Because if they gossip with you, they sure as hell will gossip about you. Trust me, you can go to the bank on that one.
I grew up in a family of gossips. Of course, they never considered it "gossip" per se ~ they just thought they were discussing things...like other people's marriages, marital problems, divorces, often comparing their own children with nephews' and nieces' personal peccadillos, accomplishments, intelligence (or lack thereof,) looks (that requires its own paragraph) and just about everything else that occurred within the confines of a large group of people who just happened to be related to each other, but were nowhere near (and a mockery of) what families are supposed to really be about.
That is why I can't really call it a "family" ~ the word never rang true for me, having heard and absorbed so much crap as a kid all the way through my adult years. Crap that included wide-open jealousy, viciously sarcastic remarks and incredible insults that began to pile up after a few decades until I finally had enough and headed straight for the EXIT sign. That move also eliminated the gossip which has resulted in an infinitely more peaceful (and productive) existence.
Perhaps the cruelest gossip of all concerned the all-famous "looks" issue...if you didn't inherit Grandma's tiny straight nose, you were deemed UGLY and that was it. The obsession with the size and shape of a nose in that group of idiots bordered on insane.
One cousin married a woman who had a bit of a 'schnozz' as did her mother. Well, Cousin's family was so worried that when their first child was born, the first question out of their mouths was "What's her nose like??" (I happened to see her first because I worked at the hospital of her birth.) Excuse me?? I was so taken aback, I don't even remember what I answered.
WHAT'S HER NOSE LIKE?? She's a baby and a healthy one, count your blessings and stop being so goddamned vapid!
As Karma would have it, another grandson of this very same shallow-as-a-thimble family grew up to resemble Jimmy Durante. Aww, poor kid inherited Daddy's nose and not Grandma's!
There's a saying: "Karma's a bitch only if you're one."
Now let's see how many of them read this, and set the old gossip cauldron ablaze once again.
Be my guest and HAVE AT IT!
