Lies are a very complicated business. What is truth to one person can be a lie to another. Over time, truth can become lie, and vice versa. For today's blog, I thought I'd write down some things that, at one point or another, I believed to be truth, but turned out to be false. In my case, anyway! As usual, some are stupid, and some are serious. Just like lies!
"It's just a little train-ride!"
My MOTHER told me this whopper before I rode my first roller-coaster. We were at a Six Flags a verrrrry long time ago, and I was staring up at the wooden, rickety contraption with absolute dread.
"Aww, come on!" she urged. My sister was already waiting excitedly in line. Overhead, one of the cars careened down the track, making frightening noises.
"See?" she said. "It's just a little train ride! Down the tracks, you see? It'll be fun!"
Famous. Last. Words.
Although, I DO like them now...
"Now you're going to turn into a cactus!"
An "I beg your pardon?" line, I know.
Years and years and years ago, I was on a road trip with my family and we stopped at a gas station for snacks. Well, my sister got a little box of TicTacs. They were bright green, spearmint! Unlike the crazy multi-flavor ones they have now. Anyway, my sister gave me one.
Now, I've always been a wimp when it comes to strong flavors, and when I ate the TicTac, it bit into my tongue with it's intense flavor.
Ever the convincing actress, my sister looked at me, aghast.
"You actually ate it?" she asked. "Oh no! Now you're going to turn into a cactus!"
In panic-mode, I did not stop to consider the facts. My mind skipped over the fact that my sister had eaten several, as had the rest of the world, and as far as I know, Willy Wonka is still working on a candy that can change your appearance. My mind went right to the bright green, cactus-ish color, and the spike-like sensation on my tongue. PANIC. PANIC. PANIC. Nice going, Sarah!
To this day, I'm not sure how she came up with "cactus", and last time I asked her, she denied remembering anything about it. Hmmmmm.
"Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me."
A very common saying, and a very incorrect one. Words can be some of the worst weapons imaginable. You could be wearing a suit of armor, a helmet and a bulletproof vest and be invincible to knives and guns and swords and arrows and axes (sorry, been watching LOTR!) but words can still penetrate that armor. Words worm their way into your mind and plant themselves, like seeds. If the seeds take, negative thoughts can grow in your mind. Very dangerous, and very hard to fight.
"Eat this. You'll like it!"
As a general rule of thumb, when someone tells you this, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. Either someone is having fun at your expense, or it's something for your own good, which may be healthy, but probably not tasty.
The last blog I wrote was about food and I failed to include this cautionary tale, so I will tell it now:
Once, I was sitting at the dinner table with my family. We had just eaten dinner and my parents produced a few kiwis. As "dessert." Well, looking at them, I got a bad feeling. From the outside, they looked like.. horse's apples. Then, on the inside they were a scary color with lots of seeds. I was given no option but to try them. What happened next is still a bit of a blur, but basically, I nibbled some kiwi, desperately chugged some milk to get it down, and my digestive tract would have none of it. So, the kiwi came out my nose, into my milk. My instincts tried to warn me, but alas!
"Atheists are just wrong, wrong, wrong!"
I am, I believe, one of the least-confrontational people alive. But even if I wasn't, I think I would still try and avoid bringing up my atheism very often. Religion is just a sticky subject! It pisses people off. I do find it odd that oftentimes people consider it very rude and outgoing when someone says, "I don't believe in God and here's why..." but have no problem with passing out Bible verses and pamphlets and telling people they need to find God or burn in hell.
I will tell you that growing up, I was raised spending some time in Raton's First Presbyterian Church. I was part of the Bell Choir (Middle C and D!), and I went to Sunday School sometimes, and Church services. Vacation Bible School! Several times at church I was the acolyte, and once, the lay-leader! Sometimes on St. Andrew's Day my grandmother would hire a few bagpipers and they would play ear-splittingly loud on church corner for EVERYONE to hear. That was pretty freakin' awesome! When I was very young, while lying in bed at night I'd always try to say my prayers. I think my OCD was present even then because my prayers would go: "Dear God, please bless..." and I would go on to list just about everyone in my life. First immediate family, then grandparents. Pets! Cousins, aunts, uncles. Second cousins. Friends. Teachers. Kids I sat next to in school. Usually I'd fall asleep before I said, "Amen!"
But through the years I changed drastically and grew a lot and painstakingly became the person I am today. It's been quite a journey and it's hard to say just how I changed, and when. But the way people feel certain there is a god, I just feel there isn't one. I'm certainly not so arrogant as to say there's no way I could be wrong, it's just how I feel.
To the people who say all atheists are immoral, I beg to differ! I'm not plagued by fear that if I do something wrong, I'll go to hell. I'm just a decent person doing what decent people do!
"WARNING: Your computer has just been infected with a Trojan virus. Click HERE to turn on your virus protection!"
Ughhhhhhhhhh, if only I could go back in time! I could have spared myself so much grief and anguish! This has happened, I must admit, more that once. They're just so damn convincing! I see the message, get all worried and upset, and click the button. Surprise! The button WAS the virus. Congratulations, Sarah. You've wrecked your computer again!
"Don't worry, you'll hit your growth spurt soon!"
To be fair, I used to be very tall for my age. You know, back in like 3rd grade. Then I stopped growing and everybody else started growing. Here I am, age 23. Right about 5'4.
Back in Midschool people would be like "You're bound to grow soon right?"
HAPPY OCTOBER, GUYS!!
Sarah
