Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Twofer...

Tonight on the train, there was a man with a bike. Not uncommon in the summer. But now?

A sane, normal person might think upon seeing bike rider man: Oh, he wanted to ride to work or take a little joy ride. But he got a little cold. So he got on the train.

A weird person might think: I wonder....I wonder if everyday he gets on his bike ("Bye honey, I'm riding to work now") and then rides to his closest L stop, hops on the train, L's to a stop close to his work and then hops on his bike to get to work. In other words, crazy me was wondering if he's lying to people in his life by claiming to be a serious, hardcore bike rider and then constantly hopping on the L. All his coworkers, his sig fig...they all think he's something he's not. Yeah, I automatically assumed he was a pathological liar.

I do obsess about honesty. On the flip side, I also obsess about what strangers could be lying about. Ok. I wonder what family and friends could be lying about. Fine, fine, I also wonder what I could be lying about (does that make any sense?). Sometimes I think about how easily I could be lying about my whole life. I could say I was in grad school and no one would be the wiser if I wasn't. I could say I had a job...but no one would truly know if I didn't. I have no one to be accountable to. I guess that's a totally adult thing...but I also think it must come along with being single.

Don't worry family and friends - I am really in school (today the proof came in the mail in the form of my tax form for having spent money on tuition. It's a shockingly large number - I spent $20,000 on grad school tuition alone last year). I did really just take a new job - maybe this time I'll have a phone number to make me accountable.

So yeah - if any of you ever see me looking at you funny - it's quite possible I'm imagining how what you're saying could fit into a bigger pathological lie.

1 comment:

  1. or he has a long commute, and he lives a good distance away from the el station closest to his home, a distance not feasibly walked nor adequately serviced by the bus, but he's environmentally conscious or committed to maintaining his fitness or just likes riding his bike.

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