bitching - is it just part of life?

viztopia

Not sure if this is the right forum for this subject, considered posting in after hours but would get ripped to shreds there! I have only recently moved back to my home town after living in Dublin for a number of years. I would only have been home for weekends before. The one thing that strikes me is the amount of bitching, nosiness and also jealously that there seems to be. Don't get me wrong I have to admit that I gossip also but not to the level that seems to be going on. It also seems that some people seem to take joy in other peoples misfortunes. Seems to me that some people could nearly tell you what you had for breakfast by nightfall! Is it just me or is this part of life and while it's not something that I should accept it is something that I should just face up to?

Seems there might be a few reasons to think it is natural and normal. I avoid it myself - but on occasion it actually takes strong conscious effort. Thankfully not often. Skip forward to 2:00 for the relevant bit.

Wibbs

I think it's gotten a little more prevalent V. Not by a huge amount by any means, but noticeable. I think it might be a side effect of the interwebs to some degree. While keyboard warriors are a thing online, I have noticed some take that into "real life" too. Why? Becuase they've become used to no, or little to no consequences, when doing similar online and assume that translates to face to face reality. It does in more polite genteel society, but not so much in more direct company. Social media - if someone is heavily plugged into same - can actually tell you what someone had for brekky as they're posting effing instagram pics of their muesli. We've become much more used to the banal minutiae of such people's lives, the beast needs feeding as it were, so gossip and comment that is a click away on ArseBook or Twatter becomes more prevalent in the real world of everyday life.

IF you chose to plug into it of course. Like T said avoidance is the way to go, even if it takes conscious effort at times. Personally, when I may be tempted, I think; "am I a man or an oul wan wittering nonsense over a neighbour's fence?".