A baby’s vocabulary consists of random, painfully high-pitched cries. TRANSLATION: several.

A child’s vocabulary consists of the word “mine.” TRANSLATION: “My parents haven’t taught me to share.”

A teenager’s vocabulary consists of the word “stupid.” TRANSLATION: “I lack the ability to deal with the discomfort/dislike of the situation so I’ll try to denigrate it in a desperate attempt to feel better about myself.”

QUICK DIGRESSION: We could spend a ridiculous amount of time studying the teenage vocabulary from “YOLO” (which of course should be “YLOO” if used in a grammatically correct fashion) to “I’m just saying” (which loosely translates into “I am too spineless to own up to the point I’m trying to make”) but that would be picking the proverbial low-hanging fruit.

An adult’s vocabulary consists of the phrase “wanting to spend more time with my family.” TRANSLATION: “I’ve been fired.”

Today yet another employee (Brent Callinicos – Uber’s CFO) has chosen to spend more time with his family. It’s reminiscent of the time Pat Riley sacked Stan Van Gundy so the former could coach the Miami Heat with the latter stating at a press conference his “resignation” was due to a desire to spend more time with family. (The irony is it gave rise to one of the most clever lines of all time – when Erik Spoelstra got off to a rocky start in coaching the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh trio and it was suggested if the team’s fortunes didn’t turn around Coach Spo would decide he needed to spend more time with Stan Van Gundy’s family. That’s a keeper!)

Why are we so afraid of the truth? Are we so uncomfortable in our skins? Ayn Rand once wrote about a societal shift from a time when the fear was about finding out a secret to a time when everyone knows the secret but won’t acknowledge it.

Is it really so hard for a person to admit to being fired? Must a company be so gutless as to allow an employee to fall on the sword?

We have no one to blame but ourselves. We tolerate intellectual dishonesty. We lie to ourselves (that slice of cake isn’t what’s making me fat), we lie to our kids (I didn’t do that when I was your age) and we allow companies to lie to us (your call is very important to us).

C’mon people. Let’s show some self-responsibility.