Lying

I was going to an Indian restaurant for dinner.  I was very happy on the streets as I was walking.  I really liked the buildings of London... they were beautiful.  I was making plans that I would live in Europe for a few years.  I can travel around all of Europe.

I reached the place I was going to, and bought myself some biryani.  The food wasn’t great.  I kept complaining inside my head about the food, and at one point I posted a mean comment on Google+ about the food I was eating.  I remember very well, I was laughing when I posted it.

Then two employees of the restaurant asked me independently if the food was good.  To the first person, I said “it’s okay”.  I said the same to the second person, but this person wasn’t happy with my answer.  He then asked “are you liking the biryani, is it good?” looking for a more definitive answer.  I really didn’t want to talk about the food.  It was a done deal; I had eaten more than half of it already.  If I complained now, they would want to “fix” the problem, and that would only mean more delays.  I didn’t want to return the food either.  So I said “yes, yes” only to make him go away.

That was it.  I couldn’t face the restaurant staff any more.  I felt as if I had disrespected them for no reason.  I was feeling very bad on the way back.  I thought I was feeling bad because of that mean comment I posted about the food on Google+.  I took my phone and immediately deleted that post... that felt like the “right thing” because I had started believing that the food wasn’t all that bad, and only I was overreacting.

After coming home, when I think about it now, I think it’s the lie that has made me feel so bad.  In my view, lying is a deep form of disrespect.  I think I still haven’t forgiven myself for having disrespected the restaurant staff.