I lie

New Jersey, 2000, sometime along my 7th year of birth, i did the unthinkable. I lied. It was most likely not my first lie, nor would it be my last. The act of it was as unremarkable as watching paint dry, but like drying paint it was the after-effect that was really important.
It had been a hot day in August, right before my birthday on the 24th. The ice cream truck made reagular stops in my block, because of our ideal placement next to the elementary school. On average it would come by 3 times a day. My parents would always give me money for when the ice-cream truck came by, but I only got one ice-cream a day. That day I had already had my first one, but it had gone by too quickly. I was still wanting for more.
A friend of mine had not finished his, but it was chocolate and I don't like chocolate ice-cream. We thought and thought of ways for me to make money to get some more ice-cream later. Mowing lawns was out of the question at our age, we were too small. We tried selling drawings to passerbies for a buck a peice, but we had no luck there either. (I mean who wants to pay that for a 7 year old's drawing anyway) So with my friend's ice cream sitting in his freezer waiting for the next time, we decided that I could go up to my parents tell them that I had taken the wrong one, and ask them for more money.
It worked.
That was my first memorable moment of lying, and in effect growing up. To me with age comes the loss of honesty, and lying. We need to lie to get alond with our lives in a more efficient and productive fashion. At 7 I had realized how not telling the truth can, and most of the time will get you what you want.