That Frozen Smile

I am the first one to admit that I have a flawed personality. Okay, maybe I'm the second one since it's pretty much my son's favorite topic. Anyway, surely my biggest flaw is that I am unable to hide my feelings. I'm like Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar: I can't lie. Unless of course you mean nothing to me, and then I can lie like there's no tomorrow, dropping pearls like "I have a dentist appointment" or "I'm out of town that weekend" or "My book club meets that night" or "I'll get back to you" or "I'm on a deadline," or whatever the situation demands. I mean really, who doesn't do that?

But if you are woven into the fabric of my life, through no fault of my own but that's the way things have turned out, like if you're a relative by marriage or my husband's boss or my son's girlfriend and I am required to put up a false front and attend an event not of my choosing, I paste on one of those frozen smiles that fail to convince. (That being said, I have only good feelings for my son's current girlfriend, who is beautiful, smart and endearing. As for the rest, don't get me started.)

And BTW, I am not in a book club, never would be in a book club, and think book clubs are stupid and the exact opposite of why people read. Plus, all the people I know who are in book clubs never even read the books, they just go there to gab and eat and drink wine and be able to say they are in a book club, except for my friend Deneb who is exceptional in all ways.