Re: Gossip

When I really think about it, I don't understand gossip.

I mean, I understand the concept, and I can even understand the allure to engage in meaningless gossip at some points in life. By nature we are curious beings, so sometimes we have to consciously fight against our urges to pry open someone else's private life.

I know that we've all engaged in gossip at some point, and still do. But for the girls and guys out there who are incessantly chatting about other people: I don't get you. An aside: I say GUYS too because people may be under the impression that only girls gossip, and that can't be farther from the truth. There are a fair share of men who can't keep their traps shut about stuff that doesn't relate to them.

I've met a handful of people who are bona fide gossips through and through. They can barely take two breaths without saying something about someone between them. I never truly understood these characters until I once heard that gossip about myself existed. Frankly, I'm a boring person. As far as I'm concerned I haven't done anything scandalous or even interesting enough to warrant people taking the time to discuss my life. So if they're actually talking about the banality of my existence...well damn, they must be really bored or something!

And gossips don't just spread drama, they also create drama that didn't even exist before they started talking about it.

Religiously speaking, backbiting is one of the larger sins that we very unwittingly fall into, and it's incredibly damaging to ourselves and those around us. See this somewhat creepy YouTube video for a visual representation of the issue.

Related to this issue is that of being unable to hold your tongue when it comes to personal issues within your own life as well. I've been shocked at how easy some people speak about intimate details of their personal lives. Fights within families or spouses, struggles with finances, arguments within work or organizations. Where do you draw the boundaries of what things you can make public and what things should remain private? Perhaps our world is becoming one that no longer values privacy...Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. These communication avenues all promote the unfiltered sharing of both the intimate and the banal aspects of day-to-day life. There is something perturbing about the fact that I can login to my Facebook and quickly know who's in a bad mood, who's getting married, having babies, celebrating anniversaries, eating a cupcake, etc.

And perhaps the over-sharing of information fuels the gossiping.

My message to gossips: stop wasting your time talking about other people just because you lead a life of insignificance. If you do something of meaning with your life, you won't have time to be the person who's always preoccupied with sticking his/her nose in others' business. Also stop sharing intimate details about your life with people you barely know, or it will come back to bite you in the rear. And if you still have mouth-flapping troubles, start a habit of chewing sticky and hard taffy. All day, every day.


Good luck with your gym membership bills though. And I'll try not to mention that you've gained weight to all my networks, Facebook friends and email lists.