Pick a little, talk a little......

I think gossip is one of the most insidious, and disregarded, sins that the Good Book warns against. We can all tell stories of the friend/co-worker/neighbor who started rumors about us and what it led to. I think of the musical "The Music Man" and how the ladies of the town, like hens in a barnyard, gossiped about Marian the librarian---"Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, cheep, cheep, cheep, pick a lot, talk a little more..." though amusing in that particular production, there's nothing amusing about gossip in real life. I absolutely deplore the Hollywood tabloids and the way they vivisect the subjects who make the publishers rich. When Brittney was having a mental breakdown, all I could see was: this young woman, who has entertained millions, has a mental illness and people are ridiculing her for it. And of course, some were making money from it. It's at times like these when I almost wish I lived among the Amish (whom I'm sure talk about their neighbors, but nothing like the media tabloids). I'm really not interested in other people's personal lives; I'd much rather hear some positive news about a neighbor/co-worker/celebrity than hear people talk trash. I try to close my ears to such trash talk, but often feel I'm in the minority--"pick a little, talk a little, cheep!!"