Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Bones S05E05

It would be quite difficult and repetitive to identify every single piece of information that you pass on to someone with an expectation of confidentiality. In fact, most people will assume private conversations are to remain private, unless otherwise stated. Unfortunately, now and again a secret slips out. Maybe it slips out because your confidante is deliberately gossiping about you. But maybe it slips out because your dear friend simply doesn't realize there's any reason to keep quiet. After all, surely you've told lots of people about the eyeball-meatloaf thing, right?

Bones really cares about Booth (simply the way she brings him up on a date suggests something) and she would never deliberately hurt him. Yet she shared something he had told her in confidence, and he was hurt as a result. Every time something like that happens, it makes the offendee less likely to share things in the future. It would be tragic if Booth found it harder to trust Bones over this, and indeed it seems unlikely that he'll hold it against her. But sometimes the information that slips out, the forwarded email or the casual mention, is more serious than eyeball-meatloaf. Friendships can be destroyed over misplaced words. Even worse - as they say, "loose lips sink ships." The consequences of idle gossip can be truly disastrous.

Something to keep in mind, then. Never share information about someone unless you're sure they won't mind. If you don't know them well enough to tell how they'd feel, then you don't know them well enough to tell their stories. Getting permission to tell an amusing anecdote may feel silly, but it's far better than hurting someone you care about.