*The looonnng nose*. W.E #66.

There are human traits that are good but some of these traits when given free rein can tend to be problematic. One of such trait is curiosity. It is human nature to want to know about things and also to know what is currently happening around but when curiosity knows no restraint, then it becomes nosiness.

Being nosy simply means showing too much curiously about other people's affairs without regard for courtesy. To those who make a habit of being nosy, they feel that they are extremely caring forgetting that they are overstepping boundaries. "Is it wrong to care for someone and show it?" My answer is no but that supposed care should not cause discomfort to the other person and that is what being nosy does. It makes one feel irritated.

One experience

There was this female colleague of mine back in the day. We were both teachers in a private establishment and it was not surprising to see teachers mingle freely and bond deeply. We became close and I was glad for her friendship at the time, little did I know that she would be such a pain in the ass later on.

It started with her frequently checking up on me and asking me many things about myself. I gave answers to her probes because I believed in honesty in friendship. Later on, the probes turned to interrogations about my past relationships and family and that was when I began to be cautious. She always had this judgemental response to anything I told her and that irked me as well.

During lunch hour she would purposely come to my class, sit down and begin with "hey gir,l what's happening today na?" and when I say "nothing much o", she would be like "are you sure?" "don't you want to gist me?" and I'll be like "there's no gist o". Then she'll be like "what did you cook?", "Why did you use corned beef to cook are you broke?" "You should have used real beef or chicken to cook this sauce, I bet you it would taste great" and on and on she would go until lunch time was over. It got to a point that I started to dread her presence and avoid her.

I later discovered that she was a talebearer. She would discuss me with other teachers and twist the the things I had told her around. I was hurt but also happy that I had not disclosed too much that could be used against me. From then on, I began to avoid her. I limited our interactions to only work stuff and closed my mouth once we were done. I showed through my actions that there was no allowance for gisting and all that and soon she caught on and moved on. I got my peace while she lost her gist source.

The negative effects of being nosy are so much. For starters, it makes one to be overbearing. It also leads to gossip and talebearing and intrudes one's privacy.

one advice

My one simple advice to those who might be nosy is this; please desist and resist the urge to know everything about a person. Tell yourself, it is okay not to know certain things about people. Doing this will help to curb that curious nature of yours.

Personally, I feel knowing too much about a person is a mental burden and if one is not careful, such a person might just get to know things that can distort their view about a person and bring about loss of respect.

Being nosy is annoying and creepy and it can land one in a lot of trouble too.

Thanks for reading. This is my entry to the #hiveghanaweeklyengagement prompt #66. The prompt is still on, so feel free to participate.

Image from poe

Image from poe