Tag Archives: lies

Little Green Lies: Fibbing for Budget’s Sake

**Editor’s Note: I chose this for another “Throwback Thursday” post ~ great reads from last year I’m not ready to archieve w/o one more pass. Enjoy!

I’m an honest person. In fact, I hate lying and am usually terrible at it. I’m the kind of person you should never ask “if your butt looks fat” in those jeans. While I wouldn’t be heartless about it, I’d probably say that we “can find a more flattering style.” So knowing this about myself, I was shocked and appalled by my recent behavior on a shopping trip to a local specialty store.

My friend Cristy at work has the coolest little loose leaf tea pot. I fell in love with it as she kindly made me a cup of tea one afternoon when I was feeling under the weather. So, after some internal deliberation about spending money for something that I wanted but did not necessarily need, I knew that I simply had to have one, too.

Before I went shopping, I estimated that I would probably spend about $30 on a tea pot and a couple of ounces of tea. I knew from the moment the sales clerk opened his mouth that my carefully planned budget had met its match. This guy knew more about tea and tea accessories than Bob Barry knows about Sooner football.  He was simultaneously incredibly helpful and terrifying.

I was firm on only spending a set amount in this store and he was the czar of cross selling. I picked out the tea pot and then moved on to tea. I already knew which type I wanted so I asked for two ounces. He reminded me that you ‘get a better price break if you buy four.’ I was still feeling strong at this point and stuck to my guns. “No, I’ll just start with two ounces, thank you,” I said.

Then, he threw the first curveball my way. “You’ll need a tin to store it in. Otherwise it will rot. Would you like the small one or large one?” My mind started racing. Rotten tea? Well, I can’t have that! I had no choice but to buy the tin, right? So, I weakly said, “I’ll take the small one.” Score one for the tea king. Continue reading Little Green Lies: Fibbing for Budget’s Sake

All I’m Asking For Is A Little Honesty

I wasn’t the most angelic child in the world.  I was mean to my sister, fought with my brother, spilled paint on the carpet, tried to run away from home (more than once), threw plenty of tantrums, and frequently talked back to my parents.  I got punished…often.  As bad as some of my deeds were, the discipline was always worse when I tried to lie.  I wasn’t very good at lying, and I had established such a bad track record of bending the truth, that my level of credibility was almost zero.  My sister took great pleasure in turning me in to the proper authorities, and it took me way too long to realize I was only making it worse on myself when I tried to hide the truth.

But lying was always easy, and it just felt right at the time.  It sure seemed better than admitting anything.  These days, there are plenty of prominent sports figures who are finding out the hard way that lying only makes things worse.

Tressel's lies played a huge role in his demise (courtesy AP)

Just ask Jim Tressel.  The Ohio State football coach, who portrayed a squeaky clean schoolboy image with his sweater vest and tie, resigned this week after lying to the NCAA about his knowledge of his players receiving improper benefits.  Last year, Tressel was alerted to the fact that several of his players had received tattoos in exchange for Ohio State apparel and memorabilia, a clear violation of NCAA rules.  Instead of informing his athletic director or anyone else in the athletic department, Tressel kept quiet.  In September 2010, he signed a compliance form saying he had no knowledge of any violations.  When Ohio State began its own investigation, emails were uncovered which indicated Tressel did indeed have knowledge of his players behavior.  Even though the school handed Tressel a five-game suspension and a $250,000 fine, the mounting pressure from the public and the media led to Tressel’s resignation on Tuesday.  If Tressel had exposed his players’ transgressions from the start, Ohio State may have been slapped with violations and suspensions, but its unlikely Tressel’s job would have been in jeopardy.  A lie is the reason Tressel is unemployed, and the NCAA doesn’t take kindly to lying.

Continue reading All I’m Asking For Is A Little Honesty