Rumors and Thistles

Mowing the lawn today, I inadvertently backed into this.

The thistle gave me quite the sting, particularly since I was wearing my old high school track pants made out of some non-breathable synthetic material akin to plastic.

I obviously recovered, and finished mowing the lawn. The thistle has a beautiful flower and from a distance, actually looks harmless. But upon closer inspection, the spiny leaves become visible and it is one plant that one does not want to cozy up to (stinging nettle, hawthorn and acacia are three others I try to avoid).

The thistle is not unlike a small town. It looks quaint and pretty from the outside, but up close, it can be quite pernicious. And the fact that it isn't so obvious (for instance, we all know not to run into cacti), makes it all the more unbearable at times.

What makes a small town pernicious? The rumor mill. Gossip and gossipers have surely been around for ages. We are all guilty of it, even if the rumors we started or propagated were not meant to harm. But there are some people who apparently thrive on being the first to know, and let others know, regardless of the accuracy of the information. The advent of social networking has exacerbated the situation. Even the mainstream media picks up on stories that are half-baked and flaunts them endlessly. The question that continually perplexes me is, "what good comes from gossiping?" What has been ingrained in us as humans, to want to even bother?

What does the rumor mill do to a small community? Essentially, it has the potential to tear it apart. When intelligent people start falling into the "he said, she did this" trap, things can escalate quickly to the point where the rumor in question contains little if any truth at all. By then, people have become so anxious and self-righteous ("I am absolutely positive that so-and-so did this!) that the rest of a close-knit community feels it needs to take sides. Overnight, it feels like lines have been drawn down the middle of the street and people carry around these biases towards institutions, individuals, ideologies etc. that are unfounded. Even when the rumor has been uncovered, the biases often remain. Just think how much collective energy could be saved and transformed into more useful ways if people just calmed down, did not jump to conclusions and basically minded their own business (or at least did some credible research before coming to conclusion). Small town living often reminds me of the old parlor game, telephone, where the original message gets skewed so poorly by the time it reaches the 10th person.

Why does this topic come up now? Twice in the last week I have heard things 3rd or 4th (or 10th?) hand that were utterly untrue and I was fascinated how such a rumor or belief could get started. I was further fascinated by the amount of angst and worry that these rumors created. If we want to live more simply, disengaging ourselves from the rumor mill (and gently encouraging others to do the same) is a wise choice.