I'm a liar.

My family and I had selected a restaurant for our dining pleasure the other night.  I need to tell you that my daughter has an extremely limited restaurant tolerance and our selection was not on her list.  However, she eats very little anyway and every once in awhile my husband and I play the trump card and go where we want to go.  So, this night was no different and she was none to happy.  We are attempting to keep the conversation light and airy and she is having none of it.  She is in full on pout mode. 

Cue my son to spill his entire glass of sweet tea all over himself and the table and you have the beginnings of a perfect storm. 

So, as we were walking to the car hoping that there just so happened to be a change of clothes for him in the car which could totally happen because at times my car is nothing but a rolling bin of my children's things. 

I noticed the run down car but thought nothing of it until the man jumped out of it and asked if we were from around here.  Now, at this point I knew exactly what he was going to ask.  He was going to give me a long tailored story about how he just needed $5 for gas to get his wife and he somewhere.  So, before he could get anything else asked I said No, we are on the road and he just dumped tea in his lap so I've got to go, sorry. 

We get to the car and my son looked at me so funny.  He said Mommy, why did you lie?  I said Well, technically I'm not from around right here, but yes I should not have lied. 

Why was my knee jerk reaction to not help someone?

Now, I can justify my reaction till I'm blue in the face.  My tolerance was low because of my daughter's behavior, I was rattled because my son was covered in tea, I was hungry and not happy to be out in the cold shuffling through a messy van that I just cleaned the day before.  This guy should be thankful that I didn't rip his head off just for adding something to my plate, right?  Wrong. 

I should have not lied.  I should have said My son dumped tea on himself and I don't have time, I'm sorry.  A lie is a lie is a lie, and that is all there is to it.  A little white lie is still a lie.  Whether or not you are going to get in trouble for what is the truth, it is still better to be truthful.