My Mother's Blind Faith in a Lie Collar Broke Me
Since I can remember, I have been a liar. That is the conclusion my mother made about me.
After my twin brother, Daniel Benson, and I are born, she becomes obsessed with a so-called scientific parenting method.
So, she puts a lie-detecting collar on each of us. Whenever we lie, the collar lights up in red.
The moment it turns red, she presses a remote and shocks me. She says it will help form muscle memory to correct the bad character in me.
Daniel's collar is always green.
Even when he tears my mom's favorite clothes to shreds and calmly claims a dog does it, the collar still glows green.
But I am different.
Even if I just say, "Mom, I’m thirsty,"
The collar would suddenly flash a blinding red light. Then, a current shoots through my neck and into my body, making me tremble in pain.
At first, I try to explain.
But my mom always says the same thing. "The machine doesn't lie. You have to feel pain to learn. I'm doing this for your own good."
After being shocked thousands of times, I slowly start to believe that maybe I am truly born a liar.