Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Please, choose words wisely so that actions will match the words.

Yesterday, I was hit with a couple of examples of the Aesop’s fable. The trouble was, these were real life, and a boy wasn’t crying—it was adults jabbering nonsense. I won’t repeat the examples. There is something about these crying-wolf examples that when repeated a day or two later they are so ridiculous that they are not believable.

Sometimes people exaggerate to make a point. “The hole in the roof is thiiiiiiiiiisssssss big,” we exclaim with arms stretched wide to stress that a repair is needed right now. No. The hole was not that big, but we all understand, right?

Sometimes the exaggeration proclaims something else. The speaker exaggerates to the point of lying, and once a person lies they become like the boy crying wolf in the fable; no one trusts a liar.

If exaggerating to make a point, preface the exaggeration with, “I am exaggerating to make a point. I need your attention right now.” That works better. Not great, but better.

Words that don’t match action or needed action tend to be heard as lies. Let’s be careful and do better, especially if you need people to work unpaid overtime over the weekend because fill-in-the-blank-with-an-untrue-catastrophe.