Stories and Lies

When I was younger, if someone asked for something to be passed at the dinner table and you took some of it while it passed you, my dad would say "In the army, you'd be shot for that.".

This summer, I met this guy who is in the army. After a while, I asked him "So is it true that..." and repeated what my dad had said. He laughed and said, "I don't know if it's funnier that your dad used to tell you that or if it's funnier that you're asking."

My friend's dad once told her that if you get to a fourth degree blackbelt, you have to register your hands with the police. That way, if a crime is committed and someone has a blow to the head, they can tell who did it. It wasn't until she was 17 and asked a police officer about the hand registration process - do they make casts of your hands? - that she found out her dad too was lying.

It's amazing what stories (lies) adults tell us when we're little that stick with us. I didn't really believe they shot people in the army (they're volunteers!), but I had to ask because it was something I'd gone through life hearing. When I was teaching, there were occasions where I thought to myself, I could tell these kids anything and they'll believe me. And these were college kids. I might even have been able to get away with telling them about mealtime in the army. I at least could try to convince them that chimps do speak, they're just shy.

I wonder what lies I could tell my own kids one day?