What I Was Thinking-When I Didn't Shake Tom's Hand

Tom has this incredible knack for thinking he never does anything wrong. Apparently it's always everybody else's fault. So when he held out his hand for me to shake when I saw him on that busy New York street, I wasn't shocked. However, I thought to myself, "does he realize how many people's lives he has ruined? Or does he just not care? Did he even apologize to Daisy? Why does he expect me to look past his mistakes?" He just stood there with his hand outstretched, expecting me to embrace it like good, old, childhood friends. I wasn't stupid. I still didn't accept his gesture. I knew Tom would get angry, but I didn't care. I didn't need his approval, and I never wanted his friendship in the first place. In fact, I didn't even need Daisy's affection either. She never bothered to keep in touch with me until I moved to West Egg. I thought she just assumed that I couldn't see through her conniving ways either, even though I could. Of course, she was my cousin, and I would rather be around her for an entire day than spend an hour alone with Tom. I just simply never imagined that nobody else would put up with both of them voluntarily for days on end. Then I remember that everybody else in East and West Egg were just as shallow as they were. So no, I don't regret being buddy-buddy with Tom that day. He had to start learning that everybody isn't going to forgive all of your mistakes and that there are consequences to your actions.