Running With That Lie

(I’m working near the reference desk, when some teens come running in. Three different coworkers spot them and tell them to stop running. They don’t listen. The youth librarian steps in.)

Youth Librarian: “Hey, come over here.”

Teen #1: “I wasn’t running!”

Youth Librarian: “Look, you can stay in here, but be quiet and stop running.”

Teen #1: “But I wasn’t running!”

Teen #2: “Yeah, none of us were.”

Youth Librarian: “Okay, that’s it. You’re banned for the night. You do this again, you’re banned for a week. You keep it up, and I will ban you for a month. GET OUT.”

(The teens leave, still insisting they weren’t running.)

Me: “Did they just say they weren’t running when literally everyone in the room saw them running?”

Coworker: “Yeah. Yeah they did…”