I was watching the old classic Liar Liar starring Jim Carey last night. For those of you that have been hiding under a rock for the past 2 decades, Liar Liar is about a lawyer, who is also a dad who can’t seem to keep his promises to his son. For his birthday, his son makes a birthday wish that his father, Jim Carey, was not able to lie for 24 hours. (Can this happen in real life or nah?) Now, being a lawyer, you can only imagine how difficult that must have been for him. But aside from his work, Jim was lying about the littlest things! Small things that he didn’t have to lie about, including reasons as to why he couldn’t spend time with his son.
While watching the movie I realized that there are so many people who lie on a daily basis for the dumbest reasons! But why? My biggest pet peeve in the world is a liar. I can deal with a lot, but a blatant liar is definitely NOT one of them. Don’t get me wrong, the occasional small lie (like the ones we tell our kids about the tooth fairy or Santa-those are fun little lies), a fib or joke is a different story, because I am guilty of that as well. But when you tell a lie that has to be followed with another lie and another lie and another lie, just to keep the story going, it begins to be a bit too much.
So, why do people do this? Is it because they are afraid of the truth? Are they afraid of the consequences? Is lying the only thing they know how to do? Do they only lie when it comes to tedious things? Or do they save their lies for big-whoppers? Whatever the excuse is, I don’t get it. Not to mention the amount of drama that could ensue from lying.
I remember a few years back when I was living with my mother briefly, my sister told a lie to get herself out of trouble, but put the blame on someone else, ME! See, lies like that are the kind that piss me off-LOL. I guess it’s the territory that comes with having siblings. Let me tell you her lie, and let me know if it doesn’t make you laugh because it’s just so stupid and again…tedious.
My mother is the type of woman who is very meticulous and a little OCD when it comes to her household and everyone being cleanly. As she should be because it is her
home after all. At the time, I worked about 1.5 hours away from my mother’s house. So I was usually the first or second person to leave the house in the morning. My sister was always the last. On this particular day everyone left the house for the day. No big deal. We went about our normal routines. At the end of the day, I was the last one to get home. I came in the house to my mother screaming at the top of her lungs because “someone” left the iron on ALL day, the house could have been burned down! Now, my mother had already left prior to me leaving, so it wasn’t her. I did use the iron that morning and my mother knew that, but I unplugged the iron, so I knew it wasn’t me. That only leaves 1 person. My sister. She was so adamant that it wasn’t her! She swore that she didn’t use it, let alone leave it on. That leaves me to take the fall, because my mother saw me using it. I KNEW I turned it off. At this point, I’m second guessing myself and thinking that I could possibly be going crazy and I really did leave it on! But I was not going down like that. So like the true Leo that I am, I decided to do some investigating. I looked at the iron and noticed it had some coloring on it. Coincidentally, the coloring matched the print that was on the shirt my sister was wearing that day. BOOM! You’ve been caught! She had no choice but to admit she used it. All night we were yelling at each other. Everyone was trying to defend their side. I was pleading my case, and the whole time my sister sat there and watched me get ripped a new one by my mother. And for what? Because she didn’t want to get in trouble and she’d rather me take the blame? Not fair.
Little instances like that rub me the wrong way. The story with my sister is a situation that is small. But small lies escalate to bigger ones. Liars are the reason innocent people are sentenced to years in jail for something they didn’t do. Liars are the reason the person that doesn’t do shit at work is promoted, when it should have been you. Liars are the reason friendships and relationships end.
Can’t Spot a Liar? This Might Help
Liars are the reason the divorce rate is so high. Liars are the reason a lot of things don’t end up the way they should. I could really go on and on. If people would just grow the balls to be honest, the world would be a smidgen better. So the next time you even think about lying, think to yourself, “is it worth it? And why am I really doing it?”
“A storyteller makes up things to help other people; a liar makes up things to help himself.”
XOXO
TJ