Letter: Just a thought ... about white lies

To the Editor:

A white lie is defined as harmless, trivial and often is told in order to avoid hurting or offending someone’s feelings or to avoid making the lie teller look undesirable. Coloring the truth is an excuse to avoid it.

A lie is a lie. Lies are false and told to cover the truth and in many cases told to deceive. Would you trust someone who told a white lie? A lie can be serious and harmful regardless of what color it is called.

Why are white lies at times considered not to be serious or harmless? When one white lie is told, habitually there will be clusters to follow. White lies are habit-forming by those who tell them.

A person who was trusted and instructed not to leave the oven on when leaving the house and who did not follow that instruction and instead told a white lie saying that it was turned off faced havoc. The appliance was faulty and started a confined fire that caused smoke damage and was extinguished before the house caught on fire. The smoke damage caused expense that could have been avoided.

Lying is habit-forming and provides an exit that avoids the consequences that come with not following rules, orders or expectations.

Do you agree that truth halos one’s reputation and promotes trust? White lies will never pass the white glove test. Do you agree?

Linda Alexandra

Wauconda