People Describe The Greatest Lengths They've Gone To To Keep Up A Lie
Let's be honest: we've all told a few white lies, either out of convenience or kindness.
But some lies are very difficult to get out of once they begin.
Then the liar has to decide if it's better to maintain the lie, or apologetically exit.
Curious, Redditor melissafoxof asked:
"What lengths have you gone to keep up a lie?"
Icebreakers: Round Two
"I've spent more than eight years in the same residence."
"My neighbors are quite welcoming. Every time they see me go outside, they say hello, especially the wife. Every time, she'll wave, say, 'Hi, Rebecca!' and flash a wide smile."
"Rebecca is not my name. At this time, it would be too awkward to fix. I simply had to take responsibility for it."
- Webaurk
Fake It 'Til You Make It
"My partner and I pretended to be vegetarian for 10 years to avoid her aunt’s awful cooking."
"By the end, we were actually vegetarian."
- MikeSizemore
College Dropout
"I used to sit in my car for hours a day to act like I went out. I was too scared of my parents to tell them I dropped out of college."
"I eventually got a job and used that as a cover until I had enough to move out."
- Llafy
Not Allergic to Cats
"My brother got away with one for 15 years because he doesn’t like cats."
"Ex-SIL: 'I’ve always loved cats but he’s allergic.'"
"Mom: 'No, he’s not.'"
"Brother: 'Crap!'"
- Standard_Chemist_726
The Tumblr Years
"None of my family knows how I met my wife. They think I met her in California through a friend out there when I was in the military. We actually met on Tumblr."
"We've been married almost 10 years."
- is_my_work_account
Fake Marriages
"To f**k with one of my friends, I decided to pretend I got married to two women while on my trip to Vegas."
"To further this story, I had a photo from a photo op they had in front of one of the casinos, and whenever he was over, I started wearing one of the rings I made in jewelry class."
"He would occasionally ask how they are doing and I would bulls**t some story about saving up so they could move up here. The best part is that another friend of mine that we hung out with frequently was also in on it."
"After about three months, we broke the news to him that I was just f**king with him the whole time, and he took it well."
- Alexastria
Challenge Accepted
"I called out of work with the excuse that my truck had died when I was on my way to work."
"My manager at the time said he would give me a paid day off if I brought him a receipt for the tow truck the next day."
"I said ok, hung up the phone, and began to panic because my truck was sitting at home in perfect working order. I went to Office Max, and bought a pack of those contractor work order pads along with some receipt paper. I went home and researched average tow rates, if it’s taxed, etc."
"Then I forged a tow truck work order, went online, and found some fake receipt website where you just fill in the info and it makes a receipt you can print, printed a fake receipt with a made-up company’s name, and my friend's name and phone number on it."
"I made sure the time on the receipt matched up with when I called out, made the handwriting look almost illegible on the work order, and gave my friend a heads up that someone from my employer might be calling him to verify the tow, just in case."
"Then I took the customer copy of the fake tow work order, stapled the receipt to the top right corner of the paper, and folder it up to look as legitimate as humanly possible. I took a different car to work the next morning to make it seem more legitimate."
"I set it on my manager's desk the next morning and mentioned that I left the tow receipt on his desk when I saw him. I never heard anything about it and received the paid day off."
"I ended up selling the truck shortly after and mentioned that I had 'sold that piece of s**t' to my manager to cover my tracks even more."
- DullPiano5498
Those Darn Dissertations
"It's a long story but if you ever see me around my grandparents please refer to me as DOCTOR TallEnoughJones."
- TallEnoughJones
Dating Life Cover-Up
"I met my wife on one of those telephone chat dating things in the '90s. Basically, before OKCupid, you would sign up for a voicemail and describe yourself. We connected and went out but were both embarrassed about using it."
"Fast-forward 18 years, we continue to tell everyone we met in the music section at Borders."
- Drife1994
Lying on the Resume
"So it was sophomore year of high school, and I took one class of basic 3D modeling as an elective. Keep in mind BASIC my models were bad but what are going to expect from a 16-year-old. A little later, I was playing on a Minecraft Pixelmon server (Pokémon in Minecraft) where I made friends with the owner and became a moderator."
"The owner of the server was also on the development team of the mod and he asked in the discord if anyone has any 3D modeling experience, I said I did (not a lie), and he asked me if I could fix a current model he had that was giving him issues so I said sure (again basic, me moving the model was a miracle) but I looked up a bunch of tutorials and forcibly taught my self how to model."
"Over the course of the next year and a half I kept teaching myself and learning and I'd say I got pretty good at 3D modeling, and for a brief stint (before I left the project) I became the head 3D artist of the whole project and made decent money."
"Mage (sever owner and dev of the mod), if you are seeing this, sorry for the lie, and thanks for the opportunities."
- Graphics159
Edwardian Names
"Not me but when I started as a newspaper journalist 20 years ago our leader writer was a man called Edward."
"I only found out when he retired after 45 years with the paper that his name wasn’t Edward at all. When he started aged 16, one of the paper’s owners showed him around and had misheard his name."
"He was too nervous to correct the owner so he went by the wrong name for nearly 50 years. His real name is Dudley."
- Jackamo78
The Great Leaf War
"I once worked in a smallish and pretty casual office. There was a park nearby where I'd go for a walk at lunch and sometimes I'd sit in the grass and do a few stretches before heading back."
"Well, one day I guess a decent amount of leaves had gotten stuck to my long sweater. I went to the bathroom when I got back and a handful fell on the stall floor without my awareness. Not too long after, someone came out, wondering who would put a pile of leaves in the bathroom and why."
"It blew up very quickly and spread around the office. I knew it had to be me. Being the 'outdoorsy person,' I was questioned a few times."
"At the time, I was very shy with a back corner desk where I'd pop in headphones and do my editing work, I definitely did not want attention so I denied it and acted clueless when asked, thinking it'd end with the day."
"It did not. The next day, my manager was greeted by a small pile of leaves on their desk in the morning. It became a war, it went on for weeks. I was too deep to admit the truth now."
"Leaves on desks, leaves dropped on heads, leaves stuck to the backs of shirts. It finally culminated on Halloween when TWO women from different departments came in dressed as piles of leaves. I never said a word!"
- EarthCadence
Party Rendevouz
"I didn't want to go to a neighbor's party, but they could see my car, so I drove to a town 40 minutes away just to have an excuse not to go."
- RevaniteN7
Faking Illnesses
"I had surgery for something that wasn’t even an issue."
"When I was in middle school, I enjoyed faking being sick so I was able to skip school, especially if that meant my parents were at work and I was all alone. I was able to make hot chocolate and play video games all day. It was a great time."
"At the time, I didn’t think much about the excuses I used, so most of the time it was just a 'sore throat.'"
"After having used that excuse several times over the period of a year, my parents finally took me to the doctor to have my throat looked at. They did find one of my tonsils was noticeably larger than the other one and figured this could have been the cause of my issues. So they suggested surgically removing it."
"I was around 10 years old so I didn’t realize what surgery really was so I didn’t come clean."
"A few weeks later, I was on the surgical table."
"To this day I haven’t told my parents about it. I’m 26."
"On the positive side, I was ordered to stay home from school for 14 days after the surgery and the doctor told me to eat lots of ice cream. So it was a win for me, I guess."
- Fhital
Exaggerated Education
"In my early 20s, I worked as an in-home caretaker of the elderly. When I was first hired by the company, I was sent to a lot of one-day jobs. If the client’s regular caregiver was unavailable, I would go fill in and then never see them again."
"Being a young lady, they ALL would ask me if I was in college, which I wasn’t. I was a college dropout. And soon I got sick of the disapproving faces of these seniors whenever I would answer that I was not in school."
"One day, I arrived at another client's home who was new to me. Sweet older couple. They asked me, as they all did, if I was in school. I was convinced I would never see these guys again, as was true for every client of mine up to this point, so I just answered, yes, I’m in nursing school."
"I ended up being their regular caregiver for over two years. They often asked me how school was going. My best friend was actually in nursing school, so I always just parroted whatever she told me she was learning, lol (laughing out loud)."
- breakfastfordinner11
While lying may never be the best policy, most of the lies here seemed to be more so out of ease than out of maliciousness.
That said, these Redditors also made it clear that lying can be difficult to stop once it's begun.
roc_and_rollHuman beings contain an unbelievable capacity to oppose their own well-being in pursuit of a preserved ego.
This holds true even when discussing the best approach to personal health with the person most qualified to help. People are crazy.
But the self-defeating ruse is a short-lived one. Despite the most outlandish, roundabout attempts to avoid honesty and outwit the doctor, EVERYONE is unsuccessful. It's as if half the job of doctors' work is seeing through these bold faced lies.
Plenty of Redditors are indeed those very doctors, and they give a behind-the-scenes look from their perspective, watching a patient with obvious-and proven-health issues squirm as they downplay those exact issues.
TheGrimReefah asked, "Doctors of reddit, what's the most obvious lie a patient or relative has ever told?"
Hate When That Happens
Patient brought to the ER - was allegedly naked in his bedroom making a salad, when he accidentally sat on an upright cucumber. parrotman41
The condoms keep the veggies fresh. cohrt
Giphy"Nice Try, Twerp"
I am not a doctor, but i once heard a little boy tell a nurse that he was bitten by a brontosaurus.
He was obviously lying, because brontosauruses were herbivores.
The Current and Obvious Facts Say Otherwise
There is no chance of pregnancy because I've never had sex before (patient is pregnant).
I don't use drugs ever (drug screen is positive for marijuana and/or other substances).
"Well, Inside the Hospital Snacks Don't Count."
"I've been sticking to my diet and exercising but my blood sugars are staying high all the time."
Says the diabetic patient who I just saw buy a damn snickers from the vending machine in the waiting room.
GiphyThe Jig's Up
"Do you use cotton buds to clean your ears?"
"No, never, absolutely not, never have, you shouldn't put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear!"
"..... Because there is definitely the end of a cotton bud stuck in your ear.."
"Oh yeah, maybe just this one time.."
Waiving the "Recreational Drug Abuse" Flag
(Trying to weasel a prescription for ADHD medication)
"I have fat-ih-gue."
Fatigue, she was trying to lie about her fatigue.
"Just Making Sure"
Doc: Do you smoke? Patient: No
D: Do you drink alcohol? P: No
D: Are you lying? P: No
Those Long-Con Tests Will ALWAYS Get Ya
Only a medical student, but we had a patient with tremendous degeneration of the liver, and his blood analysis told us he had been drinking heavily at least the last 6 months, despite being instructed it could definitely destroy what he had left of liver.
Most people still don't know we can check daily alcohol consume in such a long term.
"They're Fries, What Was I Supposed to Do?"
"Oh I gave up salt last year for my blood pressure" while literally reaching for her second White Castle slider during our conversation. The cheese fries were gone by then.
At Least Doc Was Cool About It
My parents run a construction store so they have a few other people that are hired to help them.
One day this lady decide she is too lazy to work so she "fainted". People start panicking and bring her to the doctor.
When the doctor tried to open her eyes to see the pupil, she basically rolled her eyes so the doctor couldn't see the pupil. The doctor then kinda poked her telling her to wake up.
GiphyAs Obvious as it is Problematic
“Every time a patient feigns a seizure (either intentionally or unintentionally) it's a comically bad interpretation of what they think it should look like."
The Proof is in the Penis
“'I haven't had sex.' Sorry sir, the syphilitic lesion on the tip of your penis says otherwise." - dagayute
“Someone said my name?" - [deleted]
Pre-CGI Special Effects
“My sister said a kid around 12 came in one day with his dad. The kid had like red marker or something on his wrist and was trying to convince her that it was blood/broken and he got beat up (but beat up the other kids worse)." - AppealToReason16
Here's Hoping the Hospital has Better Technology
"Tests positive for morphine...'I've been eating a ton of poppy seed bagels!'" - cskelly
"A relative of mine played sports at a Division I university. They were not allowed to eat any poppy seed baked goods because they screwed with the drug tests." - aspiegrrrl
A Flesh Wound
"'I'm fine Doc. Just a little scratch.'"
"Me saying this while having blood all over my arm after an accident."
GiphyYou Should See the Other Lie
'I fell and hurt my hand.'
"Yeah, right. It's not called a Boxer's Fracture for nothing."
Being poor is not fun and it can leave life long impressions. More often than not being low on the financial totem pole can make you creative. When it's either dying of starvation or swiping stale bread that's about to be trash... you will find a way to unleash your inner Aladdin. Whether you're using your smart words, your cunning wit or inventive passion you have to do what you have to do, sometimes, in the brokest ways possible.
Redditor u/condombot wanted to see who would fess up in discussing the times they had to be creative with finance out of desperation by asking.... What's the 'brokest' thing you've ever done?
Staying at Mom's.
Rice (that was gifted to me) with some herbs (that were gifted to me) 6 days a week, as my only meal. 7th day I would eat both lunch and dinner with (and happily paid for by) a wealthy but lonely guy I volunteered my company to, whom I never told how little I had out of fear to be pitied. Literally ALL my money went to rent, but at least I had my own place, which was still preferable to living at my mom's. 0dd_bitty
It's tight now, but not nearly as bad...
Giphy😭I stole toilet paper from work a few times so we didn't have to spend money on it and could buy food instead. Also ate a ton of ramen for lunch or just made sure no one was around when I took my lunches so they didn't see me not eating lunch.
It's tight now, but not nearly as bad as it was a few years ago. Plus, we're working hard for the future (part time work and full time students)and my parents are helping by proving a rent free place to live. I'm even building up my savings account! ($1 a day plus a few extra when I get bonuses at work). RecentlyThick
Improvise.
Heating cut off one winter in my apartment so I cranked my oven on, left it open and slept on the floor of the kitchen in a sleeping bag. itl-lmfao
Had to do that at my favorite aunt's house. I still loved being there though. MidwestWind
Lose the Anchor.
When I was done school (with almost 100k in student loans debt), I lived intentionally homeless. First summer was camping in a tent. I owned a tent, bike, toothbrush, and enough clothes to not make it obvious I only had like 5 different things for work.
It was either get the hell out of debt as fast as possible, or let that anchor drag me down for the rest of my life. And when I was single and young it was the time I could really go hardcore with that. Suuperdad
Decisions.
GiphyCall in sick on Thursday because I only had enough gas/gas money to make a one way trip to work on Friday, which was payday. Wrong_Answer_Willie
We've all been there.
Hid in the train bathroom till the conductor passed. Reddit
As someone who is on a train home at this moment, most conductors let it slide. Mine usually tells the stowaway "if you have to hide in the bathroom to evade a fare inspection, you deserve a break".
We've all been there. ABaugh85
Times were desperate, though.
Back in 2011 I had to take a job that was about an hour+ commute that only paid like $12/hour. I was spending somewhere around $200-$300 a month on gas alone. The day before payday things would get so dire that I wouldn't even have enough money to pay for gas to get home so I would have to write myself bad checks from my own bank account and deposit them in the ATM. When you deposit checks at the ATM they give you up to $200 before the check is even processed.
So, by the time the check would be processed I would have the money in the account even though you can't actually deposit a check from yourself into the same account. There would be an error but because the money I used was technically there by the time the error ran I never got a surcharge or anything. Times were desperate, though. staaamos
Chips Diet.
GiphyGoing to a Mexican restaurant, getting water to drink, and just eating chips and salsa. Then pretending to not have my wallet and leaving before ordering actual food. Red-Quill
Below Basics.
As a kid: no milk, no powdered milk to make, so it was boiling water on a bowl of supermarket-brand cornflakes for breakfast. Hey, better than nothing. And for school pack-up, a brown sauce (steak sauce) sandwich.
That stuff about being happy though we were poor? Bull! That "not-poor" is stuff people tell you to stop you going postal. Jackpot777
Ramen Ways.
I'm guessing my neighbor dropped a single packet of instant ramen outside of her apartment when she was bringing groceries in. I noticed it when I was walking back from class. I inspected it for any tears or holes in the packaging and found none. I ate that single packet of ramen for dinner, I'll also add that I ate it dry to save on gas and water as well. Turnbob73
Water is Essential...
GiphyI used to hang out in an arcade in a mall and check all the machines for quarters. Once I had a dollar in quarters I would go to the food court and buy a soda.
Free refills all day, and I would give the cup to my friend when I decided to leave so she could get drinks, too. She would give it to her friend and that would keep going.
I would also fill up a 15 gallon water jug at a local church so I could flush the toilet, wash hands, and do dishes. (Stove still worked, so I could heat water). PostItFrustrations
Gym Time...
I fell behind on my gas bill and it got shut off in the middle of winter. I did a gym membership special (it was connected to my paycheck so the money came out before I even got it) and would take a shower at the gym before going to work. This was shortly after I had been unemployed so the gas bill was HUGE - over $1k. Took a few months to earn up enough to pay it off, but bonus: I lost some weight because I was too embarrassed to just go to the gym for a shower. cmc
The Nuts.
I actively stole peanuts from Five Guys.
I would go in only when they had a long line, help myself to a large portion of peanuts while in line, make it look like I was highly frustrated with the line and look exasperated with how long it was taking and just give up and leave with the free peanuts. Reddit
For $2!
I once worked at a convenience store that had a deli. I used to be able to pay 20 cents for two slices of bread and 15 cents for a slice of cheese - for 35 cents, I had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch every day at work.
During this time, I remember splurging at an outlet store for no name brand spaghetti and meatballs - one of those stores where everything is either expired or damaged. Got 6 cans for $2 total. Remember feasting on those and thinking I stumbled upon the best spaghetti and meatballs in the world! micmac1007
For Kitty....
GiphyStole cat food from my neighbor, because I was flat broke and couldn't buy more. Felt like the lowest I have stooped ever. Just typing this out brought back that feeling of guilt and wretchedness. thecamical
The Stranger.
A friend of my mom's had told a local church how all our money had gone to rent and to get our furnace fixed. One after noon our door bell rings, I answer it, no one is there but there is 2 rubber maid tubs in front of our door. One full of food, and the other with Christmas presents.
This was the day before christmas eve and my mom had spent the whole month crying because she couldn't afford to get us gifts. I'm so thankful for that stranger. The true gift was seeing my mom smile for the first time in a long time. I was 13-14 when this happened. hasib3
The Raccoon.
I used to be able to fit my hands in the old tampon/pad dispensers and steal tampons/pads (which only cost 25 cents). I called myself the tampon raccoon. tortiekelpie
Tampoon raccoon opportoonity. wirwarennamenlos
To Kroger....
My entire high school existence I was a poor kid, and I made friends with fellow poor kids. If I was lucky I'd have a pack of orange depression crackers to last me from breakfast to dinner. We'd wander the local Kroger checking under machines for coins so we could buy a .35 generic soda to share amongst three or four of us.
I will go into debt with loans or credit before I ever subject myself to that level of hunger and helplessness again. suzosaki
Pennies & Pennies....
Taken a bag of pennies to a coinstar to exchange for $4 which was my food budget for the next 3 days. I didn't need gas as I was too poor to afford a car. I'm very glad that era of my life is behind me (gave me some very valuable lessons, though). ChooseAnAdventure
To Berlin with Love....
GiphyDrinking in public is legal in Berlin, where I used to live. We had literally no money, so my friend and I would hang out in the subway station and wait for people to set their empty beer bottles down as they get off/on the train. Once we had 5 or so, that was enough in return money to buy a beer, which would last about the amount of time it would take to get 5 more bottles. It was actually a very pleasant way to spend the evening, and completely free! eddieeddiebakerbaker
People Explain The Biggest Load Of BS Someone Has Tried To Feed Them
Life and people are full of crap. Well everyone isn't full of it but, there is plenty of manure being vocally spewed out there. It's amazing what lies people will try to sell to anyone who will listen.
Redditor u/limitkikaruti wanted to know who has the best radar for sifting through crap by asking...
What is the biggest load of bullshit you have ever been told?
"I'm in a serious relationship WITH YOUR EX."
Giphy"Ex boyfriend started flirting hard with me via Facebook, we weren't friends there. Saying he missed me, he wanted us to again watch movies, snuggle, and to have sex with me. So I looked up his profile, there was this photo of a girl by a window. I looked up her profile and sure enough "I'm in a serious relationship WITH YOUR EX."
"I asked him if he was in a relationship, he said he wasn't. I sent him a print of her profile, he stood his ground, said I was really crazy and was seeing things. I asked again, he said "ooh, the relationship stuff?? This girl is crazy and obsessed with me." I said "you have one more chance. Stop lying" to which, I kid you not, he said "That was the problem with you!! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. YOU DON'T TRUST ME. I LOVED YOU MORE THAN ANYONE EVER WILL AND YOU NEVER TRUSTED ME".
"So I took print screens of the entire conversation and sent it to his girlfriend."
"She thanked me. I gave her the perfect reason to break up with him."
"TLDR: Ex boyfriend was flirting with me, denying having a girlfriend even after I sent prints of her Facebook page with the relationship status. Tried to convince me I was crazy and hallucinating. I told her."
cupcakelimao
"What your mother did wasn't that bad."
"What your mother did wasn't that bad"
"Bunch of darn crap sister was diagnosed with ptsd for what she did to us and we were both in therapy for a long time, I'm planning on going back to therapy once I can afford to."
Melgitat_Shujaa
"Someone hacked my bank account."
"Gave my dad $500 to buy me a computer part with his credit card."
"Someone hacked my bank account."
FistingUrDad
Nnnnnope.
"That I am a newer soul, which had reincarnated just a handful of times, but that I was also such a bright soul, I was already level 9 and progressing so fast I was like one or two reincarnations away from full illumination. Then she came on to me. I was 21, she was late fifties-early sixties. Nnnnnope."
Brad_Brace
Oh Mom.
Giphy"Computer gives you autism." Yeah my mom definitively ain't Einstein."
"You should check if you're vaccinated."
UnholyBeefcake
Family First.
"Family is the most important thing of all. They'll always be there for you! Little me was so naive when she came out."
Black_Bud
"I hear ya... took years to fully pull myself back together again."
0dd_bitty
God Bless....
"If only you were religious, your depression could have been treated easily" -my psychologist to me.
_chameleon____
"My roommate who is depressed and is studying a psychology told me the same thing. She said that with being religious, getting better would be much much easier for her."
elephteri_a
Thanks Dad?
Giphy"You just have the classic autistic eyes. Every autistic person has them!" My dad said to me when literally nobody else had same eye shape as me besides one of the teachers. I honestly don't know if it was meant to sound as an insult but it definitely did sound like an insult to me."
SwedishArtist
God is that Guy.
"I hate to be that guy, but "the church you happened to be raised in is the only true church in all the world!"
Batman__10
"Still better than my FIL. To him no church is the true church, he is the only one who knows God's true will and understands the Bible fully. The other sixty gazillion Christians in the world have it all wrong and are going to hell, while he's set for heaven because he's got a straight line to God."
"Seriously, the guy would totally be a cult leader like David Koresh or Jim Jones if he was actually charismatic and not a complete narcissistic fool."
626c6f775f6d65
Adulting.
"Grownups know what they're doing."
MCcereal
"I've come to the conclusion that being a grown up is acting like you have any idea what you're doing, when in reality, you're just making informed decisions and hoping it doesn't blow up in your face." Hiazi
Go figure.
Giphy"I went to a preppy boarding school. They constantly harped on how every student was held to the same standards of honor and discipline. After 4 years there, I noticed that somehow the kids with their last names on buildings just couldn't seem to get in any trouble, regardless of constant violations. Go figure."
hockeyjoker
"Oxygenated Water"
"Oxygenated water. That is, bottled water that has extra dissolved oxygen in it, for athletic-type things. Because we breathe oxygen, and more oxygen must be good for you right? Except two things-"
1- "You don't have lungs in your stomach."
2- "The "Oxygenated Water" is just regular old water."
Being_grateful
My mom says....
"My mom telling me she never drank or smoked weed as a teenager and was a virgin until she was 28. My dad had a field day dismantling those statements."
MommySaysBadWords
"My dad, to his credit, was honest with me. "Yeah, I used to smoke when I was your age. And I spent the next fifteen years trying to quit. It sucked."
"This was probably the perfect response."
MommySaysBadWords
What days are you available?
Retail job last year."
"What days are you available? We'll make your shifts work for you".
"They proceeded to call me while I was on the way to the cemetery to inter my father's ashes and demand to know where I was, as if I hadn't told them about this weeks ago during my interview."
"Three months of similar bs later and I quit. Didn't even bother to hand in a notice, just called them and told them I wasn't coming in again. Forget retail.
Kaldus
Lava Days....
Giphy"Being told that I need to buy Volcano insurance when I live in Iowa."
Swandeath21
LiARS....
"Not the biggest bs I've ever been told but I started working at a new place recently and everyone hates this 25 year old kid and I didn't understand why. I'd spoke to him a few times, seen him speak to others and he seemed fine. Then they said "He's a compulsive liar, he'll tell you he's a nascar driver, wins drift competitions on the weekend etc".
"So I'm like okay. Anyway one of the first times we met he told me about his Japanese girlfriend. Couple of days later he was talking to one of the co-workers about how his relationship ended because she had to go back to China. I said "Isn't she Japanese though?" and he just walked off."
_Oliveoyl
'If you are honest then everything will be alright.'
"'If you are honest then everything will be alright.'"
kimbypossible
"Actually heard that from an IRS guy during an audit. The strange thing was, it was true. Guy just wanted to collect what was owed without penalty to get past the audit."
4ccount4n7
CHEAT!
"You're cheating on me!" She was the one that was cheating."
satansniper
"A thief believes that every man steals" is the expression we use for that in Danish."
kaaz54
Yes Girl!
Giphy"Lad from school insisted he'd been on a trip to Benidorm, during which he'd shagged 10 birds, got a cocaine and alcohol addiction and skinny dipped with Rihanna."
blestbee
We do not abide liars and BS.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below!
Listen, the phrase "honesty is the best policy" is one of those things we say, but we don't really mean as a blanket statement. Honesty is not, has never been, and will never be the best policy in every situation.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not out here advocating for lying our faces off - but there are some situations where the truth just isn't necessarily the kindest, safest, or most productive route.
Don't believe me? I'll prove it with the help of everyone's favorite website, Reddit. Reddit user tinythunder15 asked:
When is lying better than being honest?
The responses were full of situations that some of us may never even have imagined, some of which we hope to never find ourselves in. Take a look, but brace. Some of this got really, really sad.
No Need To Relive It
"When the patient with dementia asks you, again, where their deceased spouse/child/other very important person in their life is."
"Telling the truth only makes them relive the horror and despair of finding out that that person has passed away all over again."
"I worked with a guy who had dementia and killed his wife. He was in an inpatient psychiatric facility that was locked and secured. He couldn't remember anything for more than 20 minutes. He would regularly ask us why his wife wasn't coming to visit him. One time his son told him out of spite and he flew into a self destructive depressive rage."
"Half hour later the guy didn't understand why his knuckles were bruised and sore and why the wall was bloodied. He seemed like a really nice guy and had created this persona that he was a loving husband who would do anything for his wife, wrote her three love letters a day, and wanted to help others. It's almost like he forget he was this jealous monster who killed his wife when she tried to divorce him."
"In either event, we just stopped telling him. We would say "Maybe tomorrow" knowing that he wouldn't remember asking us by lunch, let alone tomorrow."
"Does telling someone the truth and dropping crushing news on them making them come to the realization that their world is a lie and they killed the person they loved the most 5-6 times a day when they can't do anything about it or change who they are through introspection really benefit anyone?"
"I can think of instances where I was genuinely ok with lying - and they all focused around caring with people with memory issues. Sometimes it was about granddad being dead, other times it was about forgetting to do mundane stuff that didn't really matter. For example if they asked around naptime: "Did I start the laundry?" I would just say yes, then go see if the laundry is started once she's asleep, and if not, I would start it."
"Sometimes people with those issues ask if they're a burden, or if you're ok. You tell them they're not a burden, and you're ok... because I mean, wtf else are you gonna say? "It's hard, and yes, it's a burden, but you're family, and you couldn't stop me from caring for ya if you tried." They wouldn't understand and it would make them feel guilty."
I wasn't ok, but I always told her I was doing fine. Sometime grandmom was a proper wench to me towards the end (dementia sucks), but when she was having lucid moments and asked about how she was doing at other times, I told her she was fine and generally just sleepy. There was no point in making her feel bad over something she can't control."
""So... generally, when people are in their sunset years I'm fine with lying for kindness. I'm not necessarily gonna say what's "better" because it isn't on me to judge you; but I'll say that I understand people in those situations are all just doing the best they can, and I don't fault people either for lying, or for telling a harsh truth every once in a while."
Only The "Mentally Strong"
"Interviews. I was asked so what have you been doing the past year because it had been over a year since my graduation. I, like an idiot, answered honestly and replied that I was in a depression, but now I'm fine."
"So when the the roll call came for the name of selected candidates the first thing the person who was announcing said that they needed "mentally strong" people. Okay, then."
The Ambulance Lie
"Telling someone in the ambulance that they're going to live."
"I have a friend who is an ambo. He tells patients he's never had someone die in his ambulance... which is technically true. Because they refuse to declare someone dead in the truck, because otherwise they have to drive to the morgue and fill out a bunch of paperwork. Instead, they continue to administer CPR until they get to the hospital and let the on duty doctor declare the time of death. That way the body is the hospitals problem and not theirs."
"I was looking into becoming an EMT a few years ago. They taught us never to tell a patient they're going to live. Instead, you're supposed to dodge the question by saying, "We're doing our best to help you."
- Alinda_
"You've never had to lie to someone in the back of an ambulance then. When someone is dying, those BS platitudes are pretty obvious."
"SCENARIO : You're the single occupant of a vehicle driving between 50-70mph that has struck a deer at night. The deer entered the passenger compartment. The antlers of the deer have penetrated your chest."
"An ambulance arrives 16 minutes after the impact (this is practically light-speed if you're rural) and the ambulance crew (EMT-B and EMT-P..because you're lucky and it's a 3-person crew) look at you, as you realize you feel cold and numb and you ask "Hey...am I going to be OK?"...as you cough up some blood from the growing hemothorax in your chest..."
".....uh....*ahem......er...."!!!!WE ARE DOING OUR BEST TO HELP YOU!!!!"......please don't die....."
"you hear.. in a robotic, terrified voice... from the EMT who is working on you. You feel good about that.... or maybe you want someone to lie to you (because who knows... maybe they're wrong and you're gonna live anyway?)"
"It just doesn't always work. You go ahead and tell people who are dying that you're not allowed to discuss statistical averages... see how well that goes down sport."
Safety Over Honesty
Giphy"When you're lgbt and your parents are extremely homophobic/transphobic. Basically, when telling the truth will put you in danger."
"If you're gay in Iran, its definitely better to lie."
- Toad_0
White Lies Save Lives
"When you are speaking to a person who is about commit suicide. Speak as if life is better, even if it isn't at the moment. I'm not saying you should 100% lie, but if you lie (in case you NEED to lie) enough to get that person to seek help instead of committing the act, you will understand the need of a little lie."
- SooWh4t
"As someone who's been on the other side, I'm glad my best friend lied when he had no f-ing clue what was really gonna happen. I'm here today and I'm thankful."
A Hideout
"If a guest at my hotel is hiding from an abusive SO or parent(s) and the abuser(s) show up or call looking for them, I'm certainly going to lie and say I've never heard of the person they're looking for. I've worked in hotels for nearly two decades, and on a few occasions over the years have actually dealt with this situation."
Lying To Kids
"I fully support lying to kids. Whenever they make a crappy art project, tell them it's great. Sing terribly along to a song, tell them it was great. I want my kids to be confident. There are enough people in the world who are going to tell them they suck, they need to KNOW that there are people who will think they and what they do is awesome."
Maybe To Protect Them
"It's a feeling, I want to tell my parents that I had a horrible day at school and that I feel sad but... I just can't... it's better that we are happier. Maybe it's to protect them, maybe it's to prevent them from prying, or maybe take action."
A Matter Of Public Safety
"I had a friend who's grandma had severe dementia. She'd get out money to pay for a delivered pizza, and when the pizza came, she couldn't find it. She also would be driving and forget where to go and blackout sometimes. My friend ended up telling her grandma that she got her license taken away to protect her and everyone else on the road."
- Yawang04
CPR And Everything
"When there's a vehicle accident and the involved party asks you if the other party is okay and you know they're dead."
"The driver was performing CPR and everything on this dude who was drunk riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road with no lights at night. It wasn't his fault, but he never could have lived with himself."
"We held the scene (as we usually do when there's a fatal accident) and I had to lie to the driver that the bicyclist was okay in the hospital."
- anticsd
Call Me Shallow
Giphy"Breakups, sometimes."
"May be an unpopular opinion, but I think there are times when lying to someone about why you are breaking up is the right thing to do. To be clear, I only think this is a good idea if it is a very young relationship or you haven't been dating very long. If you are in a long term relationship, you owe it to that person to be honest at that point."
"So for instance, earlier this year I was dating a girl for a bout a month. Initially I wanted to make the relationship work, because she was a really sweet girl. But as we saw each other more and more, I started to realize that I just wasn't that physically attracted to her. Call me shallow if you want, but physical attraction is an important thing in a relationship. I thought that maybe I could gloss over this in light of her other qualities. But it became something that I started to think about more and more."
"So I eventually decided to break things off with her. When I did, I just told her that I didn't think I was ready for a relationship right now and that we should probably just be friends. Which was a lie. But being honest with her would have meant saying something like "I just don't find you that physically attractive." Which to me, is far more damaging and just kind of mean."
"Whether or not people want to admit it, I think that this is honestly pretty common. With a great many breakups, there's the reason that they gave you, and then there's the real reason."
Tell Them When They're Older
"When my kids ask about their grandfather, my father. All the young kids in my immediate family think he died from a heart attack. Truth is he shot himself while both him and I were home. When they're older i tell them the truth, but no need to put that on a little kid."
Your Number
"How many men (as a woman) you've slept with. It really makes them either upset that they probably aren't the "best," or upset they aren't the first. It's truly a double standard I hate."
The Truth Is Dangerous
"It might be a messed up idea, but if lying helps you in a situation or simply makes a situation better than lie. I mean yeah if the situation will be resolved or handled better with honesty then, by all means, tell the truth. They say the truth will set you free, I, on the other hand, say sometimes the truth is too dangerous."
Unnecessary Harm
"When the truth would cause unnecessary harm."
"A friend of mine was prepping to break up with her fiance, and then she died after some medical complications. They were living together and planning their wedding at this point. At her funeral I recounted some sweet stories of them together that she had shared, and told him how much she loved him."
"Telling him anything else would have been cruel. She isn't coming back, and there would be only pain from knowing the truth."
Chillin' With Jake
"When you're still living with your parents but your leaving to go have sexy time."
"Hey guys, going to chill with Jake, might spend the night. Dont wait up!"
"Am I going to tell my saint of a mother I'm going to have premarital sex? Never ever!"
Plated
"Here's my story. My (now) wife bought an engagement ring off the internet. She read 18k gold so that's what she thought she got. Well turns out it was 18k gold PLATED over lead. How did I find out? Stones kept falling out and when the jeweler cleaned it, it basically became nothing."
"I knew she'd never forgive herself if she found out. So I paid for the mold to be made of the exact ring with real gold and stones. I will take that to my grave."
Gestapo
"The Gestapo is knocking on your door, asking if you're hiding anyone. You are. LIE."
Thanks to these Redditors for breaking down when the best time to lie is.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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