Letters to the Editor
This letter is associated with the following article:
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All or nothing?
This article is as if someone had written the following:
My credit card debts were out of sight, so I swore off all debt. I define "debt" as any borrowing from anyone for any reason. I made it work for a few weeks. Then I ended up spending the night in my office because someone had stolen my purse and my new scruples would not allow me to ask a friend for bus fare home. Now I realize that debt is a part of life. It makes me feel connected to my fellow consumers. Which is worse--to abuse credit cards or to be an abstemious miser?
How strange that a writer doesn't understand what gossip is. It's not the "all or nothing" affair that the article misrepresents it as being. It's not gossip to mention to a mutual acquaintance, "Jackie is quite the flower gardener and has won prizes at flower shows." Gossip is saying "Jackie went to a flower show last week without her husband. And she seemed to spend an awful lot of time talking with Bill. Come to think of it, his wife wasn't there either."
That's gossip. Again, it's strange that any adult, let alone a writer, would not understand something so simple.