The Lie

There are a lot of reasons to lie to someone. You might lie to impress someone, or to elicit sympathy. You might lie for personal gain in any number of forms, the reduction of one's taxes being a classic example. Those are obvious reasons behind which there is understandable logic, if not any other admirable virtues. I find that there are more unfathomable reasons for lying, and I wind up using those more than the other.

I will sometimes lie by omission, bluffing my way through a discussion of a film because I neglected at the very outset to declare that I had not seen it. In that, coming clean becomes harder the further you go, and yet there are no truly negative consequences to it. It really is not a rational act, but then there seem to be fewer of those all the time. I would hardly hope that we should turn the tide in the area of deceit before anything else.

There was this thing that happened the other night where I lied for no good reason except that the truth was awkward, and there were no consequences in telling the truth really. I was in line to take in an exhibit of rock and roll photography, and wore a Crosby, Stills & Nash shirt. The lady letting us in noticed it and advised me that there was a movie playing inside that addressed some of their album covers, the one on my shirt included. I said I would seek it out.

As I exited, she seemed to be asking if I had indeed done so, although I could not hear her clearly. I had not caught the full movie- only a few minutes at the end. I had not seen any part she had described, but I felt unable to face her with the admission that I had not been as good as my word. I nodded in affirmation that I had watched the movie, and took off before any follow-up questions could be lobbed. I only lied because it felt less awkward. I felt badly about it.