LIES, DAMNED LIES AND STATISTICS

I have almost no short-term memory. I can blame it on my head injury, my age, or the simple fact that I just don't try.

I can see a repeat of a television show a week later, and laugh at all the jokes, be surprised once again at the plot twist, and not be certain who done it until the very end. I read the same old books, I watch old movies, I even watch television serieses (serieis?) on DVD until I can quote an entire episode - and with my memory, believe me, that's a LOT of times.

But I do always try to be truthful. Someone said that no one has a good enough memory to be an effective liar - if you tell something not true, it will influence something else you should or should not say, and THAT influences some things outside of that, etc. etc. etc.

My mom used to 'improve' a story each time she told it, and it soon got so far beyond reality it was difficult to connect it to the original event. And her role would always evolve from being a innocent bystander to becoming the conquering heroine.

I recognized in myself the same tendency to elaborate with details of what 'could' have happened, and work very hard on keeping that kind of story-telling on paper.

And I felt that somehow I taught my kids this lesson.

Maybe not well enough.

Dishonesty never ends up being just 'one' thing, so it's been a big, long string of side-stepping, avoiding, not returning calls, etc. One of those times when I should have acted on my mom instinct a few months back and done some research.

Now all I can really do hand over the shovel and speak encouraging words as this individual begins to dig themselves out.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT about either of my daughters. 'Nuff said.