Sometimes we just have to tell a little white lie
Young children growing up years ago occasionally found themselves caught in the middle of an accident or some kind of happening that required an explanation. They would be stood up in front of an adult who might say, “Now tell me exactly how that window got broken and I don’t want to hear any fibs!” “Fib” is a word that you just don’t seem to hear anymore.
A “fib” is a lie, typically an unimportant one, a trumped up story, departure from the truth, a terminological inexactitude. Fib is a shortening of the obsolete 16th Century term “fible-fable” or nonsense which referred to the stories in fables. The word caught on as an expression for a slight falsehood. We have heard “little white lie” and that is a fib told out of politeness, to spare feelings or for some similar reason. All of us have been caught up in a situation where telling a fib or white lie just had to be done. Sometimes they are necessary, other times they can backfire!
Years ago when I was young almost every family held a “family reunion” during the summer months. Relatives would come from far and wide to visit and catch up on the family news. Our family got together at a state park in our area where there was a lake for swimming, a baseball field, swings and slides for the kids to play on and covered tables for picnic dinners. Everyone brought covered dishes or some kind of food. Some of the ladies were well known for their ability at cooking or baking and often brought their special dishes that family members looked forward to enjoying.
Aunt Gertrude always volunteered to bring the rolls. There was just one problem—aunt Gertrude was a terrible cook! Her rolls were usually about the size of tennis balls and as hard as rocks. As they were passed around, the men, who were considered the bread eaters, had little choice but to take them and of course no one wanted to hurt her feelings! As the dinner progressed the men would watch Aunt Gertrude and when she wasn’t looking they would throw the rolls as far as they could! The first one to give them a toss was usually my gruff and outspoken Uncle Rink (a nickname for Raymond). When Aunt Gertrude asked him if he thought her rolls were good and if he enjoyed them, he replied, “They went a long way towards making my meal an enjoyable one. Your basket is empty isn’t it?” To which Aunt Gertrude replied, “I’m so glad you liked them, I’ll bring you some extra ones next year!”
During a time when a relative had passed away and my home was to be the gathering place after both the calling hours and the funeral, my sister-inlaw, Ann, came to help get the house ready. She was a caring and hard-working person and dear to all of us. A short time later my cousin, Polly arrived to help. As was the custom in those days, friends and neighbors were bringing in food and Ann brought along two pies. Ann went home to get ready for the calling hours and Polly was to remain at the house during that time. As we hadn’t taken time to eat, we decided to take a few minutes for a cup of coffee and a small piece of Ann’s pie. It was terrible! And we couldn’t figure out why! Ann was usually a pretty good cook! But they were both just terrible! We decided there was no way we could put those pies out for people to eat! The decision was made to take the pies out behind the garage and throw them out where no one would see them. The dog went along and he wouldn’t even eat them! When Ann came the next day after the funeral service she looked for her pies and didn’t see them. We had no choice, we had to tell a fib, a little white lie (or was it a big one)? There was no way we were going to tell her the pies were terrible and hurt her feelings! So we told her, “Your pies both disappeared last evening when people stopped in after calling hours. They must have been good!” It was just a “little white lie”!
We are currently hearing a lot of things from the leaders in our country, the powers that be in our government and the people telling us the news. It is my opinion that many of the things they tell us sound much more like lies than fibs. Regardless of which one you think they are telling people, they have eroded the trust that we have in our leaders and our country. “The truth will set you free, it’s the little white lies that’ll save your ass.” (James Patterson)