I can’t hear you
You say when you choose not to acknowledge
What someone has said
You lie
Over Zoom, Facetime
Fake a bad connection
Know that some technical glitch
Can cover your lie
The additional safety layer of tele-distance
Two screens between you
And a person’s face, a group of faces.
In-person, in the classic sense
You lie to someone’s face
You do have that reputed gall to do so
Unless
(This might apply in any of these situations)
You are deaf or hard-of-hearing
That disability can work for you all day long in this area
If the person then writes out what was said
You could try
I can’t read this
But that is playing long odds
Unless
You have low vision or are blind as well
Over the phone seems less harsh, less drastic
You can’t see the person
This blunts your conscience
You lie only to that person’s ear
You would never hear
Look me in the ear and tell me that again
I can’t hear you
One of my dad’s classic lines
Unless you’re whispering something
You don’t want Dad to hear
While he’s watching Wheel of Fortune at top volume
Downstairs from where he’s sitting
Many rooms away
And he yells
I heard that
Lanning Lee 