Everyone has a breaking point. Cody’s came when confronted with “operator error” while he worked on a computer project. A pillow took the brunt of his frustration. Then he had a real mess on his hands.

When is a patio not just a patio? When you have to destroy it in order to make a “commitment” to your house. Rachel talks about this relationship to creating something new for the home.

I wanted to know what people last destroyed by way of understanding their creative process. Tom sat down with me at St. Mark’s Coffeehouse in Denver and talked about a time he destroyed a family heirloom, and what this meant in a larger context.

Megan and Luke are married and have just adopted a baby boy. We talk about how much children should know from their parents and when should they know it. Megan’s friend just had an unplanned pregnancy and had to tell the truth to her teenage children. Luke talks about whether withholding truth from their son someday is the best thing.

Claudia is in medical school and studying ethics as part of her training. This coursework is showing her that there are often more questions than answers when dealing with her patients, in particular, just how honest to be about their prognoses.

I asked Julia at St. Mark’s Coffeehouse if honesty is the best policy and she said being truthful is about more than just one person being honest. It’s about creating something better for the world at large. But she’s also fudged the truth in her own life every now and then….

Mehdi told me at St. Mark’s Coffeehouse that honesty isn’t the best policy because a small action on his part – admitting to an affair – could have catastrophic affects on others.

Michelle has been reading a book that is helping her understand what truth and honesty are all about. She had to shift a romantic relationship into a friendship in order to see if things could work out.

Is honesty the best policy? Ben says that’s a question of semantics. He tells me the story of a time when being silent was the best way to handle the truth.

When Luke was 12, his friend confides in him that he likes to eat dog food. The worst thing Luke ever did was rat his friend out to family. Luke is sorry, sort of. This is part of my ongoing series of conversations at Denver-area coffeehouses on different themes.