Hmm...

I stumbled across an interesting internet poll. It was all about whether or not the respondants had a secret that, if revealed, could potentially ruin their lives. There were four options.

1. Yes, I have one or more such secrets.
2. Yes, I have one or more secrets which will make my life uncomfortable, but not irrecoverable.
3. Yes, I have one or more secrets of a mostly harmless but embarassing nature.
4. No, my life is an open book. With clean pages.

The results were approximately 25% to each response, with No.1 being slightly less. Some people had further commented on what that secret was. Owing to the anonymity of the internet, I guess they felt no shame revealing it. Most of the most dire secrets had to do with either sexual preference or political leaning. Individuals were sure that revealing these would get them kicked out of wherever they lived, fired from their jobs, give their grandmothers' heart attacks, and other horrible things.

Now, listen carefully. I don't want ANYONE to comment about how they either have or do not have secrets. The last thing I need to have happen is people trying to guess what everyone else's secrets are. Even revealing yes or no could have repercussions. If you MUST say something, it's acceptible if you post anonymously. I can't track that and neither can anyone else.

I don't personally have secrets that would ruin my life. Trying to think what those secrets might be was an interesting mental exercise. It basically always came down to gross deception. If I had killed someone. Was a sexual predator. Had gender realignment and wasn't comfortable with anyone knowning. Had a famous (or infamous) family. Had been previously married. Those sort of things.

My personal secrets just seem very superficial: I like that girl, hate that person, dislike that teacher, etc. It would be embarassing to have them revealed, but it wouldn't change (much) how people perceived me.

All the juicy secrets I know belong to other people. I'm not sure I'm happy about that, or miffed at my own blandness.