Water Cooler Talk

Things just keep bubbling up.

To live in a small community whose three main professions are commercial fishing, gossiping and being the subject of the gossiping, makes for an interesting existance. Don't get me wrong... there are many great people here. Wonderful people who have been a true blessing for a "come here"

come here

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The local term for people who have moved here from elsewhere.

like me. But I have never heard as much gossip and backbiting as I have since moving here.

I have been the subject of the devil's radio

devil's radio

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The title of a George Harrison song about gossip from his "Cloud Nine" album.

Listen to George and friends.

once or twice here, once a totally untrue thing, and another--nobody's business but mine. My first job in town was with a group of guys who went to high school together but never seemed to leave. Grown men whose purpose for work was not for the wages or to promote the company. Their reason for showing up each day was to one up or put down the others. Thank God I got laid off before someone got laid out.

And it apparently is a part of a person's raising, as our children are sometimes pulled into other people's dissing of other people. Friends pit them against friends. And in my children's wisdom they simply keep their peace. They know anything they say can and will be used against them in the court of public school opinion.

There are some benefits to being an import. First, there is no bloodline between me and anyone here. Therefore no long standing feuds, curses, turf wars, or tribal vendetas. Second, I have the advantage of objectivity. I can observe pettiness and drivel and if I dare, I can tell it like it is. And finally, I can choose my friends from the pack. No obligations, no clicks, and absolutely no money back guarantees.

The best advice I can give about gossip is if it isn't about you, don't say it.

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