Nothing but the Truth?

 As little kids, we were told that our two greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, were always honest. Try as they may, they could not tell a lie. Somehow, I find that hard to believe.

First of all, we must remember that both Mr. Washington and Mr. Lincoln were politicians, and furthermore, Lincoln was a lawyer. I’m not saying that lawyers lie more often than do other members of society, but they do ignore or try to obliterate any part of the truth that might hurt their clients. Notice that Congress has strict penalties against lying to it, but some politicians have made a nice living by distorting the truth (members of both parties have been guilty).

There’s a funny commercial where Mrs. Lincoln asks her husband if a bustle on the back of her dress made her look fat. Poor Lincoln wanted to spare her feelings, and moreover, he tried to avoid his wife’s wrath. The poor guy finally admitted that it made her look “just a little” fat. No doubt the Great Emancipator slept on the sofa for several nights.

Supposedly, a young George Washington chopped down his father’s favorite cherry tree. When asked about the incident, George admitted to his father that he was the culprit. Thanks to his honesty, the story goes, George escaped punishment.

However, there’s another story about a boy who pushed the family outhouse over a cliff. The youngster admitted to his father that he had done the terrible deed. As the Old Man began to remove his belt to give the kid a good tanning, the son exclaimed: “Dad, when George Washington confessed to cutting down his father’s cherry tree, he was not punished.”

“This is different,” said the father. “George’s dad wasn’t in that cherry tree when it was chopped down.”

Imagine that your spouse has spent several hours preparing a special meal for your birthday. While he or she watches anxiously, you sample the steak, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and homemade bread. Unfortunately, the meal is not very good. Eating cardboard would have been an improvement.

You have two choices. You may decide to be brutally honest and say something like: “Thanks for spending all that time in the kitchen, dear, but to tell the truth, it didn’t taste very good. Sorry.“ Now you’ve upset your spouse; no doubt this will add an extra strain on the marriage, and you can bet that the bad place somewhere below us will freeze over before he or she ever does anything special for you again!

Here is the second option, the well-known “white lie:” “This was so thoughtful of you, dear! Did I like it? This was one of the best meals I’ve ever had! Thank you, sweetheart!” In this case, a statement that veers slightly off the road of truth has given a shot of self-esteem to your spouse, and you’ve earned some brownie points against the next time you forget to carry out the garbage or read the meter, or take out the dog.

There are times, of course, when one would be stupid to lie. Be perfectly honest when it comes to paying taxes. That way, you can sleep peacefully and know that you’ve paid your fair share. Don’t lie to the doctor. For example, don’t tell her you feel fine when in reality you’re having chest pains. And as I mentioned earlier, don’t lie whenever you’re under oath; judges, Congressmen, and other government types don’t take kindly to those kinds of actions.

But sometimes honesty is not the best policy. And that’s the truth!