Gossip Folks

I guarantee you this won't be my only post on gossip and the effects it has on people. What I find the most strange is that we are in a recession and people are still gossiping. I'm sorry, shouldn't you be preparing for your future? Making sure your job is secure? Making sure you're on top of your school work? Apparently not, because the bs seems to be at an all-time high. I know you're curious as to why gossip is a topic today...well this is what happened...

A friend of mine calls me up yesterday telling me how mad she is because there are rumors going around her school that she is a hoe and sleeps with a lot of guys who run in the same circle. This friend of mine is no hoe, in fact, she's a borderline prude. She has never dealt even talked to anyone at the school she goes to, let alone been physical with anyone. The crazy thing is that my friend heard this information from an individual that she is not even close with, who heard it from someone who doesn't even know her first name. That tells us that a) more than a few people are talking about it b) people who don't even know her are making it their business to speak on her personal life. I have a feeling that these rumors started something like this:

Person A: Do you know _______? She's always hanging out with (insert name of a group of males here)
Person B: Yea, I've seen her around. She must be sleeping with one of them.
Person A: I knew she was a hoe. She probably messed with all of them.

Person C is listening in the background

Person C: Yo, I just heard ______ is a hoe!
Person D: Stop lying!
Person C: Nah I heard she messed with mad (insert name of a group of males here), and she slept with all of them mad times!
Person D: Yea, well now her business is gonna be all over campus. She shouldn't have been sleeping around in the first place.

And soon enough, Person D tells Person E, who tells Person F, and so on...

Now notice, no one had proof that she actually did this. No one can even name one person who she has legitimately fooled around with, yet rumors continue to circulate. We all fall victim to gossiping...we're naturally curious people, and many of us are nosey. If someone knows information and is ready to tell us, we're not gonna say "No, I don't wanna hear this because I know it's gossip and may or may not be true." We're going to listen intently, and say a bunch of "Uh uh's" and "See, I knew he/she did/is..." We're even going to be so moved by what we just heard, that we're going to tell another friend, and make them promise that they don't tell anyone else. There is no way to eliminate gossip; people would literally have to stop speaking. What I think is that 1. We should all be at a point where we're able to differentiate between what's true and what's false. Let's say you do hear something about someone. Who are you to say whether or not it's true or false? And why is it of interest to you in the first place, so much that you feel you need to go spill the beans to someone else? Let's say my friend was actually the whore that people made her out to be. What business is it of anyone else's who she chooses to lay down with anyway?? I understand that we may slip and say something to someone that we probably shouldn't have said. What I don't understand is why we go around making up lies about people.

I have a possible solution that has worked for me in the past. Once in a while, someone will ask me if I heard what happened in a certain situation. Usually I'll remind with a "Oh, I didn't hear that." and then I'll probably say "interesting" or something like that and keep my mouth closed. Don't ask questions. Don't probe the person into talking any further. Don't speak about what you just heard. Bottomline: don't entertain the gossip. I'm pretty sure if more people did this, there would probably be less drama in the world. The reality is that people still talk, and are always going to talk about everything. There's nothing we can do about it but keep our business to ourselves, and only tell people whom we absolutely trust our deepest and darkest secrets. Let me just add that facebook and myspace add to the drama that goes on out there.

With that being said, I think I'm done here. Let me know what you guys think because I know I can't be the only one who has an opinion on this.

Later days...