People Talk

If there is one thing I’ve come to learn in life from observing the people around me it is that people talk. Pretty profound eh? Let me elaborate, people love to talk about other people. What they’ve said, done, their past, what their future may hold and just about any aspect of their personal lives they desire. And this is perfectly fine… to a point. You see there is a fine line that is often stumbled over or just blatantly crossed that moves one from mere chit-chat to gossip. And even worse, starting roomers. Why is it that we feel the need to share stories and information that damage another person’s reputation? What right do we have to question character? Especially when the storyteller, nine times out of 9.5, has nothing to do with the situation. This drives me bananas!

And here is the thing for those of you with loose lips, a roomer doesn’t have to be true to ruin a reputation. You can destroy someone’s world with a story that isn’t even true. By repeating information that there is no real way you could confirm it to be true. So before you jump to conclusions or repeat something that is none of your business ask yourself a few questions: Is this true? What is my motive for telling this story? What is my source? And “Will this hurt anyone?”

I’m sure we can find lots to talk about without slandering anyone so if you want to make up or pass along stories or start/continue roomers… make a long story short, don’t tell it.