I fancy myself adept at spotting lies and omissions. Some statements simply have a whiff of bullshit about them, and I am a person attuned to that whiff.
But sometimes it's more of a gagging stench, complete with teeming maggots and a blinking phosphorescent sign. "LIES BE HERE!"
I was expected not to notice just such a sign this weekend. A friend was applying for a job in another state, and for some reason she spun an intricate tale about it being local. Wanting help with something an hour later, she stupidly showed me her Inbox. LIES BE HERE!
"Why lie?" I asked her. "I don't care about the job." She said nothing. I dropped the subject, mostly because I don't care enough about the friendship to fix it.
Now, I understand why girlfriends lie about fucking their physical therapist. That's an eminently practical lie. I'd understand a friend not volunteering that they were looking to move; why bother until there's news to report? I'll never wrap my head around the needless lie, however. She has forever altered how I view her. She is beyond the merely dishonest; she is moronic. And she vastly overestimates her cleverness relative to others.'
Would I give her a job? Introduce her to friends? Trust her to watch house? Lend her 20 bucks? Make soup when she's sick? Think well, or even non-warily, of her ever again?
Decidedly no on all counts. And for what? What was the potential the upside for her?
What it must be like to go through life surrounded by stunted trust. That's some hard work.