Imagine finding out years later that you were the victim of a huge lie your parents or friends told you. Reading these both hilarious and unfortunate stories of people who fell for "grey lies," will make you wonder if you too were a victim.
Rabbit Disease
“My Dad and I had rabbits growing up. One day, I’m assuming a dog got into the cage and ripped one of the rabbits to shreds. I remember vividly watching my Dad picking up the rabbit pieces with a dust pan in the yard. When I asked my Dad what had happened to ‘Patches’ he said he got a disease. For many years after, I thought rabbits could get diseases that made them spontaneously explode” (source)
“I’ll just activate the reserve tank…”
“In high school we convinced our friend that all cars have a special reserve gas tank containing a small amount of gas for emergencies which was activated by leaving the key in the “acc” position (where it’s running off the battery). He believed us, but we all just kind of laughed and figured he didn’t REALLY believe us. Then a few weeks later we were in his car and he was almost out of gas, and he replied with total sincerity “No guys, it’s ok I’ll just activate the reserve tank” (source)
“We Buried a Garbage Bag”
“Our pet potbellied pig was hit by a truck and it shattered his pelvis. The vet put him down cause there was nothing he could do. My dad just told the vet to incinerate the pig. When he got home, my mom and us kids asked dad where the pig’s body was so we could bury him. He got a bunch of junk (food from the freezer and blankets and stuff) and stuffed them inside a large garbage bag. We then buried the garbage bag. There was a eulogy…” (source).
Long Lifespans
“My mum replaced my Russian dwarf hamster Pocahontas about 5 times before finally she got fed up with it. I didn’t find out she’d been replacing my hamster until a couple of years ago when some asked me how long hamster’s live for and I said about 10 years and she laughed and then told me”(source)
“My parents got owned”
“I had my cat Brutus since I was one, but we were going on vacation for the first time, and we dropped my cat Brutus off at my aunts farm that was about 20 minutes out of town. Someone to babysit him while we were away on vacation. He ran away, and I was heartbroken. Four months later, Brutus showed up at the end of our street. He had a very specific birthmark on him so it was definitely the same cat. My dad saw him and his jaw dropped. He was with us until I was 18. Found out later, at the age of 22, my Aunt was not babysitting and in fact they were trying to get rid of him. Brutus did not let that happen, my parents got owned” (source)
Marshall Ate What!?
“When I was younger, my parents got my siblings and I a golden retriever. He was the best dog in the world, in my 8 year old eyes. One day he just started shitting all over the house, and a few days later he “ran away” (according to my parents). I stood outside in freezing cold weather for hours, crying and yelling his name and for him to come home. Of course, he never returned. A few years ago, on a hunch, I asked my mom if that’s what really happened, and she told me, “No, Marshall ate a thermometer (the glass ones filled with mercury) off of the counter and went crazy (hence the shitting everywhere) so we had to put him down.” At that point I was old enough to understand that they did what they had to do, but they could’ve at least made me come inside and stop calling for him” (source)
Fit Lifestyle
“When I was a kid, any time we went out to eat, my Mom would tell me and my sister that after 4pm, people aren’t allowed to cross the street we’d normally cross to go home. It confused the hell out of me because of all the stuff teachers hammered into my little brain about how to cross the street, but I bought it anyway. She pretty much tricked us into exercising by getting us to walk a much longer way home” (source)
Santa’s Shipping Policy
“When I was in kindergarten, the only thing on my Christmas list besides Polly pockets was “a puppy or a kitten.” My parents, not being pet people and really loving their vacations without having to pay for a kennel, told my brother and I that it was illegal for Santa to transport livestock on the sleigh because they could distract the driver” (source)
Whitney Houston
“My mom told me I was related to Whitney Houston and I told everyone at school. We aren’t even black” (source)
Clever Rule
“When I got my car at 16, my dad told me that if I ever ran out of gas, the mechanic would have to reprogram my car’s computer and it would cost me over $1000. I made sure to keep the tank at least 1/4 full of gas because I didn’t want to have to pay that money to get it fixed. It probably kept me from getting stranded out in the middle of nowhere and was a pretty clever little story to tell because I was already a penny pincher back then” (source)
Milano Cookies
“Not for my own benefit, but my parents told me that Milanos were ‘grownup cookies’ and had something in them that children weren’t supposed to eat or it would mess them up (like raw egg or alcohol or one of those other things I wasn’t allowed). Only ‘stupid, irresponsible parents’ put them in their kids’ lunches” (source).
Making Butter
“When I was much younger, around 8 or 9, I was quite a hyper child. This was particularly bad when we would go out to restaurants, so to keep me occupied/sit still, my mom would give me a half & half packet and tell me to shake it until I made butter. I believed this until I was 16, when one of my friends asked me what I was doing to the half & half. I brought it up to my mom after, and she laughed at me and told me that she just wanted me to behave and sit still. I still do this to this day due to habit” (source).
Giving Up Blankey
“When I was about 4 years old, my mother bought a new garbage can. It was one of the metal ones with the lid that flips up when you press the pedal. I was instantly amazed. Absolutely infatuated (simpler times). I spent a lot of time opening and closing it, just crazy about making that lid pop open and slap shut. My parents quickly grew sick of this, and told me “you can only open the lid when you actually have garbage to throw away.” So for the next several days I would spend considerable time running around the house looking for garbage. Naturally, it didn’t take long before there wasn’t much to throw away anymore. But it so happened that I had a blankey that I still carried around. It really came down to the lid or the blankey. So I made the decision that I really didn’t need the blankey. I tossed it. Of course that day was garbage day. The trash went out, the garbage truck picked it up. Well, bedtime rolled around, and me being a typical 4 year old, I was beside myself. With a hysterical son, my Dad told me he would find it. My dad got in the car and drove into the night. He didn’t come home for about an hour, and when he did he sat me down and said “son, I have some news. I found your blanket. But when I found the blanket, a family of bunny-rabbits and their babies were curled up in it. It was all they had to keep them warm. So I can go back and get your blankey, or we could let the family of bunnies keep it. I thought for a moment, but decided that no. The bunnies should have it to keep warm. In hindsight, I wonder if my dad went to the bar, or just sat in the car and listened to the baseball game” (source)
Ice Cream Truck
“I was allergic to ice cream when I was little, and to keep me from being unhappy, my mom told me that the ice cream truck was a music truck–just drove around the neighborhood playing music for kids. Being a smart 3 or 4 year old, I found out it had ice cream. The cover up lie? Ah, yes, it has ice cream, but plays music when it’s out of ice cream so the children aren’t sad” (source)
Budgie
“My sister got a Budgie on her birthday when she was very young, on the first night it escaped from the cage and our Bernese Mountain Dog ate it. My father woke up in the morning, realized what happened, raced to the pet store at the mall, bought an identically colored budgie and put it in the cage… My sister didn’t learn about it until like 10-15 years later long after the bird had died…” (source)
The Best Parents Are Parents Who Launder Money
“I once got pulled over for driving 71 in a 40 when I was about 17. I didn’t tell my parents till the next day and they shat bricks. They knew the county sheriff and told me they’d talk to him to see if anything could be done about the ticket. They come back the next day telling me unless I didn’t want to lose my license I had to pay $250, take a safe driving course, and 8 hours of community service (which I didn’t do). So I did it all minus the community service. Few years down the road I come to find out the sheriff had taken care of the ticket so it never happened and my parents pocketed the $250” (source)
Rabbit Babies
“My brother and I had a pair of rabbits when we were younger, and them being rabbits and of the opposite sex, got it on a lot. As is generally the way, this resulted in many baby rabbits, many of whom would mysteriously go missing. My parents explained it to us as neighborhood cats getting in to the cage and taking them, which seemed plausible to 4 year old me. As it turns out, my grandma that lived with us was not only killing, gutting, and skinning the baby rabbits, but also making stew out of them and feeding it to us. I’ll be damned if I’ve ever to this day had better stew though” (source)
Pooping Fear
“I had a fear of pooping at school when I was younger so I would often hold it in all day until I got home. Unfortunately, this resulted in a pants-shitting accident in the fourth grade when I was unable to hold it. As a result, my mom started telling me about a “lady she knew at work” who would hold in her poop so much that one time, it came out of her mouth. I was horrified and proceeded to tell everyone at school mama said to not hold your poop in for too long or it’ll come out of your mouth” (source)
Pet Goat
“When I was younger, I had a pet goat. After a while, my parents had to give it away. They told me that they sent him to the farm that he was born on. Turns out that a Jamaican family bought him and ate him” (source)