Chapter Thirteen: I'm Not One to Gossip. However...

Okay - the title is only faintly appropriate for this post. But it was the first title I thought of and it's in honor of my friend, Bri. If you don't have the pleasure of knowing her, you're missing out. I'm not sure how many times I'd be studying in my dorm room, when she'd come through the door. And every conversation started with "I'm not one to gossip. However..." and usually ended in a story about who knocked up who or who was in the middle of the courtyard yelling at their boyfriend in the middle of a tif. It always made my day. And she always had a way of cheering my roommate and me up.

And by now, you should know that I am severely ADD without any medication. So back to the slow deterioration of a salesperson and the (hopefully humorous) stories that accompany that....

While ringing up a customer's purchase, I overheard her talking to her husband.

"That Jennifer Aniston is a liar," said Woman, pointing to a tabloid magazine.

"What?" replied Man.

"She was just on Oprah telling her that she wasn't adopting. And here she is on the cover of (insert rarely factual gossip magazine name) and she's saying she is adopting!"

I chimed in. "Oh. You never can believe those magazines. They're always stretching the truth."

Woman looked at me with a blank stare. "Then why does it say 'A source confirms...'?"

I bit my tongue. For all I know, Jennifer Aniston is adopting. I'm not sure. I didn't bother to open the pages to find out. But when on earth did we start believing tabloids and quote unquote sources, instead of direct quotes from the actual person? Who's the source anyway? No wonder these magazines stay in publication and celebrities' reputations are tainted. We take whatever we see/hear in tabloids to be true.

I wasn't intending to get on a soapbox and convince you to boycott tabloids. I am just in complete shock by this woman's inability to think for herself and piece things together.