Learning to Lie, Essay Example

Example 1:

When I was living in Taiwan, I happened to find some money lying in the street. Exactly who had lost it or how long it had been lying there is unknown, but since it was two American five dollars bills, I assumed that the previous owner was a sailor, due to the fact that a large US naval station was just down the road and that sailors frequented this particular street because of the number of bars that lined each side of it. So, I bent down and picked up the money and to my surprise, there was a little message scribbled across the face of Benjamin Franklin that said, “If you find this money, call 223 112 2234 immediately for a big surprise.” Being a fool, I called the number and a woman answered. It turned out to be a house of prostitution and a woman on the other end of the line invited me over for–well, you know what. Unfortunately, I was only about ten years old at the time, so I simply hung up the phone and quickly headed for the nearest restaurant, where I bought some Chinese egg rolls and a big glass of Coca-Cola.

Example 2:

One day not too long ago, I decided to head to downtown San Francisco to do a bit of barhopping and to see one of my oldest and dearest friends who lived near Fisherman’s Wharf. On the way, I stopped for a few minutes to admire a large painting hanging in the window of an art gallery. At first, I could not make out the name of the artist but when I drew closer to the window, it turned out to be my oldest and dearest friend. To say that I was shocked is putting it mildly because I had no idea that my friend was an artist, not to mention a pretty damn good artist at that. The price tag said $3000 which was way beyond my budget at the time. So when I reached my friend’s house and went inside, I quickly asked him about the painting. He immediately denied painting it and said that he had never painted a picture in his entire life. How was this possible, I thought? With that, I went back to the art gallery and asked the owner about the artist. As it turned out, the artist was deceased and by some weird coincidence, his name was exactly the same as that of my friend. The next day, I noticed that the painting was gone, so I never did find out the true identity of the artist.

Example 3:

As an international student originally from the island nation of Taiwan, I have over the years met some very strange people. One of the strangest was the man who lived in the basement of my parent’s modest home in Taipei. I remember only seeing him a few times because he never went out during the day and usually stayed out all night. He was rather attractive and tall and was always dressed impeccably in either a suit or some type of stylish casual wear. One night, I decided to stay up late and wait for him to leave his little apartment in our basement. At about midnight, I saw him leave the apartment and head down the street which passed through a busy marketplace even at midnight. I then left my house and followed him and about ten minutes later, I saw him enter a run-down bar at the end of a dark alley. Since I was too young to go in a bar, I stuck my head in the doorway and there he was–dressed like a woman! He then climbed up on a table and started dancing. To this very day, I am not at all sure if this “person” was a man or a woman. But I do remember that he was wearing a very nice dress styled after something by Dior straight from the racks of Paris. I stayed by the bar door for several minutes, then went home and fell quickly asleep. I imagine that I had dreams about this strange person but I do not recall them. Several days later, I saw “him” again. All he did was smile at me while adjusting what I assumed was a bra beneath a shiny red silk blouse.