To Lie or Not To Lie?

I'm a big believer of honesty. Brutal honesty in fact. Why lie? I can only think of a few situations in which lying is acceptable behavior. Christmas is not a time for lies.

When you open a Christmas gift that you really don't like, how do you react? Do you pretend to like it? Do you lie about how nice it is or how much you will enjoy it? Or do you just lay it out there that you don't like it and you wouldn't be caught dead keeping it?

As you can imagine, I received a gift that I did not like. God bless my mom, she sure does try hard. She thought I would like a new puffy vest. As you may know, I have four of them and I am a big fan of this attire, so she was on the right track. However, she opted for the bright fuschia puffy vest. Um, hell no, I believe was my reaction. So obviously, I went for brutal honesty here and I hurt her feelings. No one wants their feelings hurt during the holidays but I just couldn't bring myself to lie about liking this vest. I honestly wouldn't be caught dead in it.

I've taken a lot of grief for this reaction and for my honesty. I've also taken a lot of grief for the fact that I am a big fan of earth tones in my clothing. I'm sorry if I don't like 80s-colored shirts and vests; I'd rather be in shades of gray, brown and black. Sue me. I don't tell other people how to dress and I know what I like, so why apologize for who I am?