Stretching the truth ... a little.

I am all for people talking themselves up.  After all if you don't talk yourself up, who is going to.  But there is always that small percentage of people that don't know quite where to draw the line.  It always makes me laugh a little - not at them, but with them.  (I don't want to be mean, but I am going to blame being hugely pregnant and uncomfortable - tolerance level for all things in general very very low).

It happened today that I was talking to a very lovely lady at a kids birthday party.  Again I stress, she is lovely and I would enjoy getting to know her better, but I have meet her before and the truth was obviously stretched somewhat then, and the same happened today.  Last time I spoke to her she was embarking on a literature/teaching degree because she loved books and read a novel a day.  Now she has three small children.... do I need to go any further?  Today I asked her about her plans and she has ditched the degree idea and now is writing - she is apparently just finishing off her 4th screenplay.  Good on her for doing these things, I just have trouble believing that anyone could read that much and write that much, much less with 3 small children.

I have a very close family member who does this all the time.  Again, good on her for talking herself up, but lets make it a little believable.  This person did 6 months of a chef apprenticeship, however she will regularly tell people she is a chef.  She worked in a bar for many years and babysat on the odd occasion for the owners, however she was a Nanny for years.  The best one I have heard though was her last job before having kids.  She was laboratory tech who tested milk samples, however again along with all her other achievements, she tells people she was a Scientist.

Never would I correct or challenge these remarks because they obviously make these people feel "worthwhile" even though they are lovely and don't need to stretch the truth to have people believe they are intelligent and I am sure their actual achievements are nothing to be sneezed at, but it does make me chuckle a little.

Jen
www.shimi.com.au