Did you ever hear just a tad more than you wanted to hear? Or, have you thought, You know, I could have lived my whole life and been quite happy not knowing this? Tattling gets old mighty fast. Young children in school will sometimes tattle on others, and in adults, tattling evolves into gossip. And, gossip? It has done a lot of damage, destroying lives, reputations, and futures.
But, in listening to news and reading articles, I found the unlovely habit of tattling is still alive and well. I find that I don’t really care what someone said or did many years ago. If I admire a particular old-time movie star or one of my favorite writers, I don’t need to know about the goofy things he or she said or did when they were younger. What’s the purpose of this tattling, anyway? And, that’s what it is–tattling done up in the pseudo-respectable trappings of a news article. I’d much rather look at what a person is now than know about a not-so-perfect past. Whose business is it, anyway? And, what about the tattler? Is he or she above all the fray and sitting in judgment?
Anyway, I want to enjoy a black and white movie without knowing that the stars may have been heels. I can admire the writings of an author perfectly well, thank you, without knowing all about her childhood or relationships or what she may have said in a moment of stress.
There’s such a thing as too much information. Just the facts, Ma’am, as the star of Dragnet said. I’ll form my own opinion, thank you.
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