#1
... but it was me ...
The deviled eggs and beans chemically conspired in my belly to convert my digestive tract into a clandestine, invisible, and silent chemical weapons program.
That was more than 20 years ago. I married that girl. To this day if someone says they are looking at a home in that area, she warns them that sometimes the wind changes, and ushers in a wave that smells like someone scraped a roadkill skunk off the asphalt one hot July afternoon, and used it as toilet paper. One day over the summer my son and I went up there for a bike ride, and she worried if we could exert ourselves in that thick putrescence. She tried to warn us away.
And it's too late to confess, right?
#2
#3
In 2012 I was supposed to be in my final year of undergrad. My school had a graduation requirement they called "languages of the world" that required you to take one of a handful of classes. I could have just taken Stats, but I really hated math. So I decided to take Russian 202 (second year, second semester Russian). But to get there, I had to commit to two years of Russian classes. I passed the first three semesters of Russian classes, but in my final semester of my senior year, I failed Russian 202, which means I did not have the required credits to graduate. I already had a cap and gown, my family was already scheduled to come out. So, I walked at graduation, got the empty diploma folder and moved on.
My first job out of school was working for an attorney as a paralegal. I did not put on my resume that I had graduated, but I did put what school I attended and how long I attended, and the attorney made the assumption that I had a degree. I worked there for 4 years and my degree would come up pretty infrequently. I was good at my job and at one point the attorney offered to help me financially if I decided to go to law school. So in 2016, while applying for law school, I also signed up for an online Stats class. I finished my Stats class (and undergraduate degree) in June 2016 and started law school in August. The only person that ever knew, during that time, that I was not a graduate was my wife.
I ended up doing really well in law school, getting on law review, and have passed the bar in two different states since then. But for about 4 years I lied about graduating undergrad and suddenly found myself having to fix it when my boss offered to pay for part of my law school.
WebMD notes that there is a difference between dishonesty and pathological lying. Usually, there’s a clear reason for lying, some goal that the individual is trying to achieve. However, pathological liars often spin the truth “for no good reason.” For instance, they might make up stories or constantly exaggerate real events.
The consequences? Not so great. They can end up ruining their relationships or losing their jobs. Interestingly enough, not all pathological liars are the same. Some admit that they were lying when confronted with the truth. Others, however, firmly believe their own lies!
If you know someone very well, you probably know how their body language changes when they’re dishonest. Otherwise, if you suspect someone is lying to you, look for contradictions in their stories. Meanwhile, look for details in the person’s story that can’t be verified. Furthermore, if the tale you hear is excessively long or overly dramatic, then it’s either a lie or the truth’s been exaggerated a great deal. Real life is often messy and the ‘script’ doesn’t match that of a movie.
#4
I'm now 44 and they all still think I'm a year older. It's kinda weird.
#5
Now my work colleagues expect me to know what I am doing. .
#6
I don't really know why I did it, nervous and wanting to be liked probably!
I also said Daniel was a bit of a d**k. So Mr Radcliffe, please accept my apologies for lying about you to all my school mates. If I ever meet him in person I plan to come clean (although I already dodged one chance to do that when I saw him struggling with some luggage in London Victoria train station years ago...).
Harvard Business Review explains that underneath our (un)intentional lies are various unmet needs that we should strive to identify. Then, we can look for healthier ways to fulfill those needs instead of telling fibs.
Another important step when caught in a lie is to assess just how much your credibility has suffered. Look at how the people around you respond to you. For example, they might ask for your opinion less, you might not get invited to certain meetings, and you might no longer be asked to join in on new projects.
If you have a reputation for lying and want to be known as someone trustworthy, then you’ll inevitably have to put in the effort to be more honest and humble from now on. Your reputation won’t get better overnight, though, so don’t have any illusions about that. Words are wind; it’s easy to make promises about how you’ll change. Real change requires consistent honesty and transparency over a long period of time.
#7
#8
We were in 9th grade. A girl I was friendly with was talking about how her ex boyfriend was lying about her, saying they had sex or something. She seemed really upset. So I chime in, thinking this is so funny and absurd,
"Just start telling people he asked you to put a d**do up his a*s."
We laugh, I think nothing of it after this moment. The dude she was talking about was a grade or two above us and not in my social circle. Let's call him... Ben Smith.
Towards the end of the school year, I heard a rumor in passing. "Ben Smith wants to be f****d in the a*s." I do a literal double take. I ask my friends about this. Apparently, there are rumors he's secretly gay and people KNOW he sticks things up his butt because he asked his ex to do it.
I didn't know how to handle this. At the time I felt like he deserved it because of how upset the girl was, and he was lying about her first. I laughed about it, didn't really admit that was my lie until after graduation and the story happened to come up again.
As an adult, I just feel guilty. It was homophobic 😬.
#9
Lying—or rather getting caught in a lie—isn’t just embarrassing. It can also be socially devastating. In short, if you’re constantly bending the truth, you’re burning bridges and damaging your reputation. If you’re known as dishonest, untrustworthy, and lacking commitment in your social circle and among your colleagues and clients, why would they want to have anything in common with you?
You might notice your career prospects suffering. You might start feeling socially isolated because you’re not seen as great company at family dinners and friends’ parties.
On top of that, you might find that any relationships that you do make are superficial: why would anyone open up to you if they know that you won’t be honest in return? Deep relationships require a give-and-take dynamic and vulnerability. You can’t have that if one party is a chronic liar.
#10
#11
I’ve had to lie about why we barely have photos with our parents (they are divorced), why we didn’t spent Christmas together (he was traveling) etc. It’s so silly, but at the same time I feel a rush every time they ask something and I need to embezzle the lie.
#12
Have you ever told a lie that got way, way out of hand, dear Pandas? What’s the most embarrassing situation you’ve been in where someone caught you lying?
Do you think that a perfectly honest human society is even remotely possible? We’d love to hear what you think about all of this, so grab a snack and a drink and share your thoughts in the comments.
#13
I went to uni and met someone i thought was chill. for some reason, based on how i look etc, he thought i was a massive stoner. I have not smoked weed in my life, tried gummies, nothing like that. I'd definitely like to try it at some point it just never presented itself conveniently in my 23 years of life.
This person started texting me, asking my opinions about weed, how much he should take, what store to get it from, etc. Reddit, let me tell you, instead of owning up to my s**t i did enough research to write a dissertation to not give this person bad advice about how many mg to take, the types of m******na strains, even which dispensaries are owned by whom in our location just in case they wanted it sourced a different way.
at this point they've smoked and thank me for my help, and still send me pics/vids about them being all excited about their weed.
#14
It took me 5 years to realise.
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
