More than one of my doctors has patient notes saying not to ask me “How are you doing?” which I asked them not to do, because I dislike giving the standard nonanswer “Fine”, because sometimes I’m not actually fine.
I stopped lying, to the best of my ability, years ago. I’ve found, though, that as my lying skills have degraded, I have also partially lost the ability to consider my words before I speak and I have lost the knack for social pablum (although I may never have had that to begin with; tough to say).
When someone asks me how I am, I always answer “same as always.” I would like to say that I do it so that I don’t need to commit to a position with which I disagree, but the truth is that the words come out before I can figure out the normal, polite response.
Overall, I think that lying is a very valuable skill. Maybe it is like self-defense; something that you hope that you don’t have to use, but is always good to have available.
More than one of my doctors has patient notes saying not to ask me “How are you doing?” which I asked them not to do, because I dislike giving the standard nonanswer “Fine”, because sometimes I’m not actually fine.
Crono, stay on that moral high horse!
I stopped lying, to the best of my ability, years ago. I’ve found, though, that as my lying skills have degraded, I have also partially lost the ability to consider my words before I speak and I have lost the knack for social pablum (although I may never have had that to begin with; tough to say).
When someone asks me how I am, I always answer “same as always.” I would like to say that I do it so that I don’t need to commit to a position with which I disagree, but the truth is that the words come out before I can figure out the normal, polite response.
Overall, I think that lying is a very valuable skill. Maybe it is like self-defense; something that you hope that you don’t have to use, but is always good to have available.
Saying you’re “Fine” to a doctor, when you are not, would be a little foolish, would it not? As opposed to your standard workaday white lies.