How to Deal with Gossip

Have you been a victim of gossip?  How did you deal with the situation?

Wow, it’s the first week of the year and my topic seems to be not a good one to start the year right but I just can’t help it, I just learned that I’d been a topic of gossip among household helpers in our place and the author is our very own household helper.  I know a lot of working moms with stay-in household helper can relate to this topic in one way or another.

I’m not angry with what I learned, I even laughed when I received the text message from our neighbor.  The story is fabricated and it’s just absurd.   I’m a person who just mind my own business and I’m not fond of joining conversations which discusses the life of others especially if that person is not around and the topic is not good, so I’m surprised to learn that I became a topic in one of the chit chats of household helpers in our place.

We live in a 4-story condominium building where the laundry area of all units is located at the roof deck so naturally it became the meeting place of all household helpers, although it’s not allowed as per the condominium’s code but these people just know how to play hide and seek with the roving security guards.

I don’t generalize all household helpers but most of them are really fond of talking about the lives of others … their employer’s lives included.   Whenever I visit the laundry area, I often see household helpers in group and even if I don’t have the intention to eavesdrop on their conversation, you can just hear them talking about someone.  This situation is just normal with them and the gossips are just contained around their circle unless something happens to their “friendship”.  I think this is what happened to my household helper and her friends that’s why the gossip now reached me.

My plan for now is to talk with my helper and tell her about all the stories I received about her, this way she can defend herself and of course I won’t be dealing with gossips here anymore because I will be relaying the stories to the concerned person and she will be given the chance to clear herself.     

I’ll make a separate post of the outcome of my confrontation with our household helper which I’m planning to make this coming weekend.  This is the best time to do the confrontation when I’m at the best of my mood so I hope I can make the conversation as peaceful as possible.   I’m not really good at this confrontation thing but I think I have to do it so everything will be cleared.