Lying About My Commute Time

Anonymous Flushed Sneak #453 · General

So here's the thing. I'm a software engineer at a tech firm in the city and married to my high school sweetheart, who works as a teacher in our hometown an hour away from where I work. The whole time we've been together, I've always loved being close enough for weekly visits but far enough that we had time apart, just enough distance to make us appreciate each other more when we did get to see one another. But lately, she's been asking me about my commute times and how long my day is. As the pandemic eases, people are getting back into the routine of going to an office rather than working from home. I started to dread those questions, because you see, there's a little white lie that I've been telling her for years. When she asks me how my day was or what time I left work, I tell her exactly five minutes before the actual moment when I leave. It all started when we first got together and I thought it would make my day seem shorter and less stressful if I just told her that I was always getting out of there a few minutes earlier than I really do. Now every time she asks, this knot forms in my stomach because I know she's waiting for me to share what happened at work or how busy the commute is. But all I can think about is that five-minute lie and how it feels like a betrayal even though it’s such a small thing. I've been agonizing over whether to come clean, but honestly, there's this part of me that thinks if she doesn't notice something for years now, why should I ruin things by telling her? It’s not as if the extra five minutes is making any difference, she gets to see me just the same amount and it doesn’t affect how we spend our time together when I do visit. So am I a terrible person for lying about commute times or is this something that's not worth worrying over?