# If you're going to lie, at least TRY to make it believable **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238 "2012-12-06T21:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/21 "2012-12-07T20:32:28Z")
Since the miles are automatically uploaded, I wouldn’t call him a cheater yet. Maybe he left the pedometer on top of the washer or something. Or maybe you’re competing against a letter carrier or UPS delivery dude. I bet they log 36 miles per day during Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/22 "2012-12-07T20:52:48Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Or maybe you’re competing against a letter carrier or UPS delivery dude. I bet they log 36 miles per day during Christmas. Nope, banker. Or at least, somebody who works at bank in town. The companies in the challenge are us, two banks, an information services company, and a hospital. Maybe this guy hand-delivers the cash to all the ATMS in the area, or something. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/23 "2012-12-08T12:08:49Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Maybe this guy hand-delivers the cash to all the ATMS in the area, or something. Or maybe he works on the dock and delivers mail and packages all day. And he delivers them one at a time. And takes the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/24 "2012-12-08T16:44:14Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Mention any number in a group of guys and there is always someone that will come up with a bigger number. We call this the “first liar always loses” syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/25 "2012-12-10T16:43:20Z")
In the interest of closure, I thought I’d give you the final tally … he ended the challenge with 1,403,950 steps. Over 19 days, and assuming an average of 2,000 steps per mile, he claims he walked/jogged/ran an _ **average** _ of 37 miles per day. Which I don’t think is possible unless you have superpowers. I ended up with a paltry (but legitimate!) 293,800 steps, for an average of about 7.7 miles per day. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/26 "2012-12-10T16:50:53Z")
Yeowch, what a long way to go for…what? A hat? Pfft. There’s a guy my hubby works with who just MUST WIN the Biggest Loser weight challenge their office does every spring. Sure, he does it honestly, but…wrapping yourself in saran wrap (Ok not saran wrap, but some mechanical device that acts like saran wrap; he wears it all day at work, and after work as well, I’m sure) , not eating for a month, and sweating it out in saunas just to win 50 bucks…come on. The worst part is it demoralizes the office, and there are a LOT of people in that office who could stand to lose \ a few pounds, and the yearly challenge used to be everyone’s kickstart. After the third year running of this guy just going SO FAR to win they just kinda gave up. The guy isn’t overweight, either, and afterwards he goes right back to whatever weight he was at before. I can see challenging yourself for fun, but when you’re doing something as part of a team, even a competitive one, I just don’t see the advantage to making ‘winning’ the only important thing. ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/27 "2012-12-10T17:23:24Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I ended up with a paltry (but legitimate!) 293,800 steps, for an average of about 7.7 miles per day. Good for you! That’s a lot, and you should be proud. You get the coveted InsomniaMama stamp of approval. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/28 "2012-12-10T17:28:08Z")
> [@InsomniaMama](#): > > Good for you! That’s a lot, and you should be proud. You get the coveted InsomniaMama stamp of approval. I will be honored to display it. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/29 "2012-12-10T17:37:06Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Or maybe you’re competing against a letter carrier or UPS delivery dude. I bet they log 36 miles per day during Christmas. Not likely. That’s an average of 4.5 MPH over an eight-hour shift. Given that they have to stop from time to time to deliver letters, they would have to pretty much jog from mailbox to mailbox. While carrying ~20 pounds of mail. In a uniform that’s not particularly optimized for athletic activity. For eight hours. ---
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/30 "2012-12-10T21:34:40Z")
My insurance company handed out pedometers for a fitness project. The things were so inacurant as to be laughable. Over my two mile walk I had a twenty percent swing in the number of steps it counted. I pitched it in the trash after the first week. ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/31 "2012-12-10T22:44:01Z")
A friend of mine entered a local contest online. One of the factors they took into account when choosing the winner was how many views your 2-minute entry video got on the contest website. Of course 99% of the entrants got a few hundred to a few thousand views over the course of a few weeks. All except for one guy, who somehow miraculously convinced over a quarter-million people to watch his video in the first 24 hours. Fortunately TPTB recognized it for what it was and called him out on it. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/32 "2013-01-19T22:44:48Z")
One shameless bump for this; it seems appropriate what with the Manti Te’o situation at Notre Dame. Would that Manti had read this thread months ago. Of course, it didn’t exist then, but you get what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/33 "2013-01-19T23:58:02Z")
What do you bet, his BMI is in the 40s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238/34 "2013-01-21T18:16:05Z")
> [@InsomniaMama](#): > > Man! Your sugar tit is twice the size of mine! > > (Bet you weren’t expecting to read that sentence today.) Get back to Hollywood, Mel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-going-to-lie-at-least-try-to-make-it-believable/643238.md?page=1)