Spilling beans....

Honesty.

I have a problem with honesty. That's not to say I'm a compulsive liar, rather that I always seem to be on the wrong side of the 'truth/lie' line.

Firstly, I always seem to be getting in trouble for being 'too honest'. You know when your friend says "Do you like my new top?" and you say "the colour makes me feel a bit sick"? Kinda like that.

Then there is the 'accidental lie' that you can't quite seem to correct. When somebody asks me a question such as 'do you enjoy skiing?' I know what the answer is, I know how I need to answer the question, and that the word is 'no' but somehow my brain tells my mouth that the word 'no' sounds like 'yes'. As soon as I've said it, I know that I've got mixed up and need to correct it. However said questioner is soon gibbering away about the alps and log cabins and such like and you can't quite bring yourself to correct the mistake. After all, what kind of person answers 'yes' when they mean 'no'? (Me, apparently)

And the worst one of all, the compromising situation. You have to make a choice, do you tell the truth or do you tell a white lie to save the moment? Sometimes I get that one right, sometimes I get it wrong.

My Mum always used to tell me that honesty was the best policy. Sometimes telling the whole truth doesn't do any good though. But in the face of the truth can you really tell a bare-faced lie?

And of course that one depends on the situation. Telling a lie to save face is pointless, it's better to be out with it - or else it will come out in the wash any case. But when it concerns other people it is even more difficult. Is it your secret to tell? The problem is I've never been a good liar. On top of that, my conscience gets the better of me. I might plan to keep something secret...but then spill the beans because I've been up at night worrying about it.

There isn't much that can be said to resolve the matter. But when in one of these situations, maybe honesty isn't the best policy? Maybe the best policy reads something like 'zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket'?

My conclusion is thus: silence is golden.

Mostly.