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January 09, 2004

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Gossip

"...and it turns out she was sleeping with him!" I picked my jaw off the ground. "This isn't the kind of thing we should talk about at work. If someone wants to have an affair with their boss's secretary because the boss was going to make them redundant and the boss was also having an affair with that secretary, then I'm not going to broadcast that to the world," I said.

"Au contraire, Simon" said my malicious co-worker. "This is good for us." To which I responded, "Que? Do you always talk in underline?"

Gossiping at work is an ideal way to let off steam and can help staff relax or even discuss ideas, according to new research published yesterday. Employers were urged to encourage people to gossip as it could help them to become more creative.
"So you see," my talkative team mate continued, "we're actually required to gossip." "Da, da," I replied in my best Russian, "in that case I should tell you about that guy in Accounts..."

"Let me stop you right there, buddy," she said.

Women were more honest about their gossiping, while men often described it as de-briefing or networking.
"How do you keep talking in a blockquote format?" I asked. "That's besides the point," she said. "I want to know what kind of gossip we're engaging in." My blank look said it all. So she continued
So-called negative gossiping could be bad for morale if it involved spreading malicious or false rumours...[the researcher] also discovered "sad gossipers" who tried to become the centre of attention. There were also "vindictive gossipers" who spread nasty rumours.
"OK, I admit I've completely lost the thread of what we're talking about here," I sputtered. "All these blockquotes are difficult to read. Are you actually saying those things or quoting from the article?"

"That's OK," she said,

"Gossiping can be seen as trivial but it is very therapeutic and makes people feel better."

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" I yelled. "What does a different font colour and background mean? Are you speaking in a funny accent? Quietly? Loudly? Just stop it."

"OK," she said soothingly. "Feel better now?"

"Sure" I said. "Now what about that guy at the Christmas party?"

 posted by Simon on 01.09.04 at 02:11 PM in the




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Comments:

"Women were more honest about their gossiping"-that's right. We admit that we can be catty, petty, bovines. It's true.

But men? "De-briefing and networking"? Come on, Rambo, drop the James Bond yearning and just admit you like to dish like the rest of us.

 posted by: Helen on 01.09.04 at 04:34 PM [permalink]




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