The Confessions

"I split a bill unevenly at a dinner once, in my own favour, knowing my friend had not been paying attention. It was only twelve pounds. I do not know why I did it. We have had hundreds of dinners since and I have always been scrupulously fair. That one time still bothers me."

"I accidentally underpaid my taxes one year and when I noticed I said nothing and hoped it would not be picked up. It was not picked up. That was seven years ago and every January when my tax return is due I feel sick with a specific kind of guilt."

"I told my landlord repairs were urgent when they were not, to jump the queue. Someone else in the building had a genuinely urgent issue and waited longer because of me. I only found this out afterwards. I have felt guilty about it ever since."

"I told my parents my business was going well for two years while it was slowly failing. I did not want them to worry. By the time I admitted the truth I had lost everything. They were not angry. They were sad they had not been able to help sooner. That was worse than anger."

"I donated to a charity publicly at a work fundraiser and claimed gift aid I was not eligible for. A small thing in the grand scheme. But I presented myself as generous while technically being dishonest. That combination of vanity and dishonesty is not something I am proud of."

"I borrowed fifteen hundred pounds from a friend eight years ago and paid back a thousand saying I would settle the rest the following month. I never did. We are still friends. The debt sits between us like a word neither of us will say."

"I have a savings account my husband does not know about. Not for anything sinister. Just because having money that is purely mine makes me feel safe in a way I cannot fully explain. But the secrecy feels wrong and I do not know how to introduce it after six years."

"I sold something online describing it as being in excellent condition. It was not in excellent condition. I packaged it carefully to obscure the damage. The buyer left no review. I have sold nothing online since and I do not intend to."

"I have been paying for a streaming service on a family account for two years without telling the account holder. They have no idea. I know they would not mind. The not telling them is the thing I cannot justify."

"I found a wallet in a supermarket car park with three hundred and forty pounds in it. I kept the money and handed in the empty wallet. I told myself the person was probably insured. I have thought about that justification almost every day since and I know it was nonsense."