Recently, a friend of mine, while playing the designated driver, dinged up her boyfriend’s car. Instead of taking responsibility for it right away, she decided to tell him that someone in the parking lot must have knocked into it.

He, being drunk, readily believed her. The next day, however, while they were both sober and more rational, and she knew that he wouldn’t blow the news out of proportion, she decided to tell him that it was her fault and she now has to take the car to a body shop and pay for the damages.

While I know that my friend did the ‘right’ thing, I wonder if maybe she should have kept up the lie. That certainly would have saved her a nice hunk of change, and whatever guilt she was feeling, I’m sure she would have eventually gotten over.

People in relationships lie all the time. Girls downplay the amount of sexual activity they’ve had and omit a lot of their crazy partying stories when they talk to their boyfriends. Guys infamously tell their girlfriends that they don’t look fat in anything they wear and tell them that they look beautiful when they’re feeling a little insecure.

Relationships may be based on trust and honesty, but I’m curious to know if a few white lies can sometimes save a relationship?

Regardless of what the truth is, sometimes a lie is the better option for all involved. Knowing when to exaggerate, downplay or even invent a little anecdote is sometimes as essential to a functioning relationship as openness and communication.

Another friend of mine, from another school, went abroad last year. She was drinking one night with her friends and kissed someone at a pub. It didn’t mean anything to her and she said she didn’t even remember doing it until someone reminded her in the morning. She knew if she told her boyfriend, he would be outraged, and if he didn’t end the relationship, he would at least have made her feel guilty about it for months.

She opted not to tell him because when she thought about it, it didn’t mean anything to her and she didn’t want to make it become more important than it was. I think she made the right decision.

Two people in a relationship do have to trust each other in order to grow and mature healthily together, and doing that relies on honesty. While I sometimes believe in telling a white lie every now and then, you ultimately have to tell the truth about the things that are important. And knowing what’s important is the key to a great relationship.

‘ Micol Zweig is a junior English major, and if anyone out there now gets interrogated when telling a white lie to his or her significant other, hate mail can be sent to Opinon@bupipedream.com.