Who has been on the receiving end of a lie? It’s a whole new trip to Toxic Town. Here are some liars I’ve met who put me to shame (I changed everybody’s name because I’m nice that way).
Samantha. Samantha was my college roommate. It took a lot of screenshots and many “witnesses” for me to believe that Samantha was responsible for my fight with then best friend Derrick because she sent him copies of texts I had sent when I was psychotic. She also had kind things to say about me, the stuff good friends say about each other like that I was “a whore” and “ugly” and “wore too much makeup”. This last one baffled me because aside from the occasional red lipstick I don’t wear makeup. Not concealer, not bronzer, not eyeshadow, not even mascara. Whereas Skyler could have passed for a Sephore model. Yeah, I didn’t get that one either. Anyway, I wanted to give Skyler the benefit of the doubt so I tried talking about it face to face. Deny, deny, deny. And you know what? She’s not really a good liar after all.
Selena. Selena was a friend from mine from high school, We met at orientation and quickly bonded over the fact that we both liked Panic At the Disco. I was close to Selena all my years of high school but I soon learned I would have to keep her at arms length because I simply could not trust her. We have the same birthday and I changed the date of my party so she could come. Meanwhile, I heard fromm several more loyal friends that she was complaining I had made my party the same day as hers (I don’t even know if she had a party because I wasn’t invited) when I had gone out of my way to make sure she could come. She also said something mean about me in front of my best friend who immediately stood up for me. Selena only laughed and said “Oh I love Leigh but she’s always talking about sucking d*** all the time” Um….what?
I dated a serial liar. We can call him Jason. He was great at making me feel like I was the only one in his life or that we had a future together then going out with other girls or ignoring me. When he told me he loved me as we made out behind the dumpsters at CVS I hesitated. I was like “delude yourself but don’t lie to me”. The last time we hooked up it was in his car in the 7-11 parking lot (we chose classy places) . He kept saying he’d wait for me and how much he cared for me. I wanted to believe him. Maybe I did.
I am a liar. Well, not so much anymore. I am a reformed liar. I started lying when I was fourteen, mostly to my parents. I lied about boys. I would trick my parents by going to school with a fake lip ring or hide studded in gloves in my purse that I’d pull out the moment they drove away. I started relationships with much older guys. I guess I wasn’t as good a liar as I thought I was because my parents became suspicious and they read my diary. Oh my God, I got the grounding of a lifetime (I was also grounded for drinking). I read every Jodi Picoult within two weeks when I was grounded. I tried being honest for a while but then I started with the drinking. I lied about drinking to my parents for several years until I was hospitalized. I lied to my boyfriends about drinking. I lied to myself about drinking. I’ve been sober eight and a half years and trust me sobriety definitely helped me patch together my lies (you learn this in AA).
I certainly have chosen the cleaner path. I don’t know what everybody else did but life is so simpler once you chose honesty, for yourself and those around you. Remember that this holiday season.
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