The Keith Syndrome

Keith came into my life right after my Pappy died. I liked him instantly.
We hit it off like two peas in a pod and like we had known each other our entire lives. The guy worked for me and could fix anything and taught me a lot about repairs.
He was funny. He was entertaining and easy to talk to.
We loved a lot of the same things. We were two grown men that loved to mix it up and rastle around the house.

Only thing is, he had a hard time with telling the truth. It would be hard now to remember every celebrity that he knew or every tall tale. It would be hard to remember all that he had done or places he had been. He was business partners with basketball player Karl Malone. They had a ski resort together.
He was great friends with country singer Neal McCoy. His family owned everything in East Texas and they were loaded. So he said.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Secretly, I kind of hoped everything he said was true. However, what little brains I do have knew that nothing he said was true.

My last conversation with Keith was about jet skiing and how they owned several of them and would take us out on the lake. Needless to say, that never happened.

Keith was just one such individual that I knew like that.

Alex was pretty much the same way. Once, I called him and he had call waiting and he told me he was on the other line with Mel Gibson. Yeah, I am sure he would cut off Mel Gibson to take my call.
Maybe I should have been honored by that. Or, by the other 500 hundred lies he told me.

Then, there's Gaylon. He can shoot sub 70 in golf on any given Sunday afternoon. Problem is, people that have played with him say they haven't seen it. That he hits the ball into the woods and makes as many blunders as most golfers.
Takes quite a golfer to break 70 and he ought to be a pro if it were true. Please tell me why he's a maintenance man.

Everything you have done, they have done one better. Everything you are going to do, they have already done.
Doesn't matter how great or grandeur your accomplishments were, they were always better and have beaten you before you even start.

I'm sure we all know people like these.

Sad thing is, they would have been liked by me for just being who they were. There was absolutely no need for stretching the truth for impressing me. When all was said and done, I was actually unimpressed by the constant need for lies.
I just need an honest friend who can be his or her self.