Have you ever been falsely accused of anything?

[meaty]

I once got falsely accused of stealing a bag of crisps by a little kid.

 

[Klayfish]

Yes, DW accused me of being wrong...

 

[Magpie]

Yes, many times. And all from my mom. I give her something of a pass, because I was a terrible liar as a kid. But...

When I was a teenager my mother found a cigarette burn on the sleeve of my school uniform shirt. Now, common sense would tell you that I took public transit to school every day, so the most likely source of the burn was someone smoking on the bus or at the bus stop and just being careless about where they held their ciggie.

But, for reasons I still don't understand, my mother decided this was incontrovertible evidence that I had been smoking.

I told her I hadn't.

She told me lying would just make it worse.

I reiterated that I had no idea where the burn had come from, and I didn't smoke.

She begged me to just 'fess up, promising she wouldn't be mad, if I'd just be truthful with her.

So, I was truthful. I said I didn't smoke.

At which point, she started yelling. So, I started yelling. And it pretty much went where you'd expect from there. I feel sorry for the neighbours, having to listen to all that.

Weirdly, when I mentioned the incident in passing some twenty-five years later, it turned out she STILL believes I'd been smoking. Not even 40 year old me could convince her I hadn't been a smoker at fifteen.

Back when I was in my thirties, she told me I had fetal alcohol syndrome because she'd read an article in the NYT about it that "explained everything". I laughed in her face, pointed her toward some authoritative books on the topic, and she never brought it up again. (I do not have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or Effect.)

So when about a year ago she revealed to me that she had "incontrovertible proof" that my dad had molested me when I was a toddler... yeah, you can pretty much guess my reaction. I like my dad. I enjoy spending time with him. I hope he never finds out he's been falsely accused of this sort of thing by his bitter ex-wife. (Her "proof" is a series of suppositions and backward-looking guesses about my behaviour, nothing concrete.)

For a highly intelligent woman, my mother can be spectacularly dumb sometimes. Fortunately for everyone, she never actually does anything about any of her theories.

 

[rastahomie]

Decades ago, my girlfriend and I were in a park, in the back of my truck, doing what teenagers do. Johnny Law pulls up and, as we're both furiously buttoning up our shirts, asks for ID. He notices that I'm a few weeks past my 18th birthday, and that she's a few months shy of hers. The words "statutory rape" and "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" come up .

Fortunately, the cop let us go with a stern talking-to. And by the way, I assure you that what was going on there was neither rape nor contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Girl was way delinquent before she met me, lol!

 

[mamacatnv]

The one that has always bugged me.
When I was a Sophomore in high school my Honors English class spent a class period in the library working on research. My BFF and I were sitting on the floor near the resources we were using. At the end of class, we got up and headed to meet back up with our class/teacher. Our teacher accused us of cutting class since he "hadn't seen us since we arrived at the library". He assigned us Saturday school as a punishment for skipping class. Our parents were furious and went to the Dean of Discipline who despite that we had notes from our research that day decided to side with the lunatic teacher and enforce the Saturday school. Our parents supported us in not attending Saturday school and further supported us in the two day suspension for that transgression.

My friend from high school and I are friends to this day, she too remembers this episode and we have since discussed. We think it had to do with the teacher being a bit of a predator and we resisted his advances. This was in 1981 and inappropriate teachers were not uncommon in the high school setting.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I must have been 7 or 8. Was in the A&P and my mom gave me a nickel for one of the candies in the bin (an honor system). I put my nickel in, chose a candy and started to walk away.

Changed my mind as to my selection, and put the candy back, chose another. The department manager pulled me aside and told me he knew he'd stolen the candy, but that if I promised never to do it again, he wouldn't run me out of the store.

42+ years later, it still rankles.

 

[lovesmurfs]

We think it had to do with the teacher being a bit of a predator and we resisted his advances. This was in 1981 and inappropriate teachers were not uncommon in the high school setting.

Around that time period, our HS history teacher married a student the year after she graduated. It was a joking thing for kids, but to look back now.....

 

[MrJT]

Yes. It was a serious accusation. It was handled discreetly, and it was eventually realized to be a misunderstanding. But it killed a friendship.

 

[wenrob]

I was a maid in a Las Vegas hotel. We were all accused on the regular by people who lost their butts at the tables and didn't want to admit it to their SO.

Once I was accused of taking a wedding band. As I was cleaning the room I looked over and there it was on the floor beside a suitcase like it had fallen out of the pocket. I called my supervisor immediately. She had been furious that I'd even been accused and came up to take photos with a disposable camera. Man, I thought she was going to rip the guy to shreds, lol. I wasn't privy to the conversation but they were checked out the next day.

 

[Klayfish]

I was a maid in a Las Vegas hotel.

I can only imagine the stories you must have....

 

[superme80]

I have 2. One was silly. When I get something in my head, I can write really fast. If inspiration hits, I can put it on paper. In high school I was told to write a poem. So I did. I was done in about 15 minutes. I was homeschooled, so my mom was my teacher. She accused me of copying the poem. From where I don't know. I was annoyed. Took her awhile to realize I just liked to write poetry.
Now the 2nd one STILL angers me. I got into a fender bender on the freeway in stop and go traffic. Like your typical overly emotional female I called my dad. He asked for my location and I told him I was just passing the a brewery. Well my sister found out. She informed my ENTIRE family that I was an alcoholic and I got a DUI. Apparently I went to the Brewery after work, knocked back a few, and tried to drive home. I had family members from out of state calling me, I got cornered by my dad, my mom, my grandparents, it was a nightmare. To this day my family does not believe I did not have a drinking problem. I will admit to a lot of social drinking in my late teens. By the time I could go to a bar, I stopped my excessive drinking. I know people try to defend my sister saying she just cared about me. It was basically her lying about me for attention. She still hasn't apologized.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Yes I have.

 

[amberpi]

I was a maid in a Las Vegas hotel. We were all accused on the regular by people who lost their butts at the tables and didn't want to admit it to their SO.

Once I was accused of taking a wedding band. As I was cleaning the room I looked over and there it was on the floor beside a suitcase like it had fallen out of the pocket. I called my supervisor immediately. She had been furious that I'd even been accused and came up to take photos with a disposable camera. Man, I thought she was going to rip the guy to shreds, lol. I wasn't privy to the conversation but they were checked out the next day.

Like Klayfish, I'd love to hear your "best of."

My band/orchestra director accused me of being anorexic in high school. While I've never had a big appetite, the things I did eat, weren't exactly what an anorexic would choose, and he'd seen me eat so many cheeseburgers, hot chicken, ice cream (which I ate at lunch every day in high school), and bbq meals, it was a pretty outrageous claim. Another parent (who was around me all the time and knew this to me nutso) told my mom and she had me out of band and orchestra and into etymology so fast - which I enjoyed far more, and then got to go on different, even cooler trips and really helped with quiz bowl. They lost competition season having to replace one of their field commanders about 3 weeks in. Not that I was that great, but I did have to replace, and they couldn't re-use my outfit. I was ok with staying, my folks were not. The principal was embarrassed as that guy constantly said crap that was totally unacceptable.

 

[wenrob]

I can only imagine the stories you must have....

Oh, there are plenty...

 

[Marchand63]

I had a calculus teacher who accused me of cheating on a test. He would give the final exam on first day of class to prove some point, I got a high passing grade. So of course I cheated. So being the wise, um, person I was. I went home & for the weekend did the homework for the year. Bite me Mr Wells!!!!

Really not math gifted, I had taken college courses over the summer.

 

[Shanti]

Yes. I'm a teacher, and a student who disliked me falsely accused me of saying the f-word in class. She was popular, so a few of her friends backed her up, but the other kids in the class stated that it never happened. I didn't lose my job, but it was very stressful. There is no teachers' union in my state, so it's very easy to be dismissed. I hope that when she grows up she'll remember and realize how wrong that was.

 

[Domo]

I was once accused of being Anastasia of the Royal Family of Russia. Didn't really pan out.

 

[SallySkelington]

Augh, yes I have.

I worked as a maid at a "up-and-coming" hotel at the time. The hotel was going under huge renovations since a new company bought it and we had several higher ups coming in to oversee everything etc. And trust me, the whole place needed a makeover.

Anyway, I was put in charge of cleaning their rooms and one of the ladies claimed that I had taken a pair earrings. It all went down south from there. The whole thing was a mess. Giving her position in the company I was pretty much fired on the spot. They didn't even ask me about what happened, simply told me what I had supposedly done, and that I was now unemployed and that they were handing the matter over to the police.

Needless to say, I told them that they could kiss my rear end after that.

The hotel ended up going under the next year.

BTW: I received exactly one phone call from the police stating that they would follow up. Never heard from them again.

 

[gemini2727]

I was in sixth grade, and the big, scary nun accused me of cheating during a test when I asked for a pencil from a friend who sat next to me. She wouldn't listen to our denials, collected both of our papers, and made us retake the test later in the day, sitting far apart from each other. We both got 100%.
Take that, Sister Josephine!

 

[LISAMWDW]

Ready for some disfunction?

My step son sent my hubby a nasty text on the day his my hubby's dad died. So, in protection of my hubby, I deleted it as he didn't need to see that crap. Long story short, I am the liar and he never sent the text. Back history, the step son is very angry and has sent nasty texts many times in the past so it was nothing new and not surprising expect he picked a day when my hubby was vulnerable.