Be Careful the Tales You Tell

People love telling stories. Telling tall tales is always a temptation. I know I've been guilty of a few. Sometimes the motivation is just to make something seem funnier, scarier, or just plain more interesting than what really happen. There are also times we fib to save our own asses or someone else. So, perhaps it's human nature to weave a web, and often it ends in becoming entangled within it.

Today while watching The Next Food Network Star one of my favorite contestants got booted, because he got caught lying on his resume. Yes folks, JAG, as he liked to be called, never graduated from culinary school. And, on top of that while it was true he served in the Marines, he was never sent to Afghanistan. What an idiot. He made it to the final two, and had to bow out because he got busted. What a shame he didn't believe in himself enough, to let his true history shine. It was also a shame because he actually had the chef skills that were able to get him far and maybe win the contest. All that effort down the drain because of a lie.

I have sympathy for him, mainly because he's a young guy, and probably lacks the life experience to have known better. I also think he was lacking some brain cells since he told easily checkable lies.

I'm reminded of that Dean of Admissions at MIT that lied about not only her undergraduate degree, but TWO graduate degrees. Mind you she got away with those lies for many years. I don't have much sympathy for her because she had all those years to get her educational credentials right and maybe move on.

Lying to get a gig is nothing new, in fact I bet it's pretty common. But, at the end of the day is it worth it? I remember when I was job searching and had my Associates degree on my resume, a friend told me to say it was a BA degree. I thought about it for a minute. I then realized that one thing I'm not good at is having to look over my shoulder. Take me as I am! To hell with crafting a fake me, that eventually will be found out.

So good people, be careful the tales you tell.