It started out with a stamp in 1920, Charles, Carlo, his given name was Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo.  The early parts of his life are a little sketchy.  He immigrated to Boston in the fall of the year 1903 full of hope, dreams, and charisma.  He started out his new life working odd jobs that included dishwashing.  He moved up north, across the border, to the city of a hundred steeples, or the 514, where he found a job as a bank teller.

Maybe it was while he was drinking an espresso at a quaint coffee shop in Montreal, or an Italian bakery like Pasticceria Alati-Caserta where everything is made from scratch, where the golden brown cannolis hold the sweet, blessed ricotta like a baby swaddled in a fresh white blanket, waiting for a bucket load of love, xoxoxos, hugs and kisses.  He came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea.  Was it the bubble, bubble, toil and trouble of the stew of the bank’s high interest rates, the memory of his arrival into the New World with 2.50 in cash and a million dollars in hopes, as he told the New York Times in an interview.  

He did three years in the big house after forging a bad check.  Instead of telling his mother in Italy that he was in prison, he wrote her a letter telling her that he was working at a Canadian prison. He added to his resume smuggling Italian immigrants, but what brought him fame, fleeting fortune, and infamy was this Eureka moment.

A letter came in the mail from a company He received a letter from a company in Spain that contained an international reply coupon.

History Time: “In 1906 the International Universal Postal Union created International reply coupons as a medium for individuals in various countries to send return postage to each other.  The International Reply Coupon could be purchased in one country and then redeemed in another for the equivalent value of that nation’s stamps; regulations set the rate of exchange, the massive devaluation across Europe following World War I wreaked havoc with rates.  International Reply Coupons purchased in many European Nations were worth more in the United States than their original cost.”

Badda-bing. Badda-bang.

Charles, let’s call him Calgary Charley, realized that he could turn a profit by buying IRCs in one country, and exchanging them for more expensive stamps in another country.  Next, he built on that.  He went international. He sent money to agents working for him in other countries who would then buy IRCs and send them back to the United States.  He would next exchange the IRC for stamps worth more than he paid for them and sell the stamps.  The word on the street was that he made up to 400% on some of the sales.  Now going next level, other worldly, in the 1920’s Chicago Carlo got investors involved and convinced them that they would get a 40 to 50% on their investment in International Postal Reply Coupons (IPRCs) within 90 days.  Early investors received payouts as promised because Carlo was using funds from later investors to give the promised payouts to earlier investors.

The word on the street spread as more and more investors heard about these huge payouts, invested their money in IPRCs.  Carlo used funds from new investors to pay fake “returns” to earlier investors.  Eventually a universal principle caught up with Charley baby.  “You will reap what you sow.”  His scheme imploded, but not before people lost millions of dollars, which in today’s money and currency evaluation was a gargantuan amount of money.  He fought to prove his legitimacy in court but eventually the long arm of law caught up with Charley and placed him in jail.  The long and short of it, Mr. Charles Ponzi was deported to Italy.

Today, July 7 is an unofficial holiday, Tell the Truth Day.  It is a day dedicated to honesty and the rejection of manipulation and lying.  Speaking frankly, and not charlie, I wish every day was tell the truth day.  Can it be not just a day but a year, a given, a life, a movement, a religion, a revolution? A revolution of truth.  Can we all be Vulcans?  Live long, prosper, and not lie.  Anyway, this day is a day is to encourage people to always tell the truth even it is inconvenient and hard. 

• According to a study by the University of Massachusetts, 60% of people can't go 10 minutes without lying.

• Every week, Americans tell 11 lies.

• A study by the University of Virginia found that people lie more often over the phone than face-to-face.

• Another study found that people lie more to strangers than to friends or family members.

• Men and women lie equally, but about different things. Men are more likely to lie about their achievements, while women are more likely to lie to protect someone's feelings.

• Doctors are often victims of lying, where 13% of patients admit to lying when talking to their physicians. This could be from the number of times one has smoked tobacco, taken medication, or engaged in intimacy without protection.

• On average, 6 lies are told to supervisors, partners, spouses, and workmates every day.

• Women tell 3 lies to their partners, supervisors, and co-workers every day.

• 10% of all lies can be defined as exaggerations, but 60% of all lies are considered to be deceptive.

• 70% of all liars claim to be willing to do it again.

• 20% of people lie to be humorous, such as when telling a joke or making a prank.

• Self-protection is the reason for 14% of people who lie.

• 13% of liars do so to make a good impression on others, or to appear more favorable to them.

• Personal gain or benefits are the reason that 9% of people tell lies.

• 5% of liars are unspecified, doing it for no apparent reason.*

So lies hurt, destroy, blur the line between reality and fiction, loosens our moral grip, rusts relationships, undermines and slowly rots trust.  Then there are lies that are greater, dangerous and destructive than what we say to others.  There are the ones we tell ourselves.

What are the lies you tell yourself?  What lies do you whisper to yourself before you start out a project, or start out your day?  What lies are screaming at you when you try?  What lies did you tell yourself today, yesterday, throughout your life?  Please share them in the comments below so we can see we are not alone and that we can learn from one another.

Here are a few:

 ·     I’m too old.

·      I’m too busy.

·      If I could just do fill in the blank_____then I would be happy fill in the blank_____.

·      If I just say or do____________ then that person will finally change.

·      If I just love them more than they will_________

·      If I had more time I would_______

·      If I just say or do xyz, then that person will finally change.

·      If I love them more than they will_____

·      If I had more time I would___

Poetically, ironically when a witness appears in court, a Bible is summoned, some have chosen other holy books, and publicly left hand on book, right hand raised, they are asked: “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?  So help you God.“ Telling the truth, becomes official, ceremonial, a verbal commitment before a crowd, a judge, officials of justice, yourself, and a higher power and authority is invoked whether a person is a believer or not. 

So, help me God.  I always wondered what that means.   According to a Theological dictionary** the idea is I mean what I say, and I will do everything I can with God’s help to perform my duty with the utmost diligence and integrity.  It’s the energy and mindset that with God’s help you can do anything, he is the supreme authority, and I am aware of his justice and consequence if I break this oath.

 So yesterday July 7, 2023, speak the truth.  Today is July 8, 2023, the clock turned from 11:59 -12:00 midnight, next day. Let’s not turn into pumpkins, rags, rats, or Pinocchios.  Let’s keep the hot truth streak running.  If you have to make a challenge for yourself to speak the truth continually, create a challenge.  If you have to make an oath a promise to yourself, if you swear on the Bible at court, if you have an accountability partner, if you sharpen your conscience, if you see the effect of your words on people and on yourself - promise to speak the truth to yourself and others and let’s not overcomplicate things.  Let the running mind commentary that you and only you only hear inside…that inner voice, whisper, let it always speak truth and not undermine your precious energy, time, and life. 

One of the most famous orators in history gave a 20 minute motivational talk in the Middle East, near a Sea called Galilee.  He dropped several powerful life hacks on a mount in the first century.  He said simply:  “Just let your word “Yes’ mean yes, your ‘No,’ no…”

References

Ponzi Scheme

* Statistics on Lying.

**Watson, R., “Oath,” A Biblical and Theological Dictionary, Lane & Scott, 1851, p. 709