Help! My Kids Caught Me Lying
Writing in the Globe and Mail, David Eddie hears from a reader who's been caught lying, in front of her children. The reader writes:
Recently, while visiting my son at his university, I was lent a student bus pass to get between his place and mine. I didn't think much about it and used the pass for a couple rides. Then police conducted a spot check. I got busted using my friend's pass. My son sat beside me, trying to calm me, as I denied having any other identification. The officer pointed to my bulging purse and suggested that most women carry ID in their purses. No, I said, I didn't have any, and babbled myself into deeper trouble.
What was I thinking? I wasn't.
We were removed from the train. I was given an intimidating lecture and a whopping ticket. My son held my arm while I shook, extracting my driver's licence from my purse. He tried to reassure me, “It's just a ticket, Mom.” That ramped the officer up to threaten me with fraud and a criminal record. I've never been so humiliated, and in front of my son. I thought I might throw up.
I've taught my children always to tell the truth. What can I do to salvage the situation? (Besides paying the ticket immediately, of course.)
Eddie responds:
Granted, flashing a phony-baloney bus pass around town and filling the air with lies when confronted by a cop is not ideal behaviour. But it doesn’t sound like you're exactly a Lex Luthoresque master criminal, either.
In fact, from the way you describe the situation, you are an absolutely terrible liar. And that can be kind of charming. Kids are horrible liars. It’s cute. And your panicking and telling a cop you had no ID while he was eyeballing a purse obviously bristling with credit cards, driver's licences, health cards and so forth – it’s kind of the grown-up equivalent of a kid with a chocolate-smeared face denying he ate his brother’s candy bar. ...
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