Realities of life are such that bad news spreads faster than good news. That is the nature of human beings.
Examples abound. Think of all the scandals that have happened recently in our midst.
Many of us got them fast because someone somewhere failed to keep them a secret and decided to turn bad news into a nightmare, effectively rubbing salt into the wounds of the victims.
Whoever said there is no secret under the sun had a point as usually it is the very people we confide in who spill the beans for all and sundry. Come to think of it, you trust a friend by telling them the deepest secrets only to have the same laid bare on social media or otherwise.
Many people have learnt the hard way that some people can hardly keep secrets for life. The moment we whisper to them about our secrets they can’t wait to share it with another person who further broadcasts to the larger network.
Imagine one confiding in their friend about a disease they have in a bid to release their heartache from the strain of keeping it under wraps. This time, you are yet to brief your close family members but before you let the cat out of the bag to them, the entire community is already in the know.
People’s illnesses, mishaps, marital problems and scandals are discussed at pubs, parties, workplaces and many more places just because one friend failed to keep a secret after being told by the person in question, or do we call them victims? The worst thing is that these socalled friends swear it upon their lives that they will never let you down by spilling the beans.
Sadly, there are also some bad apples among professionals such as lawyers, bankers and doctors who abandon ethics and willynilly divulge confidential information about their clients to third parties. What happened to client confidentiality?
As a people, we fail to sympathise with our friends and family that whatever has happened to them might happen to us one day. My heart bleeds that we seem to celebrate the misery of others.
Before you share some scandal or bad news, put yourself in the shoes of the victims.
With social media, people have just found a way of publishing and broadcasting each other’s secrets and scandals anonymously and enjoy on their sidelines while someone they once called best friend is being torn apart right, left and centre.
Whatever joy comes with that is something some of us fail to comprehend. What happened to love thy neighbour as you love yourself?
Instead of spending our time doing productive things to uplift our livelihoods, it is unfortunate that we are busy scrolling conversation threads discussing one person. How many nude photos do we keep in our phone galleries and yet continue to ask for more once someone claims to have “the latest” collection?
It is high time people started respecting others’ privacy. Let that which is supposed to be a secret remain in the closet. In 2016, make it your personality not to share people’s private affairs as doing so won’t bring food on your family’s table.
Come on, get a life and start doing something worthwhile that will make your life worth remembering.
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