Mormon Gossip

[Spooky]

I just have canyoneering/hiking people (other than my kids) on mine and almost no one I actually know. Sometimes I just like to talk to strangers.


Rumors are bad enough already without being friends with people I know!

Hahaha! You and me, both. Gossip is incredible in Utah. I've never seen anything like it. I lived in Nephi for 2 years (total hell) and moved away understanding the true meaning of small town gossip and hypocritical religious people. Gack! I wasn't Mormon and I had men in and out of my house, and you know how it goes, that meant I was such a druggie slut. Nobody knew that they were my brothers but that wouldn't have changed any opinions....

I wish I could burn down Farmville. And bomb Mafia everything.

[Scott Card]

Hahaha! You and me, both. Gossip is incredible in Utah. I've never seen anything like it. I lived in Nephi for 2 years (total hell) and moved away understanding the true meaning of small town gossip and hypocritical religious people. Gack! I wasn't Mormon and I had men in and out of my house, and you know how it goes, that meant I was such a druggie slut. Nobody knew that they were my brothers but that wouldn't have changed any opinions....

I wish I could burn down Farmville. And bomb Mafia everything.

Nephi....hmmmm. You should have told them you were a progressive polygamist with all the men.

I go to court in Nephi all the time. I know what you are saying because I hear it from my clients almost without exception. I happen to be a Mormon and I am pretty sure I would not do too well living in Nephi either. My experience is that gossip is typical in any small town, anywhere. Not just in Utah.

[denaliguide]

Sometimes I just like to talk to strangers.

no one stranger than me, i hope.

[Spooky]

My experience is that gossip is typical in any small town, anywhere. Not just in Utah.

Oh geez louise, don't get me started.

I lived in several small towns in Idaho, Washington and Montana, and what Nephi had on all those towns was the religious discrimination on top of the gossip. As in, if you're not Mormon, you're bad.

I'm sure other small towns in religious areas like the Bible belt are the same way, but don't think for a minute that your fellow Mormons don't discriminate because they're such good people. Ha! The thought makes me laugh.

Serious. The neighbors wouldn't let their kids in my house because I wasn't LDS. A single mom so they assumed I was on welfare and drugging it up. A friend of mine who worked at the welfare dept. called me more than once to tell me neighbors had turned me in for welfare fraud. I wan't on welfare. Crazy! My mom owned the gossip central shop in town and nobody knew she was my mom, so I heard a good portion of the crap my neighbors were thinking and telling their kids and each other. Those guys coming in and out of my apartment? Druggie lovers. I probably had AIDS because I came from Seattle. My kids probably had no morals or ethics because I wasn't Mormon. And oh, one parent said they couldn't allow their kids at my house because I drank coffee. Baaaaaad!!! Hahaha!

I had all kinds of Mormon friends in other states and they never behaved like that.

Too bad, too, because I love small towns and I love Utah. But my experience with small town Mormons will never be forgotten and I would never put my kids through anything like that again. They were teased unmercifully for not being baptized when they turned 8 for hell's sake.

If I'd ever been tempted to be Mormon, Nephi fixed me. For good. I would never, ever, ever consider being LDS after seeing how the church treats those who aren't members. When Spencer Kimball admonished Mormons about this behavior during his conference speech, I literally jumped up and cheered.

Would you let your kids play at the neighbors house, if she was a single mom, drank coffee and wasn't Mormon? Yah. That's what I thought.

[Jaxx]

Wow Spooky! I don't blame you for feeling that way. There does seem to be alot of gossip though. It bugs me to.
Just for the record 2 of my girls have best friends that aren't mormon. I let them go over to their friends house and their parents even drink beer!!!!! So not all mormons are that mean.

[Pelon1]

When Spencer Kimball admonished Mormons about this behavior during his conference speech, I literally jumped up and cheered.

I am a non active member and bought my house 6 years ago in a great neighborhood in St George, and have not met any of my neighbors because we don't go to church, I even work with the bishop. But we live "in sin" so I am not bothered by it too much. Kind of nice not having to deal with any of the neighborhood BS. So its still going on. But WHATEVER.....

[Spooky]

Wow Spooky! I don't blame you for feeling that way. There does seem to be alot of gossip though. It bugs me to.
Just for the record 2 of my girls have best friends that aren't mormon. I let them go over to their friends house and their parents even drink beer!!!!! So not all mormons are that mean.

Nephi is in a league of its own when it comes to gossip, believe me. The men coming to my apartment were my brothers but since we all had last names people just assumed the worst. Besides, gossip is apparently fun.

Since we moved to the SL valley, I haven't had those problems. There is one family on our street that won't let their kids over because we're not LDS (the kids told us that). But otherwise, it's been great.

And Mormons outside of Utah are freaking awesome. Tolerant because they're usually the minority.

[Jaxx]

And Mormons outside of Utah are freaking awesome. Tolerant because they're usually the minority.

That is true. When I lived in Texas there wasn't another mormon for miles!

Pelon1: when you said "live in sin" all I could think of was church lady from snl.

[uintahiker]

I grew up in a small town in Utah. On the one hand, it was a great place to grow up. On the other hand, there certainly is a downside to knowing everybody and their dogs.

I heard they're cancelling all of the high school dances up there next year because everyone is now officially related now that Bobby Sue and Jimmy got married.

I've also concluded that small towns breed small minds. They're great to be from, but it should be a requirement that you move away for at least 5 years if you want to settle down there.

[Scott Card]

I've also concluded that small towns breed small minds. They're great to be from, but it should be a requirement that you move away for at least 5 years if you want to settle down there.

Ding, Ding, Ding.... winner. Best thing I ever did was go on a mission to Brazil, live in San Antonio, Live in Los Angeles THEN move back to Utah to stay.

[accadacca]

[Deathcricket]

Interesting. I had a similar experience but it kinda made me feel warm and fuzzy good, not bad. I recently went through a nasty divorce last year. Not nasty like us yelling and screaming or anything like that, just lots of litigation and court time meaning... Anyways I was walking by my neighbors.. Well maybe not neighbors... Like a half mile away and 5 streets up... Anyways, she had a dog and I had a dog so they were playing together and we got to talking. First question was "what ward do you go to?" 2nd question was "where do you live?" and after I answered that, she knew everything about me! She then mentioned they had a "meeting" about me one night a couple months ago. They knew I was going through hard times emotionally and wanted to reach out to me, but at the same time they didn't want to seem imposing or "overstepping bounds" to a non believer. But they debated having some members come over and help with cleaning, cooking, yard maintenance, etc. Just because they thought I had a lot on my plate and it was a nice thing to do in times of need. Even if I didn't ask for said help.

But in the end they decided to just watch and wait. And if it looked like I was falling behind and hadn't mowed the lawn (for instance), to send help over and offer. So it was creepy that they noticed I mowed my lawn every sunday, washed my cars on Saturday, etc, and were watching for changes in my schedule to be able to offer assistance. But at the same time I felt really blessed to have such nice neighbors who saw potentially a person in need and wanted to do something about it. The thing that really freaked me out though is how far away from my house this lady lived and STILL knew who I was. She knew my occupation, my schedule, how many kids I had, etc... But overall I think it was an awesome experience. I still don't know my neighbors to the extent they know me. I guess I don't care really, but don't mind that they do.

[Jaxx]

I talk trash about you all the time Deathcricket.

[blueeyes]

I talk trash about you all the time Deathcricket.

[Scott Card]

Are all of you still coming to our monthly Deathcricket meeting at Rubios next week?

[denaliguide]

Deathcricket. one word. stalker!

[Spooky]

I can't believe someone made this my thread with the title "Mormon Gossip."

This must be karma for putting a user on my forum on Tachy Goes Coventry just for the sheer entertainment value.

[blueeyes]

It is a great topic! You should be proud.

[uintahiker]

Best thing I ever did was ... live in San Antonio.

How did you like SA? Potentially moving there for work in the near future.

I moved to Colorado for grad school. The options were Fort Collins or Happy Valley. As the saying goes "Friends don't let friends go to BYU." Moving to Colorado has been one of the best things I've done.

I think everyone should move away from family for at least a few years. If you're married than you should DEFINITELY move away- at least for a year or two. Furthermore, it's one of those things that you don't really understand until after you do it.

[Don]

Wow, Jake, man I'm not sure how I'd feel about having those neighbors. It seems really creepy, but on the other hand while going through a divorce a couple years ago I really could have used a caring neighbor (or at least a neighbor who would disable his automatic sprinkers if I were passed out in his yard).