Unless they start stalking you...
In which case, you might want to call the police.
Or if a friend gets a new haircut that is completely hideous, yet you are a nice friend and so you tell her, "It looks great! It really brings out the shape of your face... which is good." In all reality, you want to ask her if she even owns a mirror and if she does, why she would not look in said mirror before leaving the house.
It um... it looks great? How do you feel about hats?
There are all kinds of situations in which it is not only socially acceptable, but actually socially required for you to be a polite liar. I understand this, because if I'm being honest, I don't ever want anyone telling me the truth about when I look super shitty. Ever. Not even if there is a fire.
But
I Cannot
Stand
Polite
Small
Talk
There I said it. The elephant in the room, the fly in the ointment, another analogy of a creature being somewhere where it has no business being.
When I see someone that I honestly don't care about, and I am forced to make polite conversation with them so as not to seem rude, it makes me hate them more.
I don't care about the weather. I don't care about what you did last weekend. I don't care about where you work. I don't care about who you are dating...
ok I might care about that one if it is scandalous.
BUT I don't care how you have been or what you have been up to. All in all, I don't care about anything going on in your life. Most of the time, if I haven't talked to you in years, it is probably for a reason. That reason is most likely that I forgot you existed. So if I had no recollection of you ever breathing air on this planet and my life was doing just fine, why would you think that I want to be uncomfortable with you in the middle of the tampon aisle of Walmart?
Conversation
Starter Kit
If someone actually said how shitty their life was going at the moment, the other partner involved in the conversation would likely start hysterically sobbing and making strange pterodactyl noises out of sheer shock and desperation. And do you know how awkward that is in the middle of a crowded supermarket?! No one wants that. No one can handle that shit.
Don't be a pterodactyl. Do the right thing and lie shamelessly to people you haven't seen in ages who might be named David? or Jamie? or Steven? Shit... just say hey it's good to see you and leave off the name because you're never going to remember anyway.