No, not that - but you can include that if you want?!!

I was watching Hillary Clinton cry on television this week - real or fake? Who knows. But it got me thinking about times when I have faked emotion and I think I got away with it.

One of my friends is completely needy - a quick bite to eat out with her turns in to an in depth analysis of her lack of soul mate, her job, her apartment etc. - I fake interest, I fake even really caring about what happens to her as I am pretty sure that she does this to everyone, not just me....  I think I get away with it, but am puzzled as to why I do it and i am a bit disappointed that I don't tell her what I really think.

When do you fake it? Why? Who are you protecting? Can you fake it? Or do you find it impossible ....     

Great talkabout Wolfie. I feel your level of faking is fundamentally different to that of StarShines. I guess we have all been in that position with a friend of 'oohing' and 'ahing' at appropriate moments while our minds are engaged totally elsewhere or we are secretly hoping someone else pitches up to the party soon.

However if we are truly hiding what we feel - such as heart-numbing sadness - then i feel it is dangerous. I am quite sure that many years of not talking about what i was really feeling led to me crashing last year. SOmewhere it is vital to have an outlet for your real feelings - otherwise it is like a pressure cooker waiting to explode.

eek - I dont know, I think on some level I am probably always faking it a bit! I definitly have a similar friend Wolfie, and I do exactly the same and wonder exactly the same... but I often say 'yeh I'm fine' when actually I am anything but.... it really depends on who I am with, if I dont trust someone emotionally then I am more likely to be fake with them I guess..

Last night I was crying (for a variety of reasons) and the man who broke my heart called and when I answered the phone he commented that I sounded odd.

Did I have a cold?

Allergies?

Was I OK?

I excused myself, put the phone down, and walked out of the room. After I had regained my composer I went back and told him everything was fine and finished our business conversation.

The reason for the lie was not not trusting him, I'm sure I could trust him with the truth, but it made me angry that he was being so disingenuous.

The watery voice, the sniffles, the little hiccups.... Yeah, it's allergies. I would have reacted differently if he would have asked "Why are you crying?", but to pretend he didn't know what I was doing?

I don't think he deserved the truth, so I told him a social half-truth (I will be OK again someday). It was also a way of distancing myself from him and protecting myself.