It bothers me very much that someone close to me is becoming a total Tambram in terms of…gossip. Not malicious gossip, but the extreme interest in people’s lives which I seem NOT to have developed at all. It bugs me that right now, this person loves to talk about what happened to various people, .who’s related to whom and whose marriage failed and who took help from whom…I think it is impolite to have too much of interest in other people, but here’s someone who, recently, is thoroughly enjoying talking about who is doing what….It’s actually, I think, a necessity to make a lot of connections,and have a lot of information. That’s all…at least, in this instance.

What DOES everyone think of gossip, not the malicious or envious kind, but the eager updating of information about other people’s lives?I always feel that we are hearing only one side of any of the “bad” stories and hate repeating them….but cannot pass any moral judgement as there is absolutely no malice involved in all this recital. And yet, it bugs me…