Chris Belland's - "Hindsights & Insights"
Sunday, October 11, 2009
How lying made me a better person and may ultimately save my life

By CHRIS BELLAND Citizen Columnist

Let me start off by saying that I don't intend in this column to condone lying. It's wrong. Of course, I know no one who hasn't, at some time in their life, lied. In this particular case, however, it did, in fact, make me a better person.

What is the first thing you do when you are going down the road and you see a police car either come up behind you or sitting on the side of the road ahead? You slow down, of course. That's the first lie. You are speeding. You know it, and you immediately try to cover up what you are doing. I have got to hand it to the police, though, they're pretty sneaky and usually catch you, as they should. What happened to me next is the lie to which I refer.

A few months back, I was coming down North Roosevelt Boulevard, not really paying attention until the blinking lights behind me snapped me out of my daydreaming and I realized I was, in fact, exceeding the speed limit by a margin of 10 or 15 mph. I looked for a safe place to pull over, did so, and realized to my horror that I wasn't wearing my seat belt. Being a fast thinker, I made a motion like I was undoing something at my waist and reached over to the glove box to remove my registration information. When the policeman approached the car, I handed him my driver's license and registration, to which he responded with the question of why I wasn't wearing my seat belt. I told him, "I had to take it off to get the papers out of the glove box," which he apparently accepted as he went back to his car to write his report. I lied.

When he came back he told me, "Mr. Belland, I am only going to charge you with a minor infraction of not voluntarily giving me your insurance card. I could have charged you for exceeding the speed limit, which would have resulted in several points that would probably cost you some extra money on your insurance." I suddenly realized, of course, that I, indeed, hadn't handed him my insurance card and immediately apologized. We ended our business amicably and, as he pulled away, I felt like a low-down dog.

I put my seat belt on and drove off -- slowly. I was bothered the entire day because I had, in fact, lied about the seat belt when he had been as gracious as he could be under the circumstances. My mother raised me not to lie. I can only remember one time (well, actually two, but that's another story) when she caught me in a lie. All she had to do was stand in front of me and ask me, "Is that the truth?" I immediately burst into tears and admitted everything, and immediately took steps to make amends for my prevarication. It wasn't a big lie, but it was a lie. I never did it again.

In any event, it bothered me so much about what I had done with the honest trooper that I wrote him a letter that very day telling him that I had lied to him and I promised not only to never do it again, but from that day forward, I pledged to wear my seat belt. I have kept that pledge ever since. Sometimes I will find myself pulling out of a parking lot and on the road and realize I have forgotten the seat belt and, even if it's a short ride and I only have a block or two to go, I make myself put it on. It's kind of like putting a rubber band around your wrist and snapping it every time you say a cuss word. It reminds me on a daily basis of the importance, not only to others but mainly to myself, of being honest. ("Unto thine own self be true" etc., etc.)

I have never had an accident where I have run into somebody or someone has run into me, but you only have to see the slow motion re-enactments of such events to see how horrific they can be. I have no doubt that if that should ever occur, my life would be saved by the training of my mother and the guilt I felt in the encounter with the trooper. Give guilt, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

As Mark Twain said, "Always tell the truth. It will gratify some and astonish others." Click!

Chris Belland's Hindsights & Insights column appears here on Sundays. Belland also writes a biweekly column on environmental issues, which runs in our Sunday magazine, Solares Hill. All of his previous columns are available on his blog: hindsightsandinsights.blogspot.com. Contact Chris at cbelland@keysnews.com.