Let's deal with the fork-tongued habitual liars!

There ought to be a law against serial liars. Serial liars? Yes, those so called "friends" who take your attentiveness for stupidity and who think that you are so gullible that you will believe every single fib that bursts forth from their forked tongue.


As I write this, several offenders come to mind. I had the misfortune of meeting one recently. Within 59.9 seconds of meeting me, he had told me about his holiday in Cape Town, his planned trip to an overseas conference, his meeting with the vice-president of the country and how he is now the proud owner of a large and thriving business concern. I almost hit the roof as I celebrated and hip-hip-hoorayed over his newly acquired fortune. I wished him all the best and undertook a courtesy trip to the establishment, which indeed turned out to be as impressive as I had been told. What did I learn a few weeks later? The blooming liar is managing the business on behalf of the owner and does not even own half a share of the business! The flashy cars that he changes all the time are from the business owner’s fleet!


Another peddler of falsehoods once described to my wife how she was planning to do full renovations to her home. As she described how her lounge and kitchen would look with imported and expensive trappings fitted by the best interior designer in the land, my wife must surely have been filled with envy because it sounded as if this woman’s house was set to play host to kings and queens. Almost two years later, the interior designer is still “busy,” the “imported materials” have yet to arrive. These days the lady becomes very edgy when asked how the renovations are coming along. She now avoids visits from her friends like one would avoid the plague. Maybe she is afraid that we will trip and fall over all the bit and pieces that must be lying around due to the massive renovations!


Lest I forget, I must mention another untruthful being that happens to be a distant cousin. While living temporarily at my parent’s home some years back, he would often arrive late at night in the company of policemen who would escort him up the gate. From the friendly tone of voices, it would be clear that he was not in trouble, but probably met the officers nearby as they went about their patrol. He would boast of how he knows people in high places and the local police station is at his beck and call. It turned out that the police officers did not even remember his name and were merely doing their duty of ensuring that a man walking alone in the odd hours of the night, arrived home safely. I found out this truth one day when I met one of the officers and he quizzed me about my cousin; what his name was, and what he did for a living. It sounded like they did not trust him, yet he claimed they were friends! The explanation I received from him was that these were junior police officers whom he was not accustomed to. They just knew him because he was friends with their superiors!


I could go on and on, but I will save other experiences for another blog post. What I would love to know right now is the reason why people build castles in the air, then expect the whole world to move into these castles with them. Whatever is wrong with the real you? Is it a crime to be ordinary? I have resolved to adopt a hard-line stance towards these habitual deceivers. From now on, I will blatantly inform these friends, that they are lying and really need to become more truthful. I will be sure to quote an expression that an American buddy of mine likes to use, “I might have been born at night but not last night!”