Editorial November 20, 1995 Issue

What Truth, not gossip, is telling us

Russ Gerber

Who of us has not gotten caught up in petty gossip about someone else, or had the discomforting experience of learning what others are saying about us when we're not around? It's an ugly experience, either way.

Gossip can be mesmerizing, as well. I recall a time when a new supervisor had joined a company I was working for. After a short while a fellow worker came by to warn me that this new supervisor had quite an ego. He then described a couple of meetings he had attended where the supervisor said or did something that indicated an inflated sense of self-importance. It seemed odd to hear this about the man because it conflicted with the initial impression I had received during my brief introduction to him. Nonetheless, I found myself thinking a lot about what my friend had described, and I even mentioned his comments to someone else. It didn't seem so much like gossip; it was more like spreading legitimate news, even though I had not really gotten to know the supervisor myself.

But over the following weeks I did get to know him. And contrary to what my friend had described, this man was as gracious and meek as anyone I had ever met. This proved to be the case in meeting after meeting. I was really getting to like the man! That's when I started to examine my thinking and to evaluate all that had taken place. In spite of the supervisor's consistently demonstrated kindness and thoughtfulness and good humor, I noticed that I still kept looking for evidence of an ego problem. I was convinced it would eventually become apparent because—well, that's what I had accepted about his nature.

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