In my opinion, it’s a delight to be able to trust friends and/or family with personal thoughts and events that we ordinarily wouldn’t want the entire world to know.  It is a therapeutic serenity to be able to confide in a confidant without the fear of universal exposure and ridicule.

I have a select few family and friends with whom I can confidently confide.  Yes, and I can count all of them on both hands.  None would, nor have they ever, betrayed my confidence.  And I, the same.  A confidence is a confidence and not a free card to broadcast to the galaxy.

Yet, I have beheld the brunt of people over my lifetime that are like a Fagin, or a Mr. Bumble, or a Gladys Kravitz, or a Hedda Hopper.

What makes people act this way?

When I lived in a condominium, there was a couple across the hall from me who lived for scandal.  I learned the hard way that to say anything to either one of those two was akin to telling the world.

The wife would come quietly to you when she knows something is amiss in your life.  “Oh, Dear, if you ever need to talk . . .”  She would coo and purr and lead you to believe that she is your best friend.  At times, she would stop you in the hallway, look up and down to ensure no one was around, then quietly say, “You know, I shouldn’t say this . . .” and then proceed to reveal scandal and rumor and salacious scuttlebutt that was occurring among the residents in the building.

He, on the other hand, would shout out something that was personal and private, whether in the common areas or at meetings.

Funny thing with this couple is that they went to church every Sunday, she sang in the choir, they had icons and other religious articles in their home, one of their sons is a monk – and yet they continued to bear false witness, spread rumors, and the like.

What makes people act this way?

There are many types of gossip that evidently a certain type of people feed upon.  It’s sad, really.

Is this because their own lives are dull?

Is this because knowledge is perceived power?

©2022 Colcannon Metropolis, “Aren’t They Just!” “Life is Funny,” and “Thoughts on the Terrace on a Rainy Day”