Yesterday I did a bad thing. If I were a person running for political office, I could say I “mispoke.” The truth is, I told a lie. I hate lies and liars. To me, lying is stealing--stealing the truth.
There are different kinds of lies—the really mean, hurtful ones and those that sometimes can fall in the white-lie category. White lies are lies you tell to keep from hurting someone’s feelings. People should never ask for opinions (“Does this outfit make my butt look big?” or, “Don’t you think my baby is beautiful?” If you don’t want to hear, “Yeah, it makes your butt look about two ax- handles across” or “My kid is lot more beautiful that yours,” don’t ask the question and practically force people to “mispeak.”) There are lies of omission that are lies because you don’t state the facts when asked directly about something, and lies that are simply exaggerations that take things out of context to make people look bad to others or to simply make the liar feel important. To me they are all wrong. True, some are worse than others, but a lie is a lie.
I told a lie yesterday to avoid an unpleasant conversation and to simply get a person to just leave me the hell alone. It was the young lady who tried to sell us a car a month or so ago. She keeps calling and I have lied by omission usually because I didn’t really want to say that I think her sales manager flat out lied to us about the deal he offered and we decided not to take a chance on a deal that was just too good to be true. I really liked the young lady; I want her to do well at her job. But I felt I really couldn’t tell her the truth.
I wish she would take the hint and stop calling. When I don’t get a response, I don’t call/ask again. I realize that she is in sales, but, jeeze-louise, get a clue. If people keep putting you off, give up!
I feel guilty telling her a lie, but I have an excuse—actually, I have two excuses. First of all, I didn’t want to sound mean by telling her the truth, and, secondly, I have had enough stress the last year or so and lying seemed the easiest solution. At this stage, easy is best even if I have to tell a white lie. It was a white lie, I think. There really is no excuse, but I did it and I’m sorry. But not sorry enough to call her back and simply tell her the truth and ask her not to call again. I’m also cowardly.
St. Peter probably has already recorded this in the sin column on my page in his Book.
3 comments:
I'm confident that you have never told a lie that wasn't absolutely necessary. I suspect St. Peter looked the other way for a moment.
Perhaps a tempered truth in this instance would be something you might want to consider. You could, in a kind and diplomatic way, explain that you made a decision and choice that was best for you. You really don't owe her any other explanation. Once she understands that you are no longer in the market for a car, she can move on to other potential customers.
The mere fact that you are concerned about how she might feel tells me that St. Peter will most definitely put that on the plus side in your favor.
I am a great believer in the correct use of a "white lie". It is often kinder than the blatant truth and hurts no one. You did the right thing (in my humble opinion).
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