Rob's Surf Report

Do I really have to lie about something?

Sometimes. Very rarely.

Lies
Lies (Photo credit: tq2cute)

I prefer lies of omission, personally. Thinking back, I can’t remember any recent lies; The last one I really remember, and I remember clearly, happened a few years ago. This guy I was working with at Eckroth Music invited me and my wife to a backyard barbecue that he and his wife were having as a housewarming party at their new house in Lincoln. I said we would go, and I was looking forward to it.

We drove out there on that Saturday afternoon; we got to the point where we drove past his house, and we saw all these people that we didn’t recognize. I think we both decided to bail right at that moment. We drove on, and we went back home. That Monday, I started with “hey sorry I didn’t make it out on Saturday…” and he said, “yeah, what happened with that?”

MINOT, North Dakota — High water as in Minot, ...
MINOT, North Dakota — High water as in Minot, N.D., as seen from the 3rd Street bridge, June 24, 2011. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Shannon Bauer) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, I had the perfect excuse already prepared. I told him that we had to help the in-laws sandbag their front yard, since the river was very rapidly approaching flood stage at that time. It was a really good excuse, but part of me thought that maybe he saw right through it; or maybe the guilt made me paranoid. It was a little embarrassing, but my wife and I have a certain comfort zone. In retrospect, I should have some sort of technique for dealing with a situation in which I don’t really know anyone at a certain function; if ever confronted with such a situation again, I may be tempted to drag my life around and start conversations. However, I can’t make any promises.

I’m not really much of a liar, because I really don’t feel like I need to lie about stuff. I’d rather justify the things I do, and feel good about the fact that I don’t have to present myself falsely, pretend to be somebody that I’m not, or just cover up for things that I’ve done. I don’t want to be that guy.

Still, I’m not perfect, and everybody has a reason to lie once in a while; and for what it’s worth, that story I just told was probably an unintentional lie of omission. In fact, I’ve utilized a few little lies since then, but I can’t discuss any of them here without potentially getting in trouble.

So what do you think? Are you big-time liar? Do you not lie at all? You think I’m terrible for being such a huge liar? Let us know in the comments.

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt.

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22 comments

  1. The absolutely ONLY good thing about being sick is you never have to explain why you didn’t show up. If anyone bothers to ask (and they usually don’t), the answer is always “I didn’t feel up to it.” t’s true anyhow … even when you do show up. After a certain age? No one expects anyone for sure 🙂

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  3. Haha..That is so not a big lie. Intact most of us lie to get out of such situations so much that them lies are not honorably called excuses. Also, i relate to the guilt of the lied to party seeing through our excuses. 😦

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    • My wife could relate to that method of getting out of things, whereas I’m a man of my word. I can’t hold that against anyone though because really it’s such a busy world that we just have to do what we can to be happy, right?

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  4. I believe omissions are needed at times and most people understand and probably use these omissions themselves. You shouldn’t feel bad about it as long as your not trying to hurt someone on purpose. But that’s my opinion, others may feel differently

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  9. Lovely post. It reminded me of a similar situation I’ve been in. We were invited by a neighbour to a costume party. Got ready, got there, looked through the window and thought… There is absolutely no way that I’m getting in there! So we turned on our heels and ran for it. Still feel guilty about that. Yes. It did look ‘lame’ in American parlance, but they were our friends, and I wish we’d made the effort. After all, they did.
    Thank you for adding my post to your related articles list. Hope you enjoyed it.

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  10. I understand completely about not wanting to go into a bunch of strangers. As the Ombudsman of my husband’s boat (submarine), I went to many *things* where I did not know a soul. And mingle, to boot! And as a Chief’s wife, also it was expected of me. I hated every minute of it. The only good thing about it, was if they were official Navy bashes, like the Submarine Ball (which was terribly uncouth, BTW), the food was good. I am trying to learn to be more forth-coming, as I have always been a yes I will to everything, and say, no, I don’t want to, or no, my illness prevent it, or whatever the real reason. But I will lie to get out of a doctor’s appointment in a skinny minute! Do I hate you for lying to get out of that party? No way. I do hope that your in-law’s home, and everyone else was safe during the flood. Thanks for stopping by. Stubbs

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    • Oh yeah, we bagged around the front about three feet up, which proved to be adequate because their house stood so high up, but if we hadn’t and the water had been one more foot up it would have been on their basement floor, which has a walk-out door. So we were precautious, but all was well.

      I suppose when you’re expected to do something you have more of an excuse to try to wriggle out of it than when you chicken out at the last minute like I did – but I do believe that time heals all wounds. Thank you for stopping and commenting!

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      • I’m glad things turned out OK for the “out-laws” as we call them at my house, LOL. As for time healing all wounds? Some people hold grudges like nobody’s business. I’m a bit of a grudge holder, still, but, as I grow wiser, I find that there are more important things to do with my life than worry about those grudges I used to hold on to……. 🙂 Stubbs

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