrets about things you've done, then admit it and work to change. Pretending to be something you're not serves only to alienate those who know otherwise. True, some will alienate you for your imperfections, but such is life. If you want to take seductive pictures to share over the internet, then feel free to do so. If you want to go to church on Sundays instead of sleeping in, then feel free to do so. This is America. But, please, let's be honest with each other. If you're good, then just be good. If you're a freak-ho at heart, then stop hiding it. Save us all the disappointment of an untimely revelation. Or, at least, just save me.