there's no reason to lie, though. people take different jobs all the time, even after agreeing.

it's really not that big a deal; it happens. lying is a bigger deal IMO

i agree.

why lie? i don't understand.

i was under the assumption that it was a rare recruiting opportunity and to just say he didn't want it would mean he almost certainly wouldn't get another chance if he wanted one, or at least not for a while

if that's not the case, i retract my statement.

it was 6am-6pm Sun-Tue (week 1) and 6-6 Sun-Wed (week 2) alternating weeks

It was in the NOC for the Navy (civillian)

i'm not crazy about lying at all, but the circumstances leading up to landing both jobs at the same time, unintentionally, put me in a difficult position. if i had made it through all the interviews with Intel, during which i was asked repeatedly about my willingness to be there for the long run, commitment, etc -and then just blow them off, i'm certain i couldn't go back.
i was a candidate out of like 10 people, and they recruit who they think is good enough. so this is arbitrary in the sense that it could be 5 out of 10 or 2 out of 10. so i figured it's a white lie nobody suffers from, and it keeps the door open if i do decide to come back in the future.

you're right, it probably hasn't done much harm, but in the future, you'll get farther by telling the truth. companies don't hate you when you take another position; they instead look and see what they could have done differently in order to keep you. they may have even counteroffered.