Prompt
Think about the views expressed in the following passage:
“WANT TO GET AHEAD? TRY LYING” says a headline, with the idea that by always telling the truth, or by telling too much truth, we put ourselves at a disadvantage.
Stephen Lim tells the following story: “Working my way through school, I delivered special delivery mail for the U.S. Postal Service. Each morning the dispatcher handed drivers a pile of letters and packages. Before starting our route, we recorded the number of stops we had to make. While the other drivers padded their figures, I didn’t. This made me look bad in comparison, lowering the supervisor’s opinion of my performance.”
Stephen paid a minor penalty for telling the truth. But others can suffer more serious consequences for being honest. Consider a few: Because they don’t cheat on assignments and tests to boost their grades, some students fail to get into the college of their choice. Job applicants don’t succeed in getting a coveted position because they refuse to pad their resumés.
“In a nutshell, it’s harder and harder to be an honest person in today’s society,” says Stephen Lim.“After a while, you feel like a jerk when other people are getting ahead by taking shortcuts.”
Adapted from Stephen Lim, “Telling the Truth—Does It Pay?” Plain Truth, May/June, 2001
Assignment: Does Stephen’s statement describe the way things actually are, or is it a cynical distortion of the truth? Plan and write an essay that discusses your point of view on the issue. Support your position with evidence and reasoning drawn from your studies, reading, experience, or observation.
Wanda’s Essay
Many people fall prey to lying mainly because it is so easy to do. It involves no physical labor, no stren-uous activity, no expenses, and no special skills. All you have to do is open your mouth and let the words fall out.
Lying is a major part of getting a job you are not totally qualified for. You write up a nice little resume with all the details of your life, most of which don’t pertain to the job at all, such as, for instance, your marita status or that you won the Noble Serf Award in eleventh grade, an award that you invent right on the spot.Just in case you are asked during the interview what the award was for, you prepare a lie ahead of time,maybe something like it’s an award for integrity, for being an extremely honest and trustworthy person. Also, you might not have quite enough experience for the job you are trying to get. So you fabricate a little more to show that you are used to hard work and responsibility. After all, what’s the harm in shading thetruth a little?
While it’s true that your lies will have no immediate effect, what will happen if your employer checks on you, when he or she finds out that there is no such thing as the Noble Serf Award, and that you were not the assistant manager of the supermarket at all but just a lackey who retrieved shopping carts from the parking lot? This is when you must face the consequences of your “harmless” little lies. If you are caught lying, after your face goes back to its normal color, you will most likely be looking for another job.
