Gossip

When I hear juicy gossip, I have a small group of 4 that I immediately contact. They will not take the story any further. I completely trust them. When I need to vent just to get over something, they are my go-to-girls. When I want more information about a rumor, I widen my circle. I have a few friends that are my sure-to-know-something-about-it.  Depending on the story might determine which direction I go. I have high school friends, teacher friends, friends at my husband’s school, friends of my kids, parents of my kids’ friends, my dad, my mom’s friends, the beauty shop, etc. I don’t think I am unique or special. I imagine a lot of people have social networks like my own. There are things I might say just to the 4. There are other things that I might say out loud at the beauty shop. There are times that I have shot my mouth off and later thought I shouldn’t have said that… this is not something I am bragging about. I am not necessarily proud of this. I cringe thinking that someone may have been hurt by something I said. Most of the time, my words are kept to the little circle that goes no further. I listen to things, and then I am very careful about to whom I might share. Again usually the small circle where it stays put. My cardinal rule is that if a friend is venting/griping about another friend,  I listen, empathize, chose my words carefully, and keep it to myself. I would not tell the person they were being talked about unless I felt like it was etremely important. …life or death important. I keep secrets, but if it was life-changing important,  I would tell the person who needed to know. The other day someone I love was told about a lie that had been said about her. This person did so well on something that another person accused her of cheating. Then her mother got on board and started making phone calls. Thankfully this was one of those appropriate times when someone came up and told her what was being said. The person confronted her accuser. The accuser may or may not have believed her. I wonder how many people heard and believed that she cheated? Hopefully people who know her would say, “No way- I don’t believe it.” But how many would say, “OMG? Really?” and then spread the lie as fast as they could? That would be hard to resist. My go- to attitude is always, God knows or Jesus knows the truth. As I have grown older and wiser, I try to not jump on the gossip train, and I am the first to dispell a false rumor. I might enjoy hearing a juicy bit of gossip, but I am wise enough to know it may not be true…

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