Gossip among friends!

"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip." Will Rogers

"Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you." Spanish Proverb

"To be silent the whole day long, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself." Henry Miller

I'm still thinking about the movie, Our Idiot Brother, and how it pealed away the idea that being truthful and speaking good about people is looked with suspicion in today's society. Monday while I mowed the lawn I was listening to a podcast of "This American Life" dealing with gossip. In some African nations gossip works like Facebook to single out those that may be HIV positive. The process of talking about people does alert about those with AIDS, but in doing so they also destroy many innocent people as well. The next short story was about producers of "reality" shows and how the producers between shows start rumors to pit contestants against each other or to start something.

Producer on camera, "Jane, would you be bothered if John flirted with you?"

Jane, "I never thought about it."

Producer, "Well think about it."

Jane, "I guess I would not care one way or another."

Producer, "I need that in a sentence."

Jane, "I would not be bothered if John flirted."

Producer (off camera): "John, Jane said that she would like for you to flirt with her."

Ah, Reality!

In the movie, Our Idiot Brother, Ned's sister(who writes for a magazine) gets mad at him for not allowing her to use a story that would be great gossip even though it would destroy someone. He was such an idiot for wanting to think good about his friends!

I was reminded of a recent Bond vote that was defeated by gossip. The opposition used no advertising. Instead the day before the vote they spread gossip that could not be proven in short time. One story was about the drawing of the proposed school. They said, " If you look close you would see that the superintendent has his name on the building. He is naming it for himself!" Of course, no one had a drawing to look at. they just believed the gossip.