Some odd thoughts.

Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if there were no dishonesty. I'm not saying I want my husband to tell the truth when I ask him whether my exercise program is working, or to speak freely about my singing to the car radio.

I'm just pondering the possibilities of a world in which nobody would ever lie in the interest of cheating. Where nobody would ever casually swipe something that doesn't belong to them, let alone hold up a bank at gunpoint. I remember the realization, as a child, just how large a role dishonesty plays in our daily comings and goings.

If you look at your life, you don't see all the accoutrements that accompany living in a dishonest world. You don't add up all the minutes of time lost to finding car keys, to clicking "I forgot my password" and waiting for the new one to arrive in your inbox.

In a society where nobody would steal your car, or your identity, or enter your home in search of your grandmother's wedding ring ... there would be no locks, keys or passwords. No calls from the bank that your card was compromised - again. No shout from your mate to say "wait, is that REALLY the bank calling? Don't give out any information!"

Years ago, I was sitting in a Starbucks on Bloor Street one Friday evening, surrounded by girlfriends. We were all telling happy woman-under-thirty stories and I was excited because I'd soon be going to New York for the first time. I remember feeling a cool shadow bathe me from the warmth of my smiling, beautiful friends, but it didn't register as anything important. Until I went to grab my purse and go ... and it was gone.

Someone decided to use my cards to buy themselves running shoes and electronics. They liked my purse and wallet and phone and kept them. But they did bundle my other ID and stuff into a bag and toss it into someone's backyard.

When the backyard family found my items they called me, frantic, desperate to reunite the driver's licence and OHIP card and birth certificate with their owner. Thank goodness you're okay, the woman said to me. When we saw your ID pictures we felt like we knew you and we were so worried we'd find out you were ... dead.

They thought the thief had stolen my life too.

And again, I just wonder what it would be like to live in a world where that could never happen.