Rhetoric

Mini-term classes were always popular. You could cram a whole quarter’s worth of credits into only six weeks, and when it was a hard-to-get class, it was a win/win situation.

Over Christmas break such an opportunity presented. A single speech class was the only requirement left to graduate, so “Rhetoric” was penciled into my schedule – two hours a day, three days a week.

During our first class, as an ice-breaker, we played a pseudo game of Truth or Dare, except there was no dare. The difference was that when you were ‘it,’ the other students could ask you anything, and you could either answer truthfully or lie. Points went to the ones who guessed right.

Everyone got four questions, and since they changed randomly, we had to be quick, and convincing.

I pulled my chair from the circle and sat it in the middle. Nervous, I worried that I didn’t have a good poker face, and was sure they could hear the waver in my voice.

“What is the one thing you do in college that you’d never do at home?”

“Cut my spaghetti. My mother is a fanatic about us twirling our pasta. She believes it’s gauche to cut it.”

“What was the most unusual pet you’ve ever owned?”

“We once had three Quarter Horses. A mare and two foals. My father named the youngest one Hondo because he wanted a motorcycle and my mother didn’t want him to have one.”

“What’s your favorite swear word?”

“I say ‘shit’ a lot, but when I’m really mad, it’s ‘fuck’.”

“Are you a virgin?”

“I did make it out of high school a virgin. I was very proud of that.”

The inquest was easier than I thought it would be, but was grateful my turn was over. As the next person took center stage, I contemplated what I’d bring to the next class when we were supposed to tell the dirtiest joke we knew.

This week’s Trifextra challenge is simple, but ambiguous – three truths and a lie.

While attending college, I did take a speech class during Christmas break mini-term my senior year ~ and yes, back in the day we had quarters and not semesters. We did play a similar game and did tell dirty jokes in class. The worst joke involved duct tape and an exploding gerbil – I’ll leave that to your imagination. The questions posed were asked during the ‘Truth or Dare Lie’ game. Your task is to pick which ones I answered truthfully, and which one is a lie.