Dear Grace,
My long time partner and I recently broke up, and I’ve been surprised at how nosy everybody has been about it. While I appreciate people offering condolences or whatever, a lot of it feels like they’re prying for more information. Until now I didn’t even know how many people even knew us, but now that there’s gossip material, it seems like everybody wants to know why Barbie and Ken burned down their dream house. How do we deal with the nosy bitches and keep our business private without telling people to (expletive) off?
Broken-up
Dear Broken-up,
Sadly, when you break up, people will always come out of the woodwork. Some of these people will be genuinely concerned about you; but the vast majority, especially if you are not public on details, will be fishing for information. People are nosy, they want gossip and information. they hate being out of the loop. Watch for those who simply listen. Its the ones who ask questions that are fishing. With Twitter being a very prolific device for most in Hathian, we are normally gratified with instant drama and information. Lack of it is frustrating for most.
You don’t have to tell anyone to go away, simply say a few words: “thank you for your concern”, “I don’t want to talk about it”, “oh, its a bit personal to discuss”. Try not to get into the trap of trying to vent your feelings to people. I would also advise keeping quiet around mutual friends. Some will have your best interests at heart, and some will have your ex-partners at heart. Its hard to know which is which. If you need to talk I would recommend going into Hathian General Hospital for a couple of counselling sessions. At least you know you wont be judged and that the information wont be spread wider than a hookers legs.
– Grace
