Liars in old-time, and modern Phoenix

As someone who enjoys talking to people about old-time Phoenix, it suddenly occurred to me that I may have recently accidentally angered someone who had been lying to me, or "stretching the truth". I'm inclined to think that if someone thought that I had called them a liar, I would risk a punch in the nose. So I try to nod and smile, wish them well, and wander off. I don't call people, out, and I sure as heck don't call them liars, even if it's obvious that they are. I like my nose un-punched!

My first experience of accidentally calling someone a liar was back in the 1970s, when I owned an MG Midget, and had just moved to Phoenix. Naturally I was eager to talk to people who also had a passion for classic British cars, and of course their care in sickness and in health. So when someone that I was talking to mentioned that he had restored a 1950s MG, I was very interested, and I said, "Positive ground?" to direct the conversation, but the conversation just ended abruptly and he walked away. I accidentally hurt his feelings, and called him a liar. He had no idea what I was talking about, and of course if he had restored a 1950s British car, he would have. He was lying. I'll see if I can explain without going into too much detail.

My 1965 MG was one of the last of the positive ground British cars, and it was fresh in my mind as I had been scrounging junkyards in Phoenix looking for a positive ground radio. Of course, American cars were, and are, negative ground, and at some point British cars switched over, too. But my point here is that I had accidentally revealed that this person was just talking "through their hat" (an old fashioned expression for lying, or exaggerating the truth).

Arizona has a reputation for liars. Well, not really in a bad way, but people who stretched the truth, in kind of a Paul Bunyan way, so you have to be prepared. And even after all these years I really don't know how to react. I try smile and nod and then lead the conversation to less controversial topics, like how it it's gonna get today. One hundred! Maybe 115! But then again nothing is safe as there's always gonna be someone who remembers a day when it was 180 degrees, and then down to forty below that night - in Phoenix!

I guess I understand why people lie, or exaggerate. I suppose they imagine that their lives are just too dull and ordinary not to embellish. But I like the ordinary. I like learning about how people lived "back in the day", before GPS, before cell phones. There's no need to make anything up to hold my attention, the truth is just fine with me.

Thank you for the encouragement! If you want to see daily pics of my adventures on my recumbent trike in suburban Phoenix (just for fun, of course!) you can follow me on buymeacoffee.com/bradhall, and you can buy me a coffee if you'd like to!