The Path of Least Resistance

"Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him." Samuel Butler

My friend's husband asked her to do something he felt was important. She agreed, but she didn't do it because she felt it was unnecessary. Later he asked her about it, and she immediately lied. She is an honest person and not at all a good liar, so he picked up on that and pressed the matter, and she admitted she had not done it.

She was so ashamed and shocked at her behavior as she told me this story. She said, "I didn't even think about it. I just lied." She asked me what I thought about that. Well, since she asked, I told her my theory.

They have been married less than a year, still sort of on the honeymoon. They have a somewhat old-fashioned marriage where he is in charge and she is deferential. While her husband has some good qualities, he is short-tempered and tends to yell when he gets upset. She excuses this by saying he's Italian, but I'm not buying what she's selling. Now I won't go so far as to say she's afraid of him, but I did say she probably just told him what he wanted to hear to keep the peace. It's not uncommon for a volatile person to marry a peacemaker. And while sometimes the path of least resistance is the way to go, I do not recommend it for a long journey like a marriage.

Susan