I have always tried to be truthful, even if I was wrong, I would own up to my mistake and say it was me. But I have found that in some circumstances that honesty is not the best policy.
Say you are at a party and you are the designated driver, you have one drink when you first arrive at said party then drink water or pop for the rest of the evening. You encounter a check stop and when the officer asks if you have had anything to drink you say you had one drink 4 hours ago. The officer will remove you from your vehicle and give you a breathalyzer test. It takes some time and if they don't like the result they will try to give you another one.
If you had simply said that you didn't drink at all and you were the designated driver the officer would examine your face for a minute and probably let you leave. The fact that you tried to be honest means nothing to them and the fact that you admitted drinking gives them cause and a reason to give you the breathalyzer.
Another place where you would like to less than forthcoming would be to your children and the strange noises coming from the bedroom last night. Your children do not need to know that you had sex last night or even what sex is at this time. Just thinking about my parents having sex even now makes me shudder with the images that suddenly come flying into my mind. I know it's a perfectly natural and normal thing for people to do but I just don't like envisioning any relative of mine having sex and it could seriously mess your children up. There is a time for a sex discussion but not right after you have finished having it.
Birthday, Christmas, or any gift that you want to give to someone else should be a secret until they open it. What is the point of wrapping up something if you are going to tell everyone what it is before they open it. Telling everyone but the recipient of the gift is also a no no, people like to talk, and some of them love to spill secrets before they should. You should know and recognize these loose lipped people and make sure they know nothing or don't tell anyone at all.
What would be another example where Honesty isn't the best policy?
Scott Goerz
