Suckered!

We avoided rain until the last day of our trip to the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Fortunately, we had tickets to a three-hour brunch cruise on Lake Memphrémagog. This long finger lake is partially in Quebec and partially in Vermont and our cruise covered only the Canadian portion of the lake. Even in the rain, the scenery was beautiful and many spectacular homes overlooked the water.

During a lull in the rain, I stepped out onto the deck of the boat to take some pictures. A man stood at the rail and started speaking to me in French. I told him I only spoke English and he easily switched languages. (I wish I had worked harder at French in school!) 

"See that house over there?" he said, pointing to a large estate that had a boathouse larger than an average home. "That was my house. My ex-wife owns it now," he continued in a serious tone. "I let her have it when we got divorced." 

I didn't know what to say in response and murmured some kind of condolence. The man burst out laughing and told me it was a joke. I couldn't believe I fell for his story and laughed along with him.

I like to think I can discern truth from fiction, especially these days when false information spreads and deceives people quickly. I double and triple-check sources and seldom take anything at face value. But I am as vulnerable to deception as anyone else and will remember this incident whenever I am judgemental toward others who believe a lie.