The other day my brother came up to me and said, "that girl is such a phony." My other brother asked, "What do you mean? What is a phony?"

Being in the middle of the TV show, I blew him off with a quick response, "a phony is a fake person." However my brother and I both knew there was more to the answer. Later that day, I tried to come up with a more satisfying response.

I decided that a phony is a person whose behavior does not necessarily reflect their feelings. They are an impostor and they are artificial. They do not always tell the truth, and as a result they cannot be trusted. They appear to be friendly, however sometimes it is just an act.

When I think about the word phony, a particular girl from camp that I know enters my mind. She acts like she adores these four girls, however when she is not with them, she talks very badly about them. She has actually told me she does not like them and just moments later I heard her ask them if they want to hang out. My initial reaction was one of dislike for the girl I think is a phony. However, I realized being a phony does not make someone an unkind person. In my opinion, being a phony is a sign of someone who is insecure. It was with this though that I started to feel sorry for this girl. After all, it is my belief that feeling insecure must feel emotionally difficult.

A phony is somebody who does indeed act fake and unnatural, however there are concrete reasons for their behavior. They may appear to be amicable and friendly, yet they talk badly about the person for whom they put the act on. It is safe to say that almost everyone has acted like a phony at some point in their life. It is important for us to recognize the reason for this behavior and be careful around this person, but at the same time not be too critical for it.