Watch what you say!

Understand this people: You should learn to think before you yak!

Twice this week, two different co-workers shared very personal information about their teens with me. This information wasn't to solicit advice from me. I inferred that both conversations were opportunities for them to brag about the relationships they have with their children. In both cases, the information passed on to me was none of my business. While I am cordial friends with both, I am neither close not intimate with them in any way, shape or form.

The first woman bragged in the lunchroom full of people about a convesation she had with her son, a former student at our school, about his admission at a doctor's physical exam of never having had "oral, anal or vaginal sex." "Yes!" she triumphantly proclaimed while raising her hands in the air. What the hell? Does she think that we are having a competition? This is not the first time she has spoken like this about the upstanding morality of her kids. She really annoys me, mostly because she is often sarcastic and condescending to other teachers and kids.

In the other incident, another teacher loudly told me, while we were walking in the hall after school, the details of her daughter's recent doctor's appointment for a "pimple on her vulva". I had to point out to her that it would be a good idea to make sure that no kids were around to hear what she had to say. After all, her daughter is a student at our school. How awful would that be for kids to gossip about? Normally, I would say that this lady is rather astute, but come on. . . think!

I wonder. If these ladies' children knew what their mothers had to openly say to co-workers in a public place where there existed a chance that one of their friends could overhear about these private things, would they continue to confide in their parents?

Is this lack of discretion okay? Or, is it an indicator of individuals who suffer from the bad habit of tactless gossip?