Okay, so this was inspired... and I use the term very loosely, by the previous entry. Or, should I say, the previous, aborted entry...

Anyway, I wanna bitch about gossip. Those folks who choose to gossip and those who are eager to hear what everyone else is doing, who they're doing it with and why.

Now, right up front... I am not saying that I don't ever gossip. But, I try really hard not to. It's one of my pet peeves. I'm one of those people who will listen to what you have to say without running right out to tell someone else.

Of course, sometimes I just don't stop myself and I blurt out a whole bunch of stuff... but most generally I have control over my own mouth.

My sister gossips. So does my father. Now, they don't do it to be malicious or hurtful, but they do tell tales out of school. And that bugs me.

Hell, my sister couldn't wait to tell me all about the meeting one of her acquaintances had with my ex. She gave me the play by play. That really, really bugs me.

I've never liked that kind of stuff.

I like to think of myself as having a higher respect for other people's privacy. I'm not sure what the real truth is about that, but when I look at myself as objectively as I can, I don't think I gossip much at all.

And when I do, like my giving the update on Amy yesterday afternoon, I tend to gloss over the details, giving the most basic information and leaving the personal stuff private.

See... I look at it this way... For every person who is out there gossipping... every time I tell someone about someone else, I wonder what other people are saying about me.

That's what was going through my head yesterday. All these regs at Chuck's were talking about Amy. They were speculating about what and who she was doing, what was going on with her and making judgements based on those speculations.

I wonder what people are speculating about me. I really do. I think that the next time I go into Chuck's and see Ronny or Joe or Josh there, I'll ask them what people are saying about me. I'd really like to know.

Of course, that might be counter productive. After all, I might be better off just not knowing what rumors are being spread about me. *chuckles*

*sighs*

Regardless... it bugs me when I hear people "dishing the dirt". I don't want someone else talking about me unless they know the facts and have received clearance from me. I suppose I prefer a need-to-know relationship.

For instance, I'm not keen on the fact that whenever one of my mother's co-workers sees Duncan, she feels compelled to tell my mother all about it. Why? Do you want me to go make friends with your ex husband and then come back and tell mom all about what he's doing?

And, what's more... Mom, I love to you bits, but pleast don't tell me what your co-worker reports to you. If I want to know about Duncan and Patricia, I'll go ask them.

That might be one of the reasons I don't like watching the news. I don't WANT to know that yet another High Schooler has shot a class mate. I don't want to hear about yet another war. I don't want to hear about how the crime rate is increasing.

Fuck that.

Don't tattle!!! Didn't that lesson get passed to any of these rumor mongers?

Just because a rumor is based in fact doesn't mean the whole rumor is fact. Nor does it mean that said rumor should be bandied about.

This is a small town. Most people know most everyone else. There are cliques and groups among the social stratae (sp). I just don't want to hear it.

If you're curious about my life, then ask me what you want to know. I'm a fairly straight forward person. I won't lie to you. And, I'll answer any question you ask me. I might not give the answer you'd like, but I will answer.

One of the places where I've seen gossip to be the most prevelant (sp) is in churches. That irritates me. I guess I might have a different view of what Christianity means. Or maybe I'm just an anal-retentive in regard to privacy.

It bugged me, throughout my childhood, to listen to people talking about how it was so very important to keep a secret, then turn around to the person behind them and blab about the activities of someone and wasn't that just scandelous.

*rolls her eyes*

Did you ever stop to think that there would be no scandle if people stopped spreading rumors? That's what the media has become in my eyes. Specifically news media. I don't put much more faith in what I read in the newspaper than what I read in rags like the National Enquirer.

ON a completely unrelated note... what's up with all the commercial breaks as of late? Used to be that a half-hour sitcom actually lasted about 25 minutes with just a couple commercial breaks. Now, however, it's like there's less show and more commercial advertisement.

What's up with that? AND, what's up with the prostate commercials? And yeast infection commercials, and Herpes and such? I'm almost surprised that I haven't seen a commercial for some jock-itch medication yet.

We have commercials for adult diapers sandwiched inbetween commercials for Prozac (which must be losing a lot of money for the amount of commercials I've seen lately) and Child Depression studies. What the hell is wrong with our society that we allow such bullshit to occupy our time?

And... tho I must admit I've watched a few segments of the Cleo Awards... why do we need to have an awards show for commercials??? After all, if you're getting an award for a commercial, does that indicate you've got a good product? Or does that indicate you've got a good advertising company?

I haven't timed it lately, but I think I might start... I think that there might actually be 15 minutes of commercials in a typcal half-hour sitcom.

You know you've been innundated by commercialism when you're watching Fox Movies and actually start to fidget when there ISN'T a commercial. *chuckles*

Used to be that the viewing public used commercials for a bathroom break, to let the dog out, make popcorn or some such. Now we seem to be glued to the set, chosing to miss the actual show, rather than miss the commercials. For fear that we might actually miss a good one.

What constitues a good commercial? It has to be funny, touching or dramatic... It has to be well shot and directed. Many commercials seem to have a specific recurring plot... Gah... no wonder we stick to the TV when the commercial's come on. We want to know what happens between the Country Crock couple. Did they have a boy or a girl? Since Country Crock now has added calcium, we know that the Country Crock couple is having a little kid.

And, what about that couple with the coffee... was it Folgers crystals??? Can't remember.

Did those two ever get together for real?

*rolls her eyes*

See? Gossip and commercials... they're the same sometimes. We get entrenched in the story of someone/thing else's life and we forget to live our own.

I suppose that's what bothers me so much. I hated listening to my ex gossip about what certain people/couples at his work were doing. He'd tell me about problems the guys were having with their wives, troubles in the business, and all about the lives of the customers.

My mother asks me all the time, what I want her to tell her friends when they ask about me. My continual reply is thus... "If they want to know about me, tell them to ask me."

I think the next time that topic comes up, I'll just tell Mom to tell her friends that I'm working on the edit of my novel and hope to have it published in the near future.

So, for an atypical review... if you want to know about what's going on in my life... ask me. I'll tell you.

If you want me to listen about who is doing what with whom, I'll listen, but I won't actually take much of it in. And I'm not gonna get all gossipy beg for details.

And, please... if you have some interaction with my ex... keep it to yourself.

Do NOT repeat things I've told you in confidence. And, for that matter... if you're going to repeat things about me at all... better get my permission first cause I'll find out if you told and I won't tell you anything more.

Until next time...