What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder.
On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news.
Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉
What if you could always tell if someone was lying to you?
They'd learn not to lie to me! If someone lied to me regularly, I'd stop associating with them. Some people are poor liars and you can tell when they are lying. Parents usually can tell when their kids are lying. Usually. I expect you are pretty good at sensing a lie from some students!
ReplyDeleteNah, I don't think I'm terribly good at detecting lies. However, kiddos tend to be bad liars.
DeleteI'd tell them and they would either tell me the truth or they would avoid me.
ReplyDeleteThat works.
DeleteWait, you can't tell when you're being lied to? Or am I just around really bad liars?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAs a retired teacher, it pays to learn that skill. Not making eye contact is a good effort.
Oh, I've had them lie to me while making good eye contact. Of course that lie was blatant.
DeleteIt would be a good skill to have if you needed to get to the bottom of something but could be sad too as even little white lies people say to make you feel better wouldn't work as you wouldn't get the confidence boost from them.
ReplyDeleteLike when a kid creates a piece of art that looks good for their age but isn't winning any awards and you tell them it's beautiful - a little white lie, but one that helps boost their creativity. Would be sad if they didn't get that reassurance!
Yeah, those are the lies that one hopes people don't catch.
DeleteAt one time, I would have loved that talent. Now I know there is lying and then there is lying and it's not always a good thing to know when someone is telling the truth. What do I mean? For example, my late mother in law suffered from dementia and sometimes (you had to pick your battles) lying to her (or, at least, not countering her with the truth) made the difference between a happy woman content in her truth and an agitated, suffering person. So, if she had the truth telling ability in her final couple of years, it would have been the worst thing ever for her.
ReplyDeleteI meant "If she had the ability to always know when someone was lying in her final couple of years, it would have been the worst thing ever for her."
DeleteThe simplest questions can bring up all sorts of thorny issues. That's definitely one of them.
DeleteEvery time anyone in DC spoke, bells would be ringing in my head!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice if they couldn't lie?
DeleteI think a lot of people would be in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI think I would isolate myself more. Like Dr. House says, everybody lies.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some lie more than others.
Delete