I Lied to a Little Girl

I was at the elevators which connect the parking garage to the casino at South Point. I held the door open for a family of two adults and three children, the oldest being a girl who was maybe eight years old.

The kids got to the elevators before the adults and the oldest girl was staring at the buttons, not knowing whether to push up or down. When I quietly pushed the down button on the other side of the bank of elevators, she looked disappointed. She wanted to do it but just didn’t know which button to push.

I decided to try to make it up to her. I told her that when she got into the elevator, she should look for the button with the big “C” next to it and push that one. She looked at her father for permission. He nodded yes and she happily pushed the button.

She then asked me what the “C” stood for and I told her it stood for “Can’t wait to get there!” She nodded her understanding because she was being taken to a movie by her folks and indeed, couldn’t wait to get there.

Her parents smiled at what I told her. They appeared to judge me as a friendly, harmless, grandfatherly type of guy and didn’t correct the misinformation I had just disseminated. At least not in my presence.

The little girl, I never did learn her name, was delighted with the new information she had gathered. She appeared to have an insatiable curiosity and she just picked up something new — which made her day. Based on my two minutes of experience with her, she seemed to be the kind of kid who loved to go to school because there was no telling what kind of new stuff she was going to learn today.

It made my day too.

For whatever reason, I enjoy being around people who are excited to learn. In my classes, I’ve probably explained 2,000 times why a suited QJ is more valuable than a suited KQ, or why a suited AK has exactly the same value as a suited AJ. Pretty basic stuff, but every so often this causes a spark to go off in somebody’s head and they really appreciate having these “mysteries” cleared up.

Which is why I enjoy teaching. Which is why I enjoy writing. Which is why I enjoy hosting a radio show. My love for teaching people who want to learn isn’t restricted to gambling. I was the second of five children and often shared what I knew with my younger two brothers and sister. And I’ve taught dancing to thousands of people through the years.

That doesn’t really explain lying to a child, however.

Teaching (and writing and hosting a radio show) is at least partly entertainment. Yes, I’m trying to transmit knowledge, but if people get a laugh or two along the way, they have a better time in the learning process. When people enjoy learning, they’re more likely to want to pay attention and learn more.

My “can’t wait to get there” out-and-out lie was the kind of harmless “clever” joke I regularly share with my typical adult audiences. This one was corny — and most adults would smile at it. The fact that this child and her younger siblings didn’t “get” that it was a joke neither surprises nor bothers me. Often some adults don’t get my jokes, for whatever reason. (At least sometimes it’s because some of my ad lib jokes just aren’t that funny — or maybe miss the mark at times.)

This particular untruth was an obvious lie, recognizable as such to adults of normal intelligence, and didn’t do any harm. When people know you are trying to make a joke — especially when it comes off well — it often makes their day a little brighter too. I think of it as a random act of kindness to strangers rather than a violation of some “thou shalt not lie” commandment.