So guess what is causing the drama this time. Gossip. It's a thing we always do, but few of us are willing to admit it. The results are often evident in the attitudes we have towards people for no apparent reason. The cause, someone said something that has gone to shape your opinion of a thing or person. Most of the time, with all the he-say and she-say drama going on, we end up so far from the truth that we don't know what to believe. The stories we start to hear are better than works of fiction, and as a result of the new rumors, making the rounds many a 'batterback book' is opened and histories that have long been buried are resurrected.
When my husband told me he wanted a divorce I was shocked, devastated, heartbroken! People just think of every word that means a person has been destroyed mentally and emotionally and that is what I was. As time went on I absorbed it, then eventually I told my three long time friends. Their reactions varied but I'm not surprised by any of them, as I always knew their opinion of my husband. Things really began to get interesting when the whispers began to drift around my office and I knew for sure I had no true friends at work.
Somehow the sordid details of my impending divorce made its way into the office and as a result, my co-workers took the opportunity to exercise the dexterity of their tongues. The things I started to overhear had me asking who else in the office was getting a divorce and had a husband called Walter, they really couldn't be talking about me! The things they were saying were cruel and shocking.
One day while I walked towards the break room I heard a conversation drifting down the corridor towards me. When I began to understand what was being said it froze me in my tracks.
" ...yes that bad-looking fool thought she had the king of the pack when she really had the Joker."
"No you mean she is the joker. Running home to cook and clean for a man like a chicken without a head as soon as work done when he out on the street seeing more women than a gynecologist. That woman like she didn't have no common sense."
They had a lovely time making fun of me but with everything I heard I wondered if even one of them stopped to consider the fact that they were talking about someone who had feelings. For them, it was just a sweet piece of news but the truth is when you may be talking about someone with glee you don't know how close to home that story really may be. It amazes me how carelessly people discuss the things they hear, not taking into account who may hear them and the damage they could be inflicting on other people's lives.
I knew things were bad when my boss asked me to come into his office and started to discuss the rumors that were circulating through the company. When he began to explain what he was hearing and that he was worried, my jaw dropped in shock at the audacity of the stories that were passing about. It seemed I had only heard the tip of the iceberg. The most hilarious rumor was that my husband had kicked me out of the house with nothing, and I had to borrow people's clothes to come to work so that was why I finally dressing in decent clothes instead of my usual Salvation Army rejects.
After quickly letting my boss know the truth of the situation, I went to my desk. I had to sit down and settle myself so I could figure out how I was going to deal with these out of the way statements. Being the object of office gossip is nothing that anyone wants to be involved in. It distracts your focus, from your work and a paranoia settles over you and you think every time two or more people are talking together they are gossiping about you. Then, if your boss is not the understanding type like mine, these rumors can end up getting you fired.
That weekend was spent thinking and it led to a sort of epiphany that spurred my gradual mental transformation. I decided the way to deal with all the talk was to pretend I didn't even hear it. Why bother because no matter what I do I'll never be able to stop them from saying what they wanted. Focus on the direction I wish to take my life and work to get there.
Now faced with a different me, the office is once again abuzz with lies, half-truths and straight up fables about my life. My new ability to constantly keep them unsure of what is going on will probably have them coming up with new things to talk about me again but truly I don't have time for them and their trivial, childish activity.
Sooner or later the ones in my office will realize that while they are busy minding everyone else's business, they are not seeing what is going on that was affecting them. That is why when disciplinary letters started getting handed out left and right for incomplete work I had to laugh under my breath. They all were so busy gossiping my name that they forgot to finish their work, and with me not picking up their slack anymore, they have all landed themselves in hot water.
Gossiping till you become the next topic of gossip is just as the advertisement would say, 'priceless'. That is why if you hear something you hear it, but there is no need to be going around telling it to the whole world like you work for AP or Reuters. Unless it is a matter of life and death there is no need to spread it about.
Without a doubt, something else will soon happen and the attention will be shifted to the new, hotter piece of gossip. Each one of them should know their time will come, but I'm not going to join the feeding frenzy but watch from the sidelines and keep my mouth shut because I know how much damage words can do.
YOU ARE READING
Diary of a Recovering Idiot
ChickLit"It's time to trade up to a newer model," said Walter. "I had you for twenty years too long." Those were the words that threw my life into a tailspin and placed me on a journey of chaotic rediscovery. Soon it was a matter of surviving because I had...
