And I Developed My Morality Just Last Year...

I promised you more words from my 8th grade English journal and would hate to renege on our deal. I wouldn't want to be called a liar after all...

Feb 7, 1996 Lying

I used to lie all the time when I was younger. "Did you brush your teeth?" "Of course", I'd answer (when in reality I hadn't done it for a week). "Did you make your bed? Get started on your animal report? [I never actually did that report in 5th grade. When my teacher asked me where it was, I told him I had turned it in already. Since I was a well-behaved kid for the most part, he thought he had just lost it and gave me FULL CREDIT! Damn, I was good!] Clean the living room?" "Yes," I would answer, "I always do." I lied for the simple reason of wanting to get outside and play with my friends. [If I remember correctly, playing outside wasn't really the incentive. I liked to read more. So basically I just lied in my essay on lying. Huh.] I got so used to lying that they just slipped out like butter. Then when my parents found out that I was lying, they'd give me a good scolding or even a spanking. [They never did find out about that animal report. Oops. Am I going to get a spanking now?] Eventually I stopped lying, when I realized it was wrong. I am so against it now, that if I lie to someone, I feel guilty for a week [A week. Not 6 days. Not 8 days. A week.] and have to go say that I was sorry for lying to them. When you are little, you don't have much of a conscience or at least I didn't. Fortunately, I developed one around age ten. [WHAT? I had no conscience before then? No way of determining right from wrong? I guess I must have been a wild child who killed gerbils for fun and set buildings ablaze "just to see what would happen".]