Just Because There's Truth There...Doesn't Mean You Say It

I was in the seventh grade. One of my good friends was wearing a short and somewhat tight skirt.

What did I do?

I went behind her back and told my classmates about the awfulness of her skirt. And of course, she found out.

It hurt her so bad, it took me two days to get her to talk to me. She finally forgave me, but it took a while for our friendship to get back to the way it was. I learned two lessons that day that have stuck with me.

1. Never talk behind someone's back.
2. Just because something has truth in it...doesn't mean you should say it.

I was thinking of all this because lately I've run into a few people who have the habit of chattering about others behind their back. And I realized in every instance, they weren't making up vicious lies or anything. They took a small element of truth and made assumptions about that person. And decided to tell the whole world about it.

Much like I did when I decided to gab about my friends skirt.

I'm more convinced every day that we should all listen to Thumper in the Disney movie Bambi...with a little addition of my own.

 "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all...(even if there's a little bit of truth in it)."

That last part is my addition.