Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Greatest Lies...Necessary Lies?

What an awesome week! Huge congrats go out to Stephanie for her brand new release, THE ALPHA BET! Can't wait to read it when my Amazon deliveries catch up to my traveling ways.

Oooo...pretty cover...



We're talking lies this week...and I've compiled a list of, perhaps, the greatest lies of all time. See what you think:

• The check's in the mail.
• I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.
• I thought I already gave you that money I owed you.
• I promise I'll pay you back next Friday.
• Now we're even.
• I'm fine.
• We'll have the repairs on your car done by noon.
• You look like you haven't aged a day.
• No, I don't think that outfit makes you look fat.
• This is what it will cost to repair your car.
• If elected, I promise...
• You're going to love working here.
• I don't know what you're talking about.
• Please hold, and a customer service representative will be with you shortly.
• I'll only take a minute of your time.
• Our cellular phones will give you more freedom...
• 100% compatible with your existing equipment.
• I'm being totally unbiased.
• I'll call you.
• This will hurt me more than it does you.
• I'm doing this for your own good.
• Oh well, no harm done...
• I didn't do it.
• I don't know who did it.
• We are experiencing a peak level of call volume...
• You may already be a winner!
• This product was made in an environmentally friendly manner.
• I know it's none of my business...
• I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but...
• It's nothing personal.
• New and Improved!
• Trust me. We found and fixed the last bug!
• The software will ship on schedule.

And those last two lead me to my confessed lie. Yes...I sold vaporware. (Vaporware is a word used to describe products, usually computer hardware or software, not released on the date announced by their developer, or announced months or years before their release.)

For four years, I worked in the dot.com (or, as I'd like to call it dot.bomb) industry at a company called SureSell Multimedia. We sold software for home builders. It was a noble idea, but, as the term vaperware implies, we just didn't have the finances, the personnel, or the development team to quite pull off the final product. Still, as the marketing and events director, I sent out marketing materials, fancied up the website, went to tradeshows, demoed the software and did all I could to sell it. Mind you...the 1.0 version worked just fine, but to compete in the highly competitive tech market, our 2.0 version had to sparkle, shine, cook breakfast for you and your kids, and drive them to school afterwards. Suffice it to say...the software never came to fruition. I was on vacation in Paris when I got the call that the company went kaput.

The things we do for a paycheck, eh? LOL!! I think that falls into the category of a "necessary lie." Don't you?

CONTEST

So...what "necessary lie" have you told? For a chance to win a copy of THE ALPHA BET and a copy of GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE, let us know you're "necessary lie." Be sure to check out the other posts this week and comment to increase your chances to win! Come back on Sunday, when the list of winners will be posted.

Hugs,
Marley = )

~*~ Ghosts don't hang up their sheets on November 1st~*~
GHOST HUNTRESS: THE REASON, May 2010

16 comments:

Unknown said...

A necessary lie I have told... well I suppose as a parent I probably do it all the time to me children. They have more than enough time to learn the real truth of the world without me enlightening them. Perhaps there is a direct correlation from ignorance to innocence.

On a lighter note... does this color look good on me!?

Bidisha said...

Lurrved the list of necessary lies you compiled :D

Most overused 'necessary' lie for me:'It'll be okay'- even when I know that it won't. It's just, I don't know, if I'm not allowed necessary lies, I think hope should be made illegal or something.

AllisonPaige25 said...

A neccessary lie I have told.. hmm.. that's a hard one. This wasn't a good neccessary lie at all but one of my friends had been in a relationship for a very long time and she was truly, madly, deeply in love. One day out of the blue her boyfriend just breaks up with her. She was devastated. I knew I had a lot of work on my hands to try and mend her heart as much as a heart that just obliterated into a million pieces could be mended. I knew her boyfriend because we had a few mutual friends and of course because of my good friend. No sooner had I gotten home from tending to my friend that I had received an email from her ex-boyfriend (of not even 24 hours) telling me that he had had feelings for me for a long time and now that he was single he wanted to see where it could go between us.. I was floored.. let's just say I gave him a piece of my mind!!! When I saw my friend again the next day she asked me if I thought there was someone else that he had his eye on and I thought back to the email.. I knew I couldn't tell her so I lied and said of course not. It was an extremely neccessary lie, but it wasn't good.. she was just to emotionally spent for me to tell her the truth..

TinaFerraro said...

Great lies, Marley!

My most consistent necessary lie has been for my kids. Over the years, periodically one would have an ear infection or need stitches, and we'd head off to Urgent Care. I was always asked: "Did you call your doctor's office for clearance for this visit?" That call would amount to about a 45 minute please-hold-until-someone-can help-you. And often, time was of the essence. So I simply lied and said yes. And never once was there any follow-up or did I have a problem!

Cara King said...

Hmm... I used to tell my cat that he was the cutest cat ever, even though I knew some folks thought he was a little bit ugly. And this wasn't really a lie, because he was awfully cute....and besides, I had to raise his self-esteem (because he'd been abandoned by his cat mom as a baby and had unresolved childhood trauma over that.)

Not sure that counts, though...as it's possible my cat didn't understand English. (But surely he understood my tone of voice, right?)

Cara

nymfaux said...

I am what's considered a "picky eater." For my entire life I've hear things like, "just try it."

I'm not trying to not like your food, but I know what I like, and I know what makes me gag. Literally gag. It's not pretty, and I can't control it.

So, in order to avoid throwing up people's food that they spent a lot of time and effort making, or insulting them, or make the meal unpleasant, I started telling people that:

I'm not that hungry after sitting in the car so long.

I had a late lunch.

I get heartburn very easily.

GirlforChrist said...

Well, if you want to leave someone's house you can say you're sick.

stephhale said...

I love the lie list, marley! I use "I'm fine" way too much when I'm anything but fine!

Steph said...

I'm not sure of a specific 'necessay lie' I've told recently. I'm sure that, throughout the years of school, I've said that I just forgot my homework at home, rather than saying that I didn't do it at all in order to not miss recess. Missing recess, to me, wasn't a huge deal, but it was embarrassing in front of the whole class. I guess that's a necessary lie. It's not very important, but it was necessary... at the time at least. Lol.

petra said...

i lied to my mother that my husband has tattoos. she thinks they're the mark of the beast. ha ha ha hope she doesn't read this blog.

petra

Amanda Villagómez said...

Hmm...I am sure that there have been many "necessary lies" in my lifetime. One thing that I have been saying a lot lately is whenever my girls say, "I want that" about random things, I typically say, "I'll keep that in mind for your birthday/Christmas/nearest holiday." Even though it is true that they get some gifts, this has just turned into the catch all phrase for many of the random requests.

ebunadewumi said...

necessary lie?


I would LOVE to be in your wedding!

Llehn said...

I think for me a necessary lie I've told probably relates to body image. If I know someone who has just a little more meat on her but is not obese or anything, if she asks me if she's fat, I'll tell her no. I don't think it's necessary for me to damage more of her self esteem anymore than necessary.

Sara said...

Haha great list! I've heard and used quite a few lies from your list!
I probably tell some neccessary lies to my relatives when they give me gifts, such as "That vase is really nice." When I'm thinking 'Hellooo I'm 18 I don't want a f*** vase!' :P

throuthehaze said...

Necessary lie...hmmm...well any time I have ever been given a gift I don't like I always lie and say that it is great. Someone is trying to be thoughtful and they don't deserve to have their feeling hurt over something like that.

stephhale said...

Wednesday's winner is AllisonPaige25. Please send your info to stephanie@stephaniehale.com and
marley_gibson AT yahoo DOT com.