I know what you did in the 3rd grade
Like a phoenix rising from the plethora of character flaws that make up moi, I have one strength that cannot be denied - my elephantine memory. I can tell you what you ate when we had lunch at that place in Little Italy two years ago and I'll remember the birthday of the girl that I worked with at the GAP in high school. Phone numbers roll off my tongue while other people are still looking for them.
My brain is like a personal computer, retaining all useless bits of information, details, and events. Either I'll win a lot of money on Jeopardy! one day or my personal hard drive will crash.
With this memory of mine, it's highly advisable that you don't lie to me. Because. I. Remember. Everything.
Unfortunately, a friend of mine forgot this credo when telling me something about themselves recently. And this something directly contradicted something they told me last winter. It all of a sudden became the same story with two very different endings. Because alcohol was involved in both situations, the Truth Serum Rule could not be applied here. But my instinct could and I'm 99.9% sure I know which of the two endings is true.
But it sucks. Because I saw it coming and thought Uh oh. Do I interrupt them and say, "Yeah, remember when you told me last winter?", thereby deflecting the opportunity for a lie to emerge? Or do I keep my mouth shut and play the asshole who believes them? I may be hurting their credibility by calling them out on it, but I'm hurting mine when I don't say anything at all.
But guess what? I played the asshole and allowed myself to be lied to. I swear my body temperature went up five degrees throughout the course of the story-telling. It was like watching the proverbial train wreck happen, with the emphasis on "verb". I kept wanting to burst out Hey! I know you're lying to me! But I didn't.
And for what? To save them the embarassment, even though I was embarassed for them? So they feel better in believing their own version of events, because it reinforces and even boosts their perception of themselves, however implausble it is? All the while my self-assurance and belief system taking a hit, because I've let them continue on with their altered version of reality.
Yes, unfortunately, by doing that I've either encouraged the image of myself as this unwitting naif who'll believe anything they say, or they know that I know, but don't have the cojones to speak up and say something about it.
Because of all the things I do remember, I've still forgotten to grow a pair.
My brain is like a personal computer, retaining all useless bits of information, details, and events. Either I'll win a lot of money on Jeopardy! one day or my personal hard drive will crash.
With this memory of mine, it's highly advisable that you don't lie to me. Because. I. Remember. Everything.
Unfortunately, a friend of mine forgot this credo when telling me something about themselves recently. And this something directly contradicted something they told me last winter. It all of a sudden became the same story with two very different endings. Because alcohol was involved in both situations, the Truth Serum Rule could not be applied here. But my instinct could and I'm 99.9% sure I know which of the two endings is true.
But it sucks. Because I saw it coming and thought Uh oh. Do I interrupt them and say, "Yeah, remember when you told me last winter?", thereby deflecting the opportunity for a lie to emerge? Or do I keep my mouth shut and play the asshole who believes them? I may be hurting their credibility by calling them out on it, but I'm hurting mine when I don't say anything at all.
But guess what? I played the asshole and allowed myself to be lied to. I swear my body temperature went up five degrees throughout the course of the story-telling. It was like watching the proverbial train wreck happen, with the emphasis on "verb". I kept wanting to burst out Hey! I know you're lying to me! But I didn't.
And for what? To save them the embarassment, even though I was embarassed for them? So they feel better in believing their own version of events, because it reinforces and even boosts their perception of themselves, however implausble it is? All the while my self-assurance and belief system taking a hit, because I've let them continue on with their altered version of reality.
Yes, unfortunately, by doing that I've either encouraged the image of myself as this unwitting naif who'll believe anything they say, or they know that I know, but don't have the cojones to speak up and say something about it.
Because of all the things I do remember, I've still forgotten to grow a pair.
posted by Currin Girl at 2:04 PM
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