Ike Sreeskandarajah
Appearances
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Sometimes, in my own life, just for fun, I'll make up something and tell people. Here's one from years ago. You remember Karl Rove, the guy who helped get George W. Bush elected to be governor and then president? I told my friend Charles that this man, well into his 60s, was really only 36. He just looked old.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
I guess I like the world where things aren't quite as they appear, and the people running the show are more like children in grown-up suits. And Charles... He went with it. So hard that years later he came back and told me he'd told dozens of people before catching the lie. Which, to be honest, made me feel great and enjoy the lie even more.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
That strangers I never met got to step into this funny little warped reality. But sometimes these lies of amusement don't work out so well. Like for instance, when my dad came to visit me years ago and was staying over in my small apartment, he noticed a diploma on my desk, ordaining me as a minister.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
It would have been easy to correct this misunderstanding and tell my dad the real story. that my friends had asked me to officiate their wedding, and to legally marry them, I had to get ordained in an online church. It just seemed funnier to go along with the story that I was now a minister in a Christian cult.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
While my dad met my fake conversion story with resigned disappointment and no follow-up questions, my mom just called me.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Honestly, this all surprised me that my dad couldn't tell I was joking. Mostly because I learned this type of joke from him. What did you say? I've just been doing your joke. The joke you make all the time where you lie about something. I didn't know that.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
My dad tells people he came to America by going through a tunnel under the wall. Other times, it's a boat. When I was a kid, he told me the stretch marks on his shoulders were from a fight he had with a tiger. I told everybody. But my favorite lie he told happened during a math class my dad used to teach at Madison Area Technical College.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
My good friend Buskus was taking it, and I decided to go with him. Before the lesson started, my dad introduced me to the class.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Well, I understand why it's plausible, but why did you even tell a lie about where your son was from instead of saying, my son is here?
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
My dad and my friend Buskus started laughing so hard they were wiping tears from their eyes. The rest of the class seemed confused why their teacher was misidentifying a new South Asian student as being from Central America. It was very funny, especially for those of us who have to field a lot of those where are you from originally types of questions.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Anyone carefully observing my dad might notice he has a tell. Quick eyebrow raise and a big grin. I have the same tell, and people close to me know it. But apparently, that doesn't make it any less frustrating to live with. Early in our relationship, my now-wife Emma told me it was driving her crazy.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
She didn't want to look over her shoulder to check for my tell or second-guess everything I was telling her. Like, do you really want to go to an info session on a timeshare in Juarez? Or, What do you mean the president says he will raise the black flag of ISIS over the White House? She told me to stop.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Neither of us remember the exact lie that drove her over the top, but she remembers the feeling very clearly.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Emma compared it to this thing I did when I was 26 and had just moved into my own apartment. When I used to use my kitchen drawers for non-kitchen items. Which is not exactly a lie, but felt like waking up on the set of a surrealist play.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Emma didn't want to live in Wonderland. It's too crazy. Too hard to find the forks. If we were going to make plans together for the rest of our lives, she wanted straight answers. So I stopped lying to her. For years, I packed this part of me away and the dresser I ended up buying for my underwear. But now we have two kids and I've brought lying back into our house, especially with our oldest.
This American Life
855: That’s a Weird Thing to Lie About
Leroy gets it. So far, he hasn't asked me to stop yet. Maybe you would like to try this in your own house. In fact, maybe it's a valuable lesson for your kids. Trains them to determine fact from fiction. It seems useful in our world.