I'm watching a fantastic documentary 'Anatomy of Lies' about a Grey's Anatomy writer who made up all sorts of terrible lies about having cancer, a friend died in a terrorist attack and generally was a grief vampire who did terrible things. Subject of a Vanity Fair article too. Fascinating.
It's made me remember a boy at university in 2000 who told such strange lies and our group all privately shared misgivings. We sort of felt sorry for him. We didn't really know each other well enough so most of us politely let them go after a few probings were batted away with excuses. I seem to remember: he claimed to have taken a gap year when meeting at freshers week (yet his age was consistent with having just done A-levels) and during that gap year he'd done a scholarship with the NBA in America. He didn't exactly look like NBA material! All sorts.
We all drifted, as friendship groups do and I remember talking to him towards the end of uni along the lines of what are your onward plans: he had opened an independent trainer shop in Manchester's Northern Quarter on such and such street. Stupid me said great! I happened to be in the area, popped along to find his shop. After some confusion, found it was that chain Offspring! Went in, asked if this was his shop and the two guys were very intrigued... and desperate to know more, he wasn't working that day and no, this wasn't his shop! I backed off but evidently he was a shoe fitter in a chain shop!
Why do people tell such weird lies? I know why - attention - but my word, it's embarrassing and stupid. Almost like habit.
Any experiences of this in your lives and did you ever find out reasons?