Akeejaho is back, with a rant.

It is still a rant all the same. Now, for those of you who know me and my Hubs, articles or pieces, (depending upon whatever you care to call these little treasures we sweat and bleed over and then cast into the abyss of public opinion! Oh! Did I say that out loud? Hmm, sorry about that!) you know I try to make sure the things I say are positive and uplifting, and that I only write about things I have first hand knowledge of in the form of experience. Let me assure you this Hub will be no different. (Except, I am still trying to figure out how to interject positive and uplifting things to say about the subject matter I am about to slap you silly with.) For those of you who don't know me, or my Hubs, well! Shame on you! You really should go back and read all forty of them, or this one will make little or no sense to you!

Sorry, the beginning of this Hub is an expierament in self-promotion and totally suggested to me in my daily Horoscope, which incidentley has been pretty much bang on for the past two days in a row, unless you count the useless power ball numbers they gave me yesterday. So if you feel like I have just wasted a couple seconds of your overbooked day, sorry, but who am I to argue with the cosmos?

Oh yah! The rant thing. I'll get to that in a minute or so.!

First, I should tell you that I am writing this from Colorado. Colorado Springs, Colorado to be exact. Need proof? Watch the national weather. It has rained here at least once a day every day we have been here! What a surprise! So, if you are ever curious about where we may be, just watch the national weather. If it is raining some where that is normally beautiful, 365 days a year, there is approximately a 93.25% chance we are there. (or a 6.75% chance we are thinking of going there.) So consider this fair warning that we may be heading to a town near you, so fix your roofs and caulk those windows.

Akeejaho! What are you doing in Colorado?

Was I kidnapped by a bus load of Nugget cheerleaders? Nope, and get serious! Do you really think I would be writing a Hub if that were the case? Okay, in all fairness, I would, but after the fact.

Did we make a wrong turn on the way home from the grocery store and not notice until we hit the Rockies? No! We're Bi-Polar, not retarded.

Are we working on a new installment of The Bi-Polar Snowbirds? Naw, but if you insist, there just may be a few more of them, say, this winter! Get it? Snowbirds, winter. Sheeesh! Pay attention!

Did you write to a friend in Colorado, but forgot to put it in the envelope before you mailed it, so you tried to chase down the mail truck so they wouldn't deliver an empty envelope, but were unable to catch up to the truck untill it reached Colorado, at which time you flagged the truck down and dug through all the letters untill you found the envelope and put the letter into it, and now you have some free time so you fired up the laptop to write a Hub? NNNNNNNNNO! And for goodness sake, take a breath! That only happened once and I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't bring it up again. -Note to self. Review section on run-on-sentences-

You decided to do a bit of early summer skiing? Never heard of it. However there is snow on Pikes Peak, so I suppose it could be a possability. IF I WERE A SKIER!

But, thanks for asking!

To tell you the truth, we just needed to get away for a bit. But, in saying that, let me assure you we are getting much closer to the reason for this particular Hub!

Aw, c'mon Akee, don't keep us in suspense any longer!

Okay, you asked for it. Here it comes!

Ready?

Well, let me begin by asking a few simple questions, and then we will get on with it!

What in the hell has happened to humanity?

When did it become;

Do unto others, then run!?!

Have we become so self absorbed in our own little worlds that we have forgotten how to be kind to one another?

These are just a few questions to mull over as you continue to read.

Yes gossip. The whole reason for this Hub.

Now, we are all familiar with a form of socially acceptable gossip. That being, Hollywood gossip. We know famous people all know they are sure to be gossiped about. I suppose, being in the public eye just brings about all sorts of gossip about people. In fact, there are publications and TV shows dedicated to gossip. Isn't that nice?

After all, everyone knows that the famous people who appear in these publications and TV shows all have thick skins and that the gossip is just for amusement. Besides, by being in the public eye, they are just asking for it anyway!,

I tend to disagree. What gives anyone the right to purposely make up untrue stories, or distribute misleading facts about an individuals private life, likes or dislikes, or who someone may be seeing or dating, or anything that may or may not be going on in their lives?

Ever heard anything similar to this?

Hay, did you hear about so and so. Oh, you know, she's married to that wierd guy with the hump on his back? She got caught down at the Slop and Shop in the bathroom with so and so, the plumber while she was working. Don't you remember he and his wife had some trouble last month cause the rumor was he was messing around with so and so. I bet they were doing something in there besides unclogging pipes!

Let me ask a simple question.

Who does this kind of crap help? Doesn't help the guy with the hump on his back. I'm fairly sure he has already noticed it at one time or another. It doesn't do much for either the plumber nor the lady working at the Slop and Shop either! In fact, this is just a bunch of speculatory information about nothing important at all. That is what gossip is.

Information, which is mostly un-important, speculatory for the most part or loosley based on a truth, and completely useless. But, what it does do is begin a chain of events that can cause harm to the individuals being gossiped about.

Gossip and rumors can destroy friendships, marriages, families and even individuals. Folks who are gossiped about, many times, have no way of erasing things that have been spread around about them. And, lets face it. People can say some rather nasty things about one another, true or not.

Oh, akeejaho, everyone gossips, and people know the difference between gossip and the truth.

Really!? Then why do it?

If folks know that gossip is not always true, then why bother? In fact, why bother talk about someone else. In fact, even if the gossip is somewhat true, why bother to continue spreading around information which is probably no one's business in the first place?

And, let me tell you this, if someone who is being gossiped about has a mental illness, or a physical one, or paranoia, they can be devastated by such meaningless chatter. How would you feel if someone you helped spread untruths about became so distraught that they commited suicide, unable to live any longer due to the terrible things that are being repeated about them, untrue or not? Believe me, it has happened in the past, and will continue to occur as long as people think thay can just run around and talk about one another with no thought about reporcusions.

Gossip is not just an innocent pastime. Gossip is often cruel and nasty, and shows that the person spreading gossip cares about little but themselves. Even gossip based on truth can be devastating. How? Read on.

Have you ever told someone close, or within your family, something you have never shared with anyone, only to overhear two other people talking about it at a later date? Or, if you live in a small town, and something significant occured to you at one time or another, have you ever heard bits and pieces of what people say behind your back? Believe me, people say anything with little care as to what it may do to an individual. I mean who cares? It is just innocent gossip.

Well, if you have nothing better to do with your time but sit around and talk about people, especially people you have never met, or feel the need to hear all the juicey tid-bits about individuals private lives, then you need a hobby or a job or a life, and you better hope folks aren't sitting around talking about you. Everyone has a skeleton in the closet, and if you are a pervayer of gossip, you better make sure no-one finds yours.

I, personally, can think of a million other things to do other than sit around and spew false information about other people.

Gossip does nothing for anyone. It dosen't make you popular, it dosen't make you any money, (Unless the Enquirer pays you off for some juicey information about Lady GaGa and her Poke, Poke, Poker Face that you accidentley stumbled across.)

Finally, I might add this for those of you who just can't resist the urge to flap your gums about another individual. Remember, after you are done chatting up your best friend about that creep that lives down the street, or that person across town that seems eccentric, or that crazy person who marches to the beat of a different drummer, you are just as open to being gossiped about as those whom you have gossiped about.

The next time someone tells you something someone else said, ask one simple question. Did you hear that from the person who did that, or said that? Or, the next time someone asks you,- Is it true about so-and-so? Simply say, -Why don't you ask them?-

Don't be sucked in. Don't be a part of the problem.

Be part of the solution.

This world is cold enough without individuals making it an even harsher place in which to live. We need to begin looking within ourselves first if we are to make this a better place in which to share with our fellow humans. We as individuals need to spread love and goodwill amoungst ourselves, not rumors, lies and gossip about one another.

We should be beacons of light for one another, not anchors. We should be raising one another up, and supporting one another for the good things we do, and not bringing others down due to their shortcomings or mistakes, nor should we continue spreading things around about each other whether the stories you have heard are true or not. Peoples lives are their own, and life is hard enough with out those who speculate or share falsehoods about others.

For those of you who feel the need to gossip, for those of you whose lives are just that boring that gossip gives you a thrill, for those of you who feel they have the right to talk about other people, well, I can only say this. For every finger you point, there are multiple fingers pointing right back at you. Remember, what goes around, comes around. I hope you will be prepared.