Dear editor,
Honesty is still the best policy! Isn’t it?
I was taught in my formative years that honesty is the best policy. It has been my experience that that has pretty much been the case throughout my life.
I may have been a bit dishonest with my children on the Santa Claus question and probably I was dishonest when they started asking about where babies come from. Oh, and the wife’s question about the dress and the fat look?
But I have tried to base my life on honesty and feel that this is the case with most people.
So what the heck is happening to people’s honesty? Honestly!
It would seem that in today’s society a majority of the people are going around being dishonest a large part of the time, and only when they say to you “to be honest with you” can you possibly believe in their honesty?
If you can believe, that is, that someone that has just admitted to you that they are being dishonest most of the time is now being honest? I mean, what the heck?
Everyone seems to be saying “to be honest with you.” Or, if they are being especially honest they will use the stronger declaration, “to be perfectly honest with you,” although I didn’t think there were degrees of honesty.
People today just don’t seem to stop and think what it is that they just said. Logic would suggest that this is just a way for people to put some emphasis on a statement they are about to make but what an opener.
Possibly they could try another approach like, “I’m not lying to you this time, honestly.” Or the old standby, “This is no lie.” Or even the other old standby “to tell you the truth.” Honest to God, this is really confusing.
I suppose like all other trendy phrases this one will slowly disappear to be replaced by another new way of expressing ourselves. I only hope this new one will be perfectly honest.
Jerry Eskes,
Comox