Would you spread rumors about people that you didn’t like?

Hmmm. Interesting question. First off, let’s define rumor. I think of rumors as unsubstantiated information. If I ever repeat unsubstantiated information I do it with great caution and I do it proclaiming loudly and frequently that it is information that I have not verified. In general I try to only repeat things that I have asked the person in question about.

That said, do I repeat information that I have checked out? Depends on the information. I am not a malicious person and I don’t want to hurt anyone. There are times when I feel that it is someone’s best interests to know a piece of information, and then I repeat it. I don’t break confidentiality though. If someone ever asks me not to repeat something then I simply won’t. If I feel a situation is important enough then I will say to a third party that there is information that I cannot repeat but I am worried about them for a reason.

Do I gossip generally though? Oh hell yes. I am a major people person and I love hearing more about people in general and I will listen to as many stories as I can. When I am sharing information I try to repeat something with the tone with which it was shared with me or to make it more neutral or more positive. I have been slammed a lot in my lifetime and I try to avoid doing it.

I think that quite often people do things that they don’t want repeated and then get angry when it is repeated. I also know that I am willing to cop to the fact that I talk about people and so I am a convenient target for people to be angry at when information is circulated. I am far from the worst gossip I know. And I do not repeat truly negative information unless I either was the recipient of it myself or I have verified it with the person who did it. Once I know that I understand as close to the truth as I can understand then… yeah. Character and esteem are how people are judged in this world and particularly in the communities I run in. I give honest evaluations. That means they aren’t always positive.