  I recently found the folly of being the source of rumors. Last week, I told some members of my workplace that my supervisor had the impression that their section was 'lazy. ' I had evidence of this, including my supervisor saying, when she had just arrived here, that she would go into their section when we were being slammed by work to find them just sitting there. Also, she has tried on a couple of occasions to get their section to do the little things that we don't have time to get to. You know, the bitch work. Point is, they work just as hard as we do. If they had been just sitting there, I guarantee that they were either waiting for film to finish in the processors so they could begin working, or they were waiting to be slammed. Even if neither of those were the case, they deserve their breaks when they get them. They should not be doing our shit work in their spare time. Anyway, I've strayed into my opinions on the matter and away from the story. I told them this, thinking nothing of it, thinking that it was on a level with all the rest of the shit talking that goes on in the lab about my supervisor, or the other sections supervisor, or the decisions being made by our new upper management.
I don't know exactly how it happened, but the subject was brought up in some kind of management meeting that my supervisor allegedly felt that the other section was lazy. Either one of the original people I told was talking about it and was overheard, making it third generation information. You know how that works. The first generation (me in this case) starts it, and I did state various disclaimers like the fact that the 'sitting on their butts' statement was months ago, but those details are edited out when being passed on. If the information is overheard, even more details are edited out and the rawest version of the worst of the story is offensive. Either it was a game of telephone, and the end result was taken too seriously, or I offended one of the two people I mentioned it to in the first place, and they chose to pursue it...
Selling me out in the process. Again, I don't know how it was brought up in the first place, but my supervisor insisted on learning the name of the person who started that rumor, and my name came down. Rightfully so, since it was my observations of some of her actions toward the other section that caused me to make that statement in the first place.
My supervisor felt she needed to conduct damage control, and apologize to the members of the other section for the lies that were being spread about things she said. "Lies" applied here is a bit of a strong word, but I suppose it could be appropriate given that most of my facts were observations, so I won't quibble about that word's use. She not only felt embarrassed because of these lies, but betrayed because I am a hard worker and I am respectful to her even if I don't generally respect her.
I got a stern talking to, and I suppose I've lost some of the respect of my supervisors and colleagues. That is somewhat depressing, but I suppose it is what I get for being so two-faced. I'd like to be disrespectful to her face. I'd like to let her know every stupid little thing we talk about behind her back. But it would accomplish nothing. I've seen it in the past. The ones who speak out here are sidelined, demonized, and finally transferred elsewhere, while the problem persists. Something in the stern talking to that really stood out, my supervisor asked what would saying such a thing accomplish besides animosity between our two sections?
I didn't tell her so, but I knew what the answer was. Attention. I'd like to say that I mean bringing attention to the issue, but it is not so noble. I realized that the reason I made that statement to the two people in the other section was because I wanted attention. Its the same reason that any of us are prone to gossip, rumors, or any other negative statements about others. Its a way for us to get attention without necessarily bringing attention to ourselves. Play down others and play up yourself. In my case, show how noble I am for sticking up for the people in the other section when oppressed by the misconceptions of my supervisor. My final thoughts on the matter are this: Nothing I said was untrue, however, I may have misconstrued the facts.
Perhaps when she made the "butt-sitting" statement so many months ago it was a moment when her mouth was ahead of her brain, before reason kicked in and realized that she should not be mad at them for not doing our work, and that if they were not busy they were preparing to be. Perhaps, as she said, asking to check if the other section is busy when we have bitch work to do is proper management, seeing if someone who is not busy can help out those who are.
The real fact is that it doesn't matter. I never should have said it in the first place. What did it accomplish? There was no point in saying it other than being a tumbling little jester for a little while, in the spotlight for few measly seconds. Can I juggle for you now? Well I can't juggle, and I'm really not very interesting, so howsabout I talk smack about someone else?
Anyway, moral of the story is I guess I need to learn to keep my big mouth shut. Part of me finds that fact to be very ironic. *I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that I don't get in trouble for things very often, but when I do get in trouble it is for the stupidest things. This is why I have to be a goodie goodie all the fricking time. Because if I'm getting in trouble for the stupid things, what can I expect if I do something major. The god's are watching me all the time and they want me to be on the straight and narrow, and there is swift retribution for any deviance from that path, LOL! 
