Monday, October 19, 2015

How to tell when you're gossiping

Most people like to convince themselves that they don't gossip, they will say they only "discuss " or "gist". It's obvious that many don't even understand the difference between a normal relevant conversation and an idle talk aka "gossip". Let me illustrate with this conversation between two ladies.

Dialogue
Jane :   Have you heard that Ada is getting married soon?
Ann:  Woaw! I'm happy for her. So who's the lucky guy?
Jane:  They say he's from South Africa & he's a very wealthy lawyer.
Ann:  hmmm...it's ok. After all her dissapointment  God has finally blessed her. I'll attend the wedding.

Now check this out.
Jane :   Have you heard that Ada is getting married soon?
Ann:  woaw! I'm happy for her. So who's the lucky guy?
Jane:  They say he's from south Africa & he's a very wealthy lawyer. I heard he's been married before, with 2 kids already from 2 different women. In fact, I learnt his first wife left him when he got another woman pregnant.
Ann:  Really? tell me more! So after her dissapointments this is the kind of husband she ended up with. You know her last boyfriend was an alcoholic & a junkie and he almost killed her. She always came to me for advice whenever they had a big fight. Any way sha, God has blessed her. I'll attend the wedding, let me see this guy with my two eyes.

So,  you'll agree with me that it's very easy to tell when you're gossiping.  The difference is the extra irrelevant details added and it's usually something unpleasant especially about someone's private affairs.
Gossip hurts and damages. If you can't stay away from people who gossip, you can at least try not to contribute to irrelevant gist, that's how I do it.

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