With all due respect to the EiC at this Substack, he was dead wrong about gossip in your 30s. Gossip only gets better as we age. No one over the age of 25 should say things like “Don’t talk about people behind their backs.” Get real! People will talk about you and you will talk about them. “Got any gossip?” is a great cocktail party question: it invites theatrics to boring chats. It’s a fun way to keep our little worlds interesting when life gets boring. Sorry but if you’re carrying a cocaine habit into your 30s you’re kind of inviting ridicule. Addiction, infidelity, and divorce are sad facts of life but they don’t disappear with silence.1 We’re all getting older, going bald or gray, gaining weight, and/or occasionally taking Ls and it’s important to laugh about it. So go ahead and do a little gossiping with your friends, just know where the line is and try not to step too far over it. The difference between having fun and being mean spirited lies within you.
Speaking from experience: I never took it too hard when someone called me an alcoholic behind my back. Clarity and self awareness will keep you sane.
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