"Truth Be Told"

Were you raised to believe that honesty is the best policy? I was. It was one of those truisms my parents imparted to me. I honestly believed it for maybe a week. Then it dawned on me that telling the truth can hurt someone's feelings, can get you into trouble, and can make for an unhappy world.

The first time I realized honesty was not always the best policy was when I was playing up the street with the Neighbors girls. They were my neighbors but they were also named Neighbors - Mary Ann and Nancy Neighbors. I guess I was six or seven when this happened. I got aggravated with Mary Ann for some reason and I pinched her. I didn't pinch her hard, just a little pinch on her arm. Mary Ann didn't yell or cry or anything.

A little later her mother hollered out the door and asked if we were playing nicely. Mary Ann answered that I had pinched her. Her mother just said for me not to do that again. I guess she could see Mary Ann wasn't in pain. 

When I asked Mary Ann why she had told her mother I had pinched her, when it hadn't even hurt, she replied that she had to tell the truth. That was light bulb number one telling me that truth is not always the best thing.

Later in high school I had a friend named Jean. Jean was one of those people who are blunt to the extreme. If you asked her about something she would tell you in the bluntest terms. I remember one time I had gone out for the basketball team. Being non-athletic it was a struggle to even keep up at practice.

One day Jean came by the gym and watched the practice that was going on. Later we were talking and she said that I was embarrassing to watch. Now I knew how bad I was but I didn't need a friend telling me how bad I was. The light bulb went on again and I knew this truth thing wasn't all it had been cracked up to be.

Years later when I got married my new bride asked me if a certain dress made her look fat. At that time I was young and stupid and wanted my wife to be reed thin. Still I was not dropped on my head as a baby, so I replied of course not. If I had said it did, my wife probably would have starved herself into anorexia.

So no, telling the truth is not always the best policy. Sometimes a little tact and a little white lie can go a long, long way in keeping relationships good and families happy. Remember the movie "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carey? That movie stands as a prime example of what can happen when you are on a truth jag.

Even George Washington probably used a little tact now and then. Maybe he didn't exactly say he cut down the cherry tree. Maybe he said he fell on it and it broke. Sounds good to me.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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